Looking at the reviews for Call of Duty: Ghosts says a lot about the state of the once titanic series. Despite promises of reinvigoration, disappointment from outlets and consumers across the board makes it appear anything but. It isn’t that Infinity Ward didn’t try, either. The addition of a dog companion in campaign mode was intended to give the story a different feel from the isolation of previous installments. Meanwhile, deep character customization, additions to gameplay flow, and dynamic maps were designed to elevate the series, preparing it for a new generation of releases.
But truthfully, Call of Duty is now officially in recession. If its pre-order numbers are any indication its sales will be a far cry from previous installments. Sure, it’ll still sell multiple millions of copies and be profitable thanks to its unbelievably large marketing campaign, but at this point the IP is being damaged. Once gamers no longer consider it the blockbuster FPS of the holiday season, the end is near.
A lot of this is a predicable result of the series having a yearly release with no break in sight. Expecting a development team to be truly innovative with a limited time-frame is unrealistic. Innovation takes time, and as Valve, Naughty Dog, and other renowned development teams have shown us, it’s well worth the patience and investment.
Next-gen hardware is finally here, and although Infinity Ward was able to play around with it, what it produced appears to be a rush job. You get to experience improved visuals, but none of the functionality that really sets one generation apart from the other. Infinity Ward says Ghosts was a “logistical nightmare” to port to the PS4 and Xbox One. That same nightmare is what breeds excellence in video games; it’s the challenge of working with something that has remarkable potential. Instead of feeling pushed to reach deadline both teams need to take a step back and really think about what makes Call of Duty the well-known IP that it is and has been for 10 years.
The series’ most well-received game, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (in contrast, Call of Duty: Ghosts is the lowest rated), was the first title to break into the current-gen. It improved the series in every way imaginable, from presentation to gameplay. Gamers responded by investing hundreds of hours of their time.
I remember playing Modern Warfare for my first time. It felt new and exciting in the way a brand-new car does. I wanted to log-in and see what was next, whether it be unlocking a new weapon, or experiencing the thrill of trying to top the scoreboard. It was the kind of game that you show your friends and then they run out and buy a copy for themselves. It wasn’t hard to get all of your friends to play.
Now Call of Duty feels like one grind after another. Holiday season comes around, I push for level cap while mindlessly blasting away enemies from my couch, and then forget about it. When I recall great memories from Call of Duty, few of them come from these last couple years. It’s sticking an enemy with semtex (Modern Warfare 2) for my first time, sending in a Helicopter (Modern Warfare) and watching it obliterate the opposing team, and conquering wave 20 of Nazi Zombies (World at War) that come to mind.
With all the money in the world at their disposal, we hope that Treyarch and Infinity Ward become more familiar with next-gen hardware and can find inventive ways to bring the spark back to Call of Duty. Not only does it need it, it deserves it.
