In Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, there are a ton of different options at your disposal for taking down enemies. You've got a vast array of weapons, scorestreaks, throwable items, and you can even use your melee prowess to take them down. Related to your melee is the ability to take an enemy hostage, allowing you to use them as a body shield as you work towards another enemy's position. In this guide, I'll run through the steps you need to take to hold an enemy hostage in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.
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How to Take an Enemy Hostage in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
To take an enemy hostage and use them as a body shield, get up behind an enemy and press the V key on PC, or the right stick in (R3) on both Xbox and PlayStation controllers twice. This will cause you to swoop in behind them and grab them around the neck, essentially then using them as a meatshield until you decide to kill them, or they get shot by enemies trying to get you.
If you've changed your keybinds or controller mapping, you can still take an enemy hostage. You just need to double-tap whatever you have assigned your melee to.
Once you've taken an enemy as hostage, you then have two different options. You can either press the melee button once to quickly kill the enemy so you can get back into the thick of the action, or you can double-tap the melee button/key again and perform a stylish execution on them instead. Which one you choose ultimately depends on the situation you're in. If you have enemies coming at you from all angles, it's probably better to just kill the hostage enemy quickly. However, if you really want to rub it in and have the time, performing an execution on them would be the best course of action.
If you're struggling to take an enemy hostage, I recommend using the Ninja perk on your loadout. This will make your footsteps quieter, making it easier to sneak up on enemies without being detected.
Ninja is only unlocked at level 53, however, so you'll need to grind a bit to get there first.
I've also found that playing objective-based modes such as Domination, Hardpoint, or Search & Destroy make it much easier to take players as hostages. This is because they'll naturally be running to a certain point on the map, so with a bit of luck and knowledge of the maps, you can flank their position and sneak up behind them to pull one off.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 66 /100 Critics Rec: 34%
- Released
- November 14, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Treyarch, Raven Software
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
