Call of Duty. Some love it (perhaps a little too much), while others detest its very name (definitely a little too much). While we could debate about its merits and flaws as a series of games forever, we won’t be doing that today. Instead, let’s rather discuss its impact on the video game industry as a whole.
The impact of Call of Duty is undeniable. Its made people, and business, realise that videogames are a huge thing – and not just the domain of the stereotyped sweaty, pale-faced basement dwellers. As a cultural phenomenon, it’s helped turn video games from being something associated with antisocial behaviour into something that’s not just socially accepted, but even mainstream. It’s quite likely that without COD turning games in to big business, many of your favourite games wouldn’t even exist today.
On the other hand, because it’s such a money-spinner, it has the knock-on effect of making just about every publisher and developer want a slice of that pie, resulting in an overabundance of “me too” clones, with multiplayer needlessly tacked on to just about everything. Hell, half of those clones exist within the Call of Duty franchise itself – and we have a bred culture of safe, annualised sequels.
Whether you love or hate Call of Duty, its impact on the industry is immeasurable; but is that impact a good, or bad thing for videogames?
Last Updated: May 17, 2013
eXpZA
May 17, 2013 at 10:35
Call of Duty 1 (with United Offensive expansion). One of the best games I’ve ever played.
Call of Duty 2 – excellent, loved it to bits.
Call of Duty 3 – terrible
Call of Duty 4 – hands down one of the best games ever made.
Call of Duty : World at War – great homage to CoD2, but not quite there for me.
Call of Duty : MW2 – really fun, but at this point I started to feel the franchise was being milked.
Call of Duty : Blops – I actually loved it, SP was spot on.
Call of Duty : MW3 – Milking Status confirmed
Call of Duty : Blops2 – oh come on now. Kill it with fire.
eXpZA
May 17, 2013 at 10:37
Just to add to this, most people who play CoD and bemoan it never played before CoD4 (or even MW1). The series started out as one of the freshest and most unique gaming platforms. It, sadly, never evolved much further.
TechniKyle
May 17, 2013 at 10:39
I’ve only ever played the first one, and I didn’t like it.
TechniKyle
May 17, 2013 at 10:41
My sister’s BF has Black Ops, so I’ll give that a go when I finish up a few games.
Scruff304
May 17, 2013 at 10:51
Agreed. The original CoDs were great. Mates and I used to lan that for an entire weekend. Even the first Modern version of it was really good for its time. Now I just feel it has been beaten more then a red headed step child…
Brady miaau
May 17, 2013 at 10:46
Holy crap, how many times were you called to duty?
I had no idea….
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 17, 2013 at 11:06
Hammer.
OUT
Brady miaau
May 17, 2013 at 11:32
hey, its Friday, right?
🙂
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 17, 2013 at 11:36
Almost made it dude 🙂
Ultimo_Cleric_N7
May 17, 2013 at 11:38
Seems someone has become a little TOO addicted to whipping out the hammer. Next time you use this picture I will BAN Hammer you!
Hammerception if you will 😉
CaptainNemo42
May 17, 2013 at 11:55
He reminds me of the Queen of Hearts.
Ultimo_Cleric_N7
May 17, 2013 at 12:05
HAHAA! So true.
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 17, 2013 at 12:27
You wound me guys, you do.
Hammer is just a symbol, and the exercise was for the community to do something together, now it seems I am pulling punches 🙁
Ultimo_Cleric_N7
May 17, 2013 at 13:30
Just taking the piss bro, no harm done 🙂
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 17, 2013 at 14:14
XD
Brady miaau
May 17, 2013 at 12:53
Is sarcasm trolling? Especially when sarcasm is true, wow, that is a lot of games.
LordCaptainAwesomeness
May 17, 2013 at 13:04
What the Hell, lemme have a go….
Up to MW it was good. After that , is was as if the entire DEV Team, was dropped on their heads, and they joined “Special Forces”.
But then again, the average age of the player has stayed constant at 7.. the copy and paste cash cow that is COD , needs to be taken out to pasture and stabbed in the foot with a knife so that it will finally be at rest.
Where are the Fresh Ideas? The ORIGINAL gameplay, using NEW Ideas, NEW Graphics etc.
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 17, 2013 at 13:07
Trolling I’m afraid 🙁
LordCaptainAwesomeness
May 17, 2013 at 13:09
No Ban Hammer for me? Yes…….
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 17, 2013 at 13:13
now that you mention it
(hard to keep up you know)
Yolanda Green
May 17, 2013 at 10:58
CoD4 was just perfect ^_^ BLOPS 2 MP has it’s fun, all the gadgets and stuff is just overkill though. That being said TDM is very addictive.
Axon1988
May 17, 2013 at 11:49
And I suck at it big time. Looked at my steam acc and it confirms: Total hours spent playing Blops 2 = 8hours. I’ll never get those 8 agonizing hours back. 🙁
Trevor Davies
May 17, 2013 at 11:01
CoD 1 is the only one I’ve played & it was great.
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 17, 2013 at 11:09
Hammer for you, twice in one comment
Lourens Jordaan
May 17, 2013 at 11:16
Can’t agree with you more.
Tbone187
May 17, 2013 at 13:31
Agreed, my faves in the series will be: The SP campaign in MW2 was pure action awesomeness…Survival in MW3 is epic…and MP in BlackOps 2 is amazingly massive …
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
May 17, 2013 at 15:06
You speak the truth. Please take this upvote!
TechniKyle
May 17, 2013 at 10:35
Is that the beet talking? *giggles*
CaptainNemo42
May 17, 2013 at 10:45
I wish.
FoxOneZA - X-Therminator
May 17, 2013 at 10:40
COD 2: Good.
Modern Warfare 1: Good.
The rest: All the same.
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
May 17, 2013 at 10:41
It’s both good and bad.
Good:
It’s good because it catapulted the gaming industry in to overdrive. Gaming was suddenly noticed as a real, proper hobby by the world in general. It also created the current gaming habitat that we are all used to. CoD alone did this more than any other game in history (you don’t have to agree with me but in our hearts we all know this is true). Even more than CS did.
Bad:
It created the current gaming habitat we find ourselves in.
Mutliplayer everything. Always connected everything. Bragging rights just for the heck of it. Bad view of gaming by the media in general because so many kids play it, etc etc;. All these negetive aspects can be attributed almost directly to CoD because it set the trend.
Not only that but the generic shooter is starting to become more and more the same with every passing year. Eventually every shooter will be CoD with a differant paint scheme. This worries me, even though it isn’t CoD’s fault that it gets copied, as it will spell the doom of the FPS in general if developers don’t start trying something new.
umar bastra
May 17, 2013 at 10:46
Nice…I think the bad FAR outweighs the good imo
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
May 17, 2013 at 11:38
Not so sure. Without the good the industry wouldn’t be as big as it is now. It sounds like that may be a good thing but in reality it would make gaming a very difficult thing to get in to if it wasn’t so commercialized.
umar bastra
May 17, 2013 at 11:45
But what exactly is a good thing about having gaming commercialized. COD made it more modern and , for a lack of better words ‘hip and cool’, I think the casual market and wii did much more to make gaming more commercial. In the ps2 era , you could then argue that gaming wasn’t that commercial but we saw amazing games come out then and there was hardly ever a lack of fresh games. Now that gaming is more commercial it needs to now satisfy the masses because the masses now are all into these type of games, which is why most games are generic and are very aimed at the twitch market, an example I always use is one of the saddest and it’s one of my all time favorite games, Front Mission…A deep tactical RPG with robots that needed actual intelligence was transformed into nothing more than a generic brainless action shooter, why? to appease the masses. That for me is far worse than anything COD brought to the table.
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
May 17, 2013 at 11:52
That’s why I listed it as both good and bad. Let’s face it. Without CoD having done what it did for the market casual, commercial gaming may never have materialised because it wouldn’t have been seen as a money making industry without it.
So the Wii and casual gaming market wouldn’t have been such a big thing at all.
But the downside to it (as with anything in this world) the moment it grows to a certain point then things start going downhill. Ideas get copied and imagination gets thrown in the wind.
That all being said I actually think there is a comeback occuring with people wanting to make fresh, new games again. Look at what has happened with the last 3 we have had: FarCry3, Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider. All 3 amazing games that felt fresh. So perhaps it’s not all as bad as we think.
CoD caused both the rise and “downfall” of gaming in general. It isn’t solely responsible no, but it did have one of the biggest impacts in the industry and that is very evident in how many games are “clones”
umar bastra
May 17, 2013 at 12:03
No one can deny the impact that COD has had though . But for me, It caused much more harm. But you know, another game would’ve done what COD did and then nothing we would all be hating that game. Cod was so huge that other games and companies started to fail and go under and that is a truly scary thing
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
May 17, 2013 at 12:31
Agreed. Imagine if it wasn’t CoD. Imagine if it was heroes of might and magic that did what CoD did for the industry. I bet you that even FPS games would have been purely turn based 😛
Trevor Davies
May 17, 2013 at 11:32
Don’t know if it’s fair to say CoD set the trend regarding negative aspects. I think they were always there, it’s just that when CoD made it big those things were easier to see, especially since more people started paying attention to it. A big franchise makes for a big target when it comes to negative reporting on a host of issues.
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
May 17, 2013 at 11:39
You make a fair point. If not CoD, then it would have been whatever is biggest just below it. Either way, the correlation is still there.
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 17, 2013 at 10:42
Ok, while most here will think I hate CoD, these past two weeks have given me some thinking time.
While I am not overtly fond of CoD, they have done wonders for awareness for gaming. What I don’t like is that if you talk to someone for the first time, and if they ask what hobbies/interest you have, and you say that you are a gamer, and they respond with “oh you mean Call of Duty”
It fairness, its also due to the exposure. I guess my gripe with CoD is that most people think all games are like that. And there is such a vast difference between different types of games.
TechniKyle
May 17, 2013 at 10:51
Oh You mean Call of Duty? What a dick thing to say. Just smile, raise your eyebrows, look to your lower right and walk away. =)
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 17, 2013 at 10:56
I promise you, it has happened to me far, far too often.
If I meet someone for the first time and they refer to some classics, I want to hug them
loftie
May 17, 2013 at 11:31
green card!
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
May 17, 2013 at 11:40
Referencing the box art are you?
TechniKyle
May 17, 2013 at 12:02
No, it’s what I do when I meet rude people. You can’t change their minds, so why bother speaking to them.
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
May 17, 2013 at 12:31
Hehehehehe
Purple_Dragon
May 17, 2013 at 10:43
I think the one thing that has been bad from COD is that it’s created the expectation with some studios thinking they can get the same kind of sales. Like with Tomb Raider selling a lot but they set targets far too high.
umar bastra
May 17, 2013 at 10:44
COD : modern warefare…Amazing game, YES AMAZING!! great set pieces, FANTASTIC multiplayer, solid game … what it bred is far worse than anything I could have ever imagined.
*Preteen gangsters
*made almost every other game want to be a fps
*stump creativity in the industry as it has become so hard to take risks now a days, as COD is eating the market
*Increased the Incest Rate between child and mother
I hate COD….I hate what this single f*cking series did…
TechniKyle
May 17, 2013 at 10:47
I dislike the game, and many its players, but as for what it’s done for the industry, I applaud it. Not really that clued up in eSports, but I think – and feel free to correct me – that eSports wouldn’t be around today if it wasn’t for Call of Duty. The first time I’d ever heard of a ‘clan’ was a a Call of Duty clan, so I think that the game has a way of uniting people and that it great. People have, unfortunately, turned it into something ugly.
Mark Treloar
May 17, 2013 at 11:44
Actually there were eSports competitions running before COD. They featured Quake 3, CS and Starcraft.
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 17, 2013 at 11:44
I used to LAN at those events 🙂
TechniKyle
May 17, 2013 at 12:00
Thanks, but as I said, not really clued up in eSports.
umar bastra
May 17, 2013 at 10:50
I would sell my Liver to have this !
That Tall Twit
May 17, 2013 at 10:56
Upvote for you.
Rince an repeat
May 17, 2013 at 11:51
Up vote from me too buddy, well done.
umar bastra
May 17, 2013 at 12:09
Sanks, Imagine a game where you play as Cthulhu with two Ak’s killing baddies in R’lyeh…*droooooool*
That Tall Twit
May 17, 2013 at 10:53
This article is almost like Jail Bait… :<
umar bastra
May 17, 2013 at 10:56
Well at least you won’t go to jail
Trevor Davies
May 17, 2013 at 10:59
I think it’s a good thing.
For EA it gives them a solid base that allows them to pursue other projects without worrying too much that a single failure will cripple their business. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Dead Space would have been a much harder sell to EA if they didn’t have CoD raking in the cash.
While other companies tried to copy CoD & didn’t succeed, I think most have now realised that they can’t just clone it, they need to do something different which leads to us getting a bit more variation.
And given that every new version continues to sell well, it shows that gamers still enjoy it, and how can gamers getting what they want be a bad thing? This goes back to a point I made the other day that many people aren’t that interested in innovation, they want more of what they enjoy now.
CaptainNemo42
May 17, 2013 at 11:37
Uhm… EA didn’t make COD. Or am I missing something?
Trevor Davies
May 17, 2013 at 11:40
no no, I think I’m missing something – thanks for pointing it out & corrected lol Don’t know why I had EA on the brain.
CaptainNemo42
May 17, 2013 at 11:45
Its Friday, I think you will be forgiven. It’s not like you trolled somebody and got that hammer thrown at you. I miss-spelled “beer” earlier today, and some people keeps reminding me. 😛
On a side note. I’m sure EA wishes they made COD.
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 17, 2013 at 11:57
Heh, correct spelling is one of the 5 possibilities for next weeks community challenge
Lourens Jordaan
May 17, 2013 at 11:03
I already said this once before today but here it goes again:
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 17, 2013 at 11:05
You are free to do so if you please, you’ve been OUT since 15th
Lourens Jordaan
May 17, 2013 at 11:23
It’s just too easy buddy. If you want to troll, it needs to be unexpected. It’s boring if everybody does it. Most of the articles this week was trolling (as in fishing) for trolls. It needs to be pulled from thin air. You need to be challenged. True trolling is an art. It shouldn’t be mass produced or be punched out regularly with the same stuff being reiterated time and time again like Taiwanese toys or call of duty sequels.
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
May 17, 2013 at 11:42
Nah, what this week has been has been an amazing example of just how awesome this community can be together 🙂 It’s actually been loads of fun with both the community and the staff getting in on the action 🙂
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 17, 2013 at 11:43
That was all I wanted to achieve this week, and will try to do so every week.
A community challenge if you will
Martin du preez
May 17, 2013 at 11:05
Hate the player(s) not the game.
Wikus Radyn
May 17, 2013 at 11:09
As an experience, I’ve always found them to be fun….Most of the time. It’s an entertaining experience, but not something I’d say I’d go for every year
For the industry, I think it’s messed it up pretty bad. Publishers want their games to sell as much copies as a COD game (like Tomb Raider being considered a “failure” after ONLY selling 3.7 something million copies in the first month).
And as much as I enjoy a Call Of Duty game every now and again, I don’t want my games COD-ified to fit some silly concept of what publishers/developers think it needs to be to try to pull in that ridiculous amount of sales…
Tbone187
May 17, 2013 at 12:48
Well said mate…I concur…
Sir_Twakkus_Aurelius_Maximus
May 17, 2013 at 11:13
Lol, screw subtlety ne Geoff? Decided to go all in with this troll bait article 😛
Alex Hicks
May 17, 2013 at 11:18
What concerns me most about the impact of Call of Duty is how it has shifted the focus on game development. What made COD4:MW the success it was was the pace and mechanics of the multiplayer modes; and the strong PC community that mapped and supported the game. Yet, what made Activision and the COD game so popular was the incredible launch and support the console gamers gave to COD(6):MW2.
That has swung the focus of developers to fast paced, popcorn entertainment geared to console owners. That is a massive negative mark against what the franchise has delivered to the gaming community as a whole.
Fortunately, the competitors have failed miserably when going toe-to-toe with COD; and so have either tried to innovate and emphasis different ways of playing the combat shooter (eg. Battlefield) or gone down the story-driven narrative route and different combat mechanics (eg. Spec Ops). But are they profitable enough to absorb the waiting time until COD inevitably falls into the gravitational field generated by it’s enormous bloated body, as gamers tire of the rinse and repeat formula gameplay? I hope so.
DaxterZA
May 17, 2013 at 11:30
This is such a pointless debate? Come on Lazygamer!!
Its not the worst and its also not the best, point.
Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim
May 17, 2013 at 11:36
Don’t know if you read the actual thing – but this debate isn’t about the games themselves – but rather COD’s impact on the industry, which I feel is a worthwhile discussion.
DaxterZA
May 17, 2013 at 11:42
Which has been done 10000 times….
All this will result in is a lot of people saying they hate COD…that is what always happens.
Im just tired of all these COD debates, its like it never stops….we need discussions on more fresh and interesting topics….
CODDAMIT
May 17, 2013 at 11:48
He didn’t read it!
DaxterZA
May 17, 2013 at 12:01
Sigh…I did read it….but it doesnt matter how fancy you try to make a COD debate look, it will always result in what I said above….
Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim
May 17, 2013 at 12:06
For the most part, reading the comments, it seems people have largely stuck to topic – and it hasn’t devolved in to some sort of COD lambasting. And that makes me happy.
Trevor Davies
May 17, 2013 at 12:09
Sometimes I enjoy the irony of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
CODDAMIT
May 17, 2013 at 12:07
Then you attempted to read it. He asked if it was good or bad for the industry not if it was a good or a bad game.
DaxterZA
May 17, 2013 at 12:18
And if you “attempted” to read my comments then you would understand what Im trying to say is that COD debates are getting old and lame, and that this has been done countless times. Im just personally tired of all the focus on COD games when there is so much more better and interesting games to discuss….
Now can you “attempt” to understand this or should I “attempt” to explain my reasons for commenting on this topic again??
Tbone187
May 17, 2013 at 12:47
I see what you did there…
Ultimo_Cleric_N7
May 17, 2013 at 11:36
Trolling for days .
Lord Chaos
May 17, 2013 at 11:44
Would seem the entire staff are rollin’ out the trollin’ this week.
For shame.
Ultimo_Cleric_N7
May 17, 2013 at 11:45
I am sticking to topic on this one. Without CoD, love it or hate it, the gaming industry and gaming as a whole would be in a different place alltogether. It says something about this series that it changed the way that gaming companies were run. The world has now realised that gaming is BIG BUSINESS AND MEANS BUSINESS.
But thats also the downside. I honestly dont think that companies like EA and Activision would be run like souless money makers were it not for the succes of CoD and Halo. We would not be seeing our beloved game Co’s like THQ, Bioware etc eaten up and changed into a generic mess.
Pros and Cons either way. But CoD shouldnt take all the blame. BF, Halo and Gears are just as much to blame.
codsucks
September 8, 2013 at 11:45
couldnt care less for cod, it ruined too many games for me, ive been playing since snes era or maybe earlier, mega drive? anyway, ps2 was the glorious era for me, we had a plethora of intersting and unique titles, and then bam, cod4, while it was great, they reiterated the same stuff over and over nd a once great series became trash. if cod could fuck off we could get a lot more intersting games mechanically at the AAA dev level, but instead we are stuck with these generic “turrurist” 6 hour campaigns (or less) and multiplayer with freaking EVERYTHING. ultimately, cod can be around but while it is, im not, ill be sat here playing older games til the industry suck it up and stop trying to be 12 year old fuel. kthxbai
CODDAMIT
May 17, 2013 at 11:47
well shit.
Rince an repeat
May 17, 2013 at 11:51
hahahaha
CODDAMIT
May 17, 2013 at 12:09
I was late and had to think quick.
Kyle Farmer
May 17, 2013 at 11:55
I’m just gonna say it, cos I’m out already. This is just to beat Geoff’s comment count yesterday isn’t it? 😉 COD, I shudder… The prob with it is the people who play it, who shouldn’t play it (due to age) and go mental… I’ve never heard of a dude going mental over a “hidden object game” 🙂
Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim
May 17, 2013 at 12:04
We never use FFD or competitions in the best of the week comments awards, so no; it’s just genuinely a question I’ve had on my mind for quite some time.
FoxOneZA - X-Therminator
May 17, 2013 at 12:10
Can we haz a Forza vs GT FFD next week pweeeez!
CaptainNemo42
May 17, 2013 at 12:20
You really want to bring the Lans out from retirement?
Rince an repeat
May 17, 2013 at 11:57
It is an interesting question. I think it is a bit of both. I know, sounds like a cop (cod?) out, but if you look at the way games have become mainstream, that does also carry with it a better understanding. Sure, politicians jump on the whole, he played games and killed real people because he couldn’t tell the difference. I think with gaming becoming so large, more attention is brought to this area. More research perhaps as a result? More focus on how to rate a game? It’s like spaceflight. Right now there are no ‘laws’ as such. No policies exist on who is allowed preference in Moon approach etc, but there sure as fuck will be when it becomes more mainstream. As for the bad effects? Yeah, I expected something like this to happen. It’s an ENTERTAINMENT industry so generic crap will flood the market. Look at Take That, The Spice Girls, ABBA. The medium itself mutates into something that a vast majority will like, for generic reasons. Well, that’s my 2 cents, well, more like $100 but anywho…
That Tall Twit
May 17, 2013 at 12:29
I have never played Call of Duty. >.<
Gavin Mannion
May 17, 2013 at 15:35
Seriously? It actually is pretty good
Skyblue
May 17, 2013 at 12:58
…
Skyblue
May 17, 2013 at 13:00
Soz about the multiple post, freaking Disqus bs again
Tbone187
May 17, 2013 at 13:10
There’s clearly both positive and negative aspects in which the game has influenced the industry…How it affects you in the end is whether or not you’re a casual or hardcore gamer…
COD seems to be geared to the more casual gamer who simply wants to get in, enjoy the experience and get out…Those who have time on their hands, will enjoy other titles with more intense storylines and rpg elements…Make no mistake tho, there are those that enjoy both. Myself included…
I reckon overall, it’s been good for the industry and FPS’s in particular.As Half Life was at the time…The idea of blaming one franchise’s success story for the lack of creativity in other dev teams doesn’t sit well with me…
Warren Ross
May 17, 2013 at 13:23
I think you’ve attributed too many things to CoD in this article, Geoff.
I would say that arguably the biggest shift that gaming made into the mainstream began with the overwhelming popularity of the original Playstation. Suddenly, you could find people playing video games in nightclubs and at raves. You had sports jocks and car enthusiasts snapping up sports games and racing titles (Gran Turismo influenced an entire generation of car buyers, the likes of Subaru couldn’t be thankful enough). In short, and entire realm of people not previously interested in gaming at all, were suddenly buying Playstations by the truckload and the industry would never be the same. For me, a long-time PC and console gaming since the early ’80s, it was all quite mind-boggling.
The biggest catalyst for networked FPS gaming was unquestionably the original Doom, and then hot on its heels, the original Quake. There were Doom and Quake clans in South Africa even in those days (like Damage Clan, headquartered at the old Randburg Waterfront). The rise of FPS gaming was spear-headed by Wolfenstein 3D, then catapulted into the stratosphere by the endless multiplayer possibilities of Doom and then Quake.
Industry-wise, the gaming industry has been big business for decades, long before the original Call of Duty came into existence. Zelda, Mario, Dune 2, Starcraft, Doom, Civilization, World of Warcraft, Diablo, League of Legends…pick a decade, pick a genre, and you’ll find the giants that drove the industry.
I think what the original Call of Duty did very well, was to take a topical theme (WW2 FPS combat, which had been popularised by the Medal of Honour games) and introduce cleverly integrated scripted story elements to the action. In effect, it created a very cinematic experience which existed somewhere between an “on-rails” experience and a completely open environment.
Over time the series has gotten lighter on single-player content, with multiplayer options giving the games some legs. This is a bit of a pity IMO, but then, as a single-player fan, I have games like Mass Effect and Skyrim which cater to my needs for a fully fledged, lengthy experience.
I think the whole CoD “hatred” thing is overstated, I honestly don’t think that the majority of gamers care very much. For me, what is a bit more concerning is the rise of simple gamer-lite platforms like iOS and Android, the willingness of publishing houses to releases half-finished stuff and pad it with DLC or patches later on, the rise of the “freemium” business model, etc. Those sorts of things are currently more impactful right now, and will directly influence the future of what sort of products we’ll be getting for our gaming $$$.
HvR
May 17, 2013 at 13:26
Just in:
Yobokkie
May 17, 2013 at 13:52
The biggest problem I have with it is that it’s really pushed the whole “This game is hard-core let me HOLD YOUR HAND FOR YOU” type of gameplay. Where it’s mind-blowingly linear and you are forced to follow/do/shoot whatever/whoever they tell you to.
It also irritates me because you have a game like that which is so easy to play and finish but the legions of people playing it think that it is a hardcore game, “because guns and violence”, but in fact some of the most brutal games I’ve ever played don’t even have much, if any, violence or guns. You can finish a COD game on hard mode within 6 hours, it’s too lazy and safe. You’d think with all that money they have made they could take a risk every now and then and break some new ground, like the first COD did back in the day.
So yeah I don’t hate it but I’d never play it by choice. Give me Deus Ex or even something like Far Cry 2 over this any day. FPS shooters that need a bit more brains to finish. Or else something ridiculous and funny like NOLF. Because frankly I play games to be entertained, and COD has become nothing more than a interactive arcade movie/game like mad dog mccree or something. Point, click, point click.
Xelus
May 17, 2013 at 15:03
All in all, this game wouldn’t have existed in the first place if it wasn’t for doom and all those old golden oldies. 😉 CoD is nice, played the first one and Black Ops1. But honestly, the CoD game is like 3DS Max in the industry I work in. I don’t have anything against it, but whenever a gamer open his/her mouth, they mention the game or compare everything to it.
Its not that we hate the game, we hate the players that can’t realize, there is more than just CoD or 3DS Max in the world. We call them fanboyz! I work with blender 3D, an open source app, my work is now being compared to industry applications like 3DS Max and Maya due to the fact I’m producing closer to that quality if not more. Same happens with any other game that produces the same or better feel of the game than CoD.
I have respect for games like these, they move the industry forward. We need more of these games!
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
May 17, 2013 at 15:08
By the way, what’s up with the massive xbox banners underneath the COD ghost background picture?
Gavin Mannion
May 17, 2013 at 15:33
I honestly don’t know, but COD is often co-marketed with Xbox
Marc O Polo
May 17, 2013 at 17:01
they having the COD ghosts reveal thing at the xbox launch
Tasty peas mixed with porridge
May 17, 2013 at 16:10
COD like Bonnie was fine until Cher the internet came along and It was a marriage made in heaven.
crack2483
May 17, 2013 at 18:13
Considering it was just a medal of honour clone……….
RichardC
May 17, 2013 at 19:15
It does more damage than it does good anyone that cant see that shouldnt even bother calling themselves a gamer or atleast a gamer that cares about the diversity and dignity of this industry.
Jammer777
May 17, 2013 at 22:19
Call of Duty (like many other FPS) unfortunately pander to the console gamer with a 2minute attention span. Run around and kill 7 baddies in 30 seconds and possibly get killed yourself. There is little strategy, tactic or skill.
There have been only a handful of thinking FPS out there, half life 2 comes to mind. Others like Farcry and Farcry 3 at least allows use of more of the elements to play a quasi intelligent game.
mancera
May 20, 2013 at 09:44
I’m so glad I missed this post on Friday… Geoff you evil bugger LOL