I've put more hours into Zombies than I'd ever admit, and there's a point where you stop feeling scared. You've got your route, your perks, your comfort weapons, and you're basically on rails. CoD BO7 Boosting gets talked about a lot for progression, but Cursed Mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is about the opposite: stripping progress away and seeing what you're actually made of. Once "Ashes of the Damned" is solved and the mode opens up, it's back to the barebones vibe—pistol start, no minimap, no warm-up lap—except the game's actively trying to bait you into bad habits.

Back To Zero, On Purpose

The first few minutes hit different because your usual safety checks aren't there. You can't glance at a map and reset a train. You can't coast on momentum from an early purchase. You're just reading spawns, listening for tells, and praying you didn't cut a corner too tight. It's the kind of pressure older maps used to have, where one sloppy mantle or one greedy revive turns into a full wipe. And you feel it fast, because the mode doesn't wait for you to "get settled."

The Relics That Mess With Your Head

The Relic system is what makes this mode more than a simple damage tweak. You choose the pain, and that choice follows you all match. Start with the Grim Relics and it's instantly personal. The "Teddy Bear" relic is nasty: every bullet costs Essence. So the classic move—hold the trigger, thin the horde, grab drops—suddenly bankrupts you. "Dragon Wings" is worse in a different way. Power-ups, the things you've been trained to chase, can hurt you. You see one glow on the floor and your brain screams "go," but your health bar says "don't."

Economy Collapse And Rhythm Traps

Then the Sinister Relics come in and wreck the part of Zombies that most players lean on: the economy. "Focusing Stone" cutting off Essence gains forces a totally different match plan. You're not shopping your way out of trouble. You're sliding, knifing, spacing, using corners like tools. The Wicked Relics are the weird ones, because they throw off pacing and enemy behavior. Your timing gets out of sync, and that's brutal, since high-round play is basically rhythm and nerves.

Why Anyone Would Do This

People aren't grinding Cursed Mode just to suffer on stream. The rewards have teeth: Golden Armor, Ultra weapon rarity, and Tier IV Pack-A-Punch actually change what you can do in later runs. It's the kind of payoff that makes a brutal ruleset feel fair, because you're earning power through skill, not just time. If you're the type who misses that old "one mistake and you're done" feeling, this is it—and if you'd rather skip the grind and still keep up, a lot of players point friends toward CoD BO7 Boosting for sale when the unlocks start calling.