There were a some unusual things to it. Jack is no longer a CTU agent. No CTU at all. But it's fresh! It's different. It's creative there were many great episode and 24 is exciting again
I watched this for the first time a few weeks ago, and have to say I really enjoyed Season 7. It was far better than the last few seasons. I actually liked all the FBI staff, while I haven't really liked anyone in CTU for a few seasons (e.g. Morris, Chloe).
Most of the criticism's leveled at s6 could easily be applied to s7. It was watchable but not a patch on the first season, hope the rumours are true that s8 will be the last.
Althought true that the latest seasons don't quite match up to the early ones, I still think at it's worst, 24 is one of the best shows on television. I really don't want to see it go!