This article is my opinion on the multiplayer aspects of “Call Of Duty” and does not reflect the opinions of anyone on UzerFriendly.
Without a doubt, the most iconic and well-known franchise ever created is “Call Of Duty”. Almost every game in the franchise has sold millions of copies worldwide. Known for its exciting and fast-paced multiplayer gameplay, “Call Of Duty” has earned a spot on many gamers’ shelves on a yearly basis. You could argue that the gaming scene would not be as big as it is today without “Call Of Duty”. The game that really revolutionized the scene is “Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare”. This game brought many new aspects to multiplayer first person shooters that had never been done before. Things like killstreaks and weapon camo brought new aspects to the game that had players mesmerized by the innovation that Infinity Ward, the producers of “Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare”, brought to the table.
However, things aren’t as perfect as they seem. “Call Of Duty” (or “COD”, as it is commonly called in the gaming community) has been taking major criticism by fans. Year after year, their sales have been plummeting. It seems that Activision and the two studios that work on the game, Treyarch and Infinity Ward, are pushing to keep revolutionizing the gaming scene. Keep in mind that they alternate making the games, so Treyarch makes the game for one year and Infinity Ward makes the game for the year after. This way, the studios get two years to work on the game and they can still have a yearly release. Sledgehammer Games has also been added to the mix of the developers and are currently creating the new game, “Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare”, which is set to release on November 4th, 2014. This was a good move by Activison. Now the studios have three years to create and polish the game.
I personally don’t think that this move by Activision will dig them out of the hole they have buried themselves in over the recent years. There always seems to be a common theme in the past games that really just isn’t working with the fans. That theme is revolutionizing the game. The developers come up with these “great” ideas that they focus their entire marketing plan on. They think it will revolutionize the gaming scene and sell millions of copies. Some of these ideas aren’t awful, but they are abused by the player. The games are becoming more and more catered to new players, while the good players have to deal with it. Things like death streaks or care packages give lethal killstreaks to players who are going 5-20, who then kill a player who is 20-0. As one of the players who is going 20-0 and then gets killed by someone who gets a K.E.M. strike (a killstreak you can get from a care package that kills everyone on the opposing team) is very frustrating. I get that if the game isn’t friendly to new players it may turn them away. But for the players who constantly buy and support the game yearly as well as work to get better over the years, it makes us not want to buy the game anymore.
The developers have yet to realize that the reason “Call Of Duty” blew up was its fast-paced and exciting gameplay. Nothing could replicate the feeling of getting a helicopter in “COD:4”. The game was simple, yet fresh. If you were good, you dominated everyone else. Now-a-days the game is so slow, especially with a lot of the maps in the game being very large and camper friendly. This takes away the main selling point that
“Call Of Duty” had over its competitors. No one wants to constantly get killed over and over again by a guy sitting in a random corner in the darkest part of the map with a thermal LMG while aiming their sites down the entire time.
As a former amateur player, I want to see this franchise return to its prime. This game used to be my life. I would come home from school at 3:30 everyday and play until 12. Then on the weekends, I would play until I was so tired that I couldn’t keep myself awake. I spent countless hours grinding the game to get better. I got to the point where I was ranked top 10 on the GameBattles ladders for points and my team was ranked 3rd. For anyone familiar with the competitive side of “Call Of Duty”, you know how impressive that is. Not to gloat, but I was good. I could compete with some of the best players in the game at the time. Unfortunately, the game started getting boring and I stopped playing almost completely.
The only way for the “COD” franchise to get its old fans back while still bringing in new ones is by going back to its roots. Small to medium-sized maps that cater to fast-paced gameplay and good players should be taken out. They should also take out support streaks, care packages, and any other feature that caters to bad/new players. Trying to innovate and improve the game is one thing, but putting things into the game that makes it unfair for other players is not okay. An example of the perfect game barring a few perks and maps is “Call Of Duty: Black Ops”, my favorite of all time from the franchise. It had fun and rewarding killstreaks, like the chopper gunner, attack dogs, and blackbird. The guns had recoil and didn’t shoot laser beams, so it took some skill to actually be good at the game. Of course, some people will disagree with everything I’m saying, but coming from someone who has over 100 days of in-game time played over the past 4 years, I think I have some experience to know what the majority wants from “Call Of Duty”. What do you think of the franchise? Let us know in the comments!
Until next time Uzers – Mike
Thanks for reading! If you’d like, you can buy “Call Of Duty 4” here or “Call Of Duty: Black Ops” here. You can also buy any other “COD” game on Amazon.