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With Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 being a -up to 2012’s beloved Black Ops 2, it’s only natural that fans are hoping to see a lot of their favorite guns make a comeback. That game’s weapon lineup was truly iconic, as virtually every category had something special to offer. The KAP-40 machine pistol was deadly enough to be treated as a primary, the slug rounds fired by the KSG made it a menace of a shotgun, and the DSR 50 helped skilled snipers dominate lobbies. SMG and AR users had many viable options, with the former having guns like the Skorpion EVO and MSMC at its disposal and the latter being able to wield the AN-94 and M8A1. Even LMG users had the deadly LSAT and Target Finder combo, though it seems like Black Ops 7 has a different returning LMG in mind.
Though Black Ops 7 is a -up to BO2, it’s set in the 2030s, meaning it will be able to feature some of the technology that goes on to appear in BO4 (2040s) and BO3 (2060s). The robot seen in Black Ops 7’s reveal trailer was a clear first step toward making the Black Ops universe feel seamless, and a natural next step for the series would be the addition of weapons from Black Ops 3 and Black Ops 4. Some of these guns could be the exact models used, while others could turn out to be prototypes, but no matter what, Black Ops 7 will have a chance to add some fan favorites from all eras of Black Ops by being in the middle of the timeline. For fans of guns with big magazines, few Black Ops weapons have hit the spot quite like the Hades from BO3 and BO4, and there are now a few reasons why it’s likely to re-appear in Black Ops 7.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s LMG Category May Be Dominated by the Hades
Recently, leaks from social media user @realityuk_ compiled by YouTuber Tridzo provided all the internal names for Black Ops 7’s weapons. Many of these guns are labeled with codenames, making it impossible to determine all the weapons the game will offer and forcing players to analyze BO7’s leaked screenshots and reveal trailer. However, one name will immediately jump out to gamers, as it doesn’t seem to be a codename at all: Hades. For old-school Black Ops players or those only familiar with the latest entries, this LMG was a fan favorite in Black Ops 3, so much so that it made a comeback within Black Ops 4. Intriguingly, though, this leak isn’t the only evidence for the Hades’ comeback, as Treyarch’s own actions suggest it will return.
Black Ops 7 is rumored to borrow MW3’s carry forward system, which would make a fair bit of sense considering this will be the second year of Black Ops games in a row. This possibility makes the Olympia shotgun’s Pack-a-Punch name change feel deliberate. The Olympia, which was added to Black Ops 6 as part of the Beavis and Butthead event, boasts the name Pluto when Pack-a-Punched. Naming the upgraded Olympia after the god of the underworld is all well and good, but what’s interesting is that the weapon already used to be named after a different god of the underworld: Hades.
In the original Black Ops and Black Ops 2, Pack-a-Punching the Olympia saw it gaining the name Hades, which would have caused an obvious problem if carry-forward were to happen with BO7. Specifically, if the upgraded Olympia were to keep its old Pack-a-Punch name and feature alongside the Hades LMG, people could have two Hades in their inventories at the same time, leading to confusion. Players could also have had a hard time distinguishing between a Tier 1 Packed Olympia or a default Hades LMG if they were just going off the names, so making the Olympia’s new PaP name a tribute to a different god of the underworld may be clever future-proofing. Though the name change could just be a fun way to play with community expectations, it may also be an admission that the Hades LMG will indeed be featured in Black Ops 7.
Despite the Olympia being added to BO3 multiplayer via supply drops, it was not featured in Zombies, meaning Treyarch was able to dodge two weapons having the same name in that title.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s Hades Will Hopefully Be the Real Deal
There are a few things that led to the Hades being such a popular weapon, and BO7 will want to remember them if it does bring the gun back. In Black Ops 3 Zombies, it was one of the strongest options available to players due to its hefty magazines and high damage output, so BO7’s Hades would naturally have to be one of the best options available in its Zombies mode. In Black Ops 4 multiplayer, the Hades was incredibly fun to wield and deadly in the right hands thanks to its crossbar Operator Mod, which removed ADS in favor of quicker movement and a focused hipfire mode. If the weapon does make a comeback in 2025’s Call of Duty game, it would be great to see the Crossbar featured within its attachment list.
