This little technical detail could well transform your next games. Activision has formalized a series of changes to aim assist in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7just a few hours before its worldwide release, scheduled for November 14. And among these adjustments, rotary aiming assistance, particularly used by controller players, is at the center of all discussions.
Present in most recent shooting games, this function assists the player’s movements to keep the viewfinder aligned on a moving target, particularly at close range. In the patch notes published by the publisher, we learn that Activision has fundamentally changed the way this help is triggered in Black Ops 7, in direct comparison with Black Ops 6.
Subtle but crucial changes for gamers on controller
Until now, the rotating aim assist could be activated automatically, independently of the use of the right stick. This is no longer the case. Activision explains that in Black Ops 7, “the player’s right stick movement must follow an enemy target for the rotary aim assist to work at full power”. Clearly, if you only move the left stick (movement), assistance will be reduced.
Another major new feature is the reach adjustment: “the range at which the maximum force of the rotating aim assist is reached has been increased”. This means that the closer you are to your target, the more noticeable the effect will be – but at further distances, the help will be weaker, except for certain classes of players.
“We have also slightly increased the strength of the very long range rotary aim assist”further specifies Activision. A nod to snipers? Probably. These adjustments seem to clearly benefit players adopting a defensive or long-range style, who are able to keep their crosshairs precisely centered.
Players divided: buff or disguised nerf?
As often in the community Call of Dutythe reactions were not long in coming. Some cry of unfair advantage, others welcome an attempt at finer balancing between controllers and keyboard/mouse combos. A player on Game Rant sums up the ambivalence of the moment well: “Without aim assist, I fear that controller players will be at a much greater disadvantage against keyboard/mouse players. At the same time, assist should never feel automatic, and these adjustments to rotary aim assist seem to move in that direction.”
One of the main questions concerns the impacts for close combat. Where Black Ops 6 offered almost “sticky” tracking on the target, Black Ops 7 now requires real precision in tracking movements. In short, an aggressive player will need to demonstrate increased concentration to maintain the advantage.
A launch patch that sets the tone
Activision hasn’t just touched on aim assist. The Black Ops 7 launch patch also includes other changes to movement mechanics and the multiplayer progression system. But it is this touch-up on the rotary assistance which seems the most revealing of the developers’ intentions: provide a more technical, more demanding, but still fluid experience for controller users.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7developed by Treyarch and Raven Software, is available on PC, PlayStation and Xbox. With this overhaul of aiming assistance, it opens a new page in the old controller vs keyboard debate – and lays the foundations for gameplay that could, ultimately, reconcile the two camps.