I tried Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 on the Xbox One and it’s never been more obvious we need to leave the past behind

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We usually focus on the newest Xbox games for the Xbox Series X and S consoles. Since those consoles are almost five years old, that makes sense. But every now and then, a major game still comes out for the older Xbox One.

Take Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, for example. I completely missed that release, to be honest. It’s a good move to support players who haven’t been able to afford new consoles, especially with Microsoft raising the price of the current generation.

I wanted to see if this game was worth playing on my older Xbox One X, so I tried it out before the Black Ops 7 beta ended. Unfortunately, I don’t think it is.

Playing Black Ops 7 on an Xbox One is hard work

While there are some positives, Activision still has a lot of improvements to make. For example, the Xbox One version of the game is noticeably smaller in size compared to the versions on the newer Xbox Series X|S consoles.

Even with some expected graphical limitations on the newer consoles, the game still looks quite good. I never found the visuals to be unappealing. Call of Duty isn’t known for pushing graphical boundaries, and it runs perfectly well on older consoles.

The biggest issue is the frame rate. I don’t know the exact number, but it’s definitely not a smooth 60 frames per second, and it fluctuates a lot. While it’s still in beta, the performance is significantly worse than what you get on the Series X.

The game begins well enough, with a smooth start and seemingly stable performance around 60 frames per second. However, this quickly changes – after just a few seconds, or when you actually start playing, the performance drops significantly.

I’m not a particularly skilled Call of Duty player, but the Xbox One X surprisingly altered how I play. I stopped using the wall jump feature and slid around much less.

This isn’t necessarily a problem by itself, but considering how fast-paced Call of Duty has become, it puts you at a significant disadvantage against skilled players who move quickly. You become an easy target.

I really tried to steer clear of all that because it makes it much harder to spot and target enemies. It’s like trying to move through thick sand – every step and action feels slow and strained. It’s completely draining.

I was surprised I could still play well, but I had to switch back to a more old-school style – keeping my distance and using an assault rifle instead of SMGs, like in the original Modern Warfare games. Honestly, it wasn’t nearly as fun as playing on my Xbox Series X.

This video offers a simple side-by-side comparison of gameplay footage from both console versions. It’s immediately obvious that the older console version doesn’t run as smoothly or consistently, and can’t achieve the target frame rate of 60 frames per second.

Playing Call of Duty at less than 60 frames per second is frustrating and makes the game feel slow and difficult. It also puts you at a disadvantage against more skilled players who have smoother gameplay.

It’s great that the Xbox One version includes a field of view (FOV) slider. I was able to set it to my preferred 110 degrees on the Xbox One X, just like I can on PC or the Series X.

You can also enable FidelityFX sharpening, but it doesn’t seem to significantly improve the image. Similarly, disabling effects like depth of field doesn’t fix the performance issues, even with all available settings turned off.

It’s time to say goodbye once and for all to the Xbox One

Even on the Xbox One X, which is a more powerful console, I can’t imagine how bad the game would run on the original Xbox One. While the loading times aren’t terrible for a console with an older hard drive, the overall performance once you start playing is just disappointing.

Thankfully, this isn’t an issue in the current beta version. The game isn’t released until November 14th, giving the developers time to fix it, though I’m not very optimistic.

As an analyst, I’m seeing clear limitations with the Xbox One, even for less graphically intensive games like Black Ops 7. Frankly, I wouldn’t recommend anyone still on an Xbox One console purchase this game, or sign up for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate just to play it. The hardware is simply starting to show its age too much.

Honestly, after trying it out for a few hours, it was a pretty frustrating experience and not something I’d willingly repeat. But I’m a tech enthusiast, so I’ll definitely give it another shot when it officially launches, just to see if they’ve made any improvements. I’m hoping for a better experience then!

If you’re still using an Xbox One and eager to play Black Ops 7, I’d suggest trying cloud gaming. I haven’t personally tested it, but a video from Cloud Gaming Battle shows it seems to work well.

Xbox Cloud Gaming delivers smooth gameplay at 60 frames per second, which is the most important thing. Even though there might be a little more delay compared to playing directly on your console, it’s likely to be a much better experience than the unstable performance you get on the Xbox One.

Honestly, I’m surprised they even bothered with Black Ops 6 on the Xbox One! I guess there must be enough people still playing on that older console to make it worth the effort. It probably brings in a little extra money for Xbox, but if I’m being real, I wish they’d just let those players upgrade before buying the new game. It feels a bit strange supporting that older hardware at this point.

The current state of the Black Ops 7 beta doesn’t seem to justify the excitement, and frankly, it’s disappointing. I hope the final game surprises me, but I think we’ve reached a point where continuing with this series just isn’t worth it.

Look, as a tech fan, it really bothers me when companies ship out stuff that isn’t up to par. And honestly, with five years having passed, it’s time for Microsoft to move on from the Xbox One. Let’s focus on what’s next!

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2025-10-09 16:41