Right away I know what I am getting myself into. By writing a post about Call of Duty, especially one about whether or not it’s a good game, makes me hum We Didn’t Start the Flame War as I write this article. So please, even though I got the ball rolling, do not let that happen.
I try really hard to like Call of Duty and, honestly, I really do not know why. Maybe it’s because of all the good times I had in the good old days, putting countless hours into Modern Warfare and World at War; or maybe it’s just because it’s one of the best games I have for playing with friends on the couch. Either way, it gets harder every year to hold on, but I keep on trying.
The last game in the series that I actually took time and played was Black Ops, because I enjoyed Modern Warfare 2, and loved its predecessors; however, I barely played Modern Warfare 3 at all and I played Black Ops 2 maybe once. So why did I buy Ghosts? Hey, why not? Even if the series was dying for me, it’s a pretty big milestone for the series, the tenth game of the series and the first game of the new console generation. Also, there are not that many games on the new consoles to buy yet so I made it one of my first PlayStation 4 games.
My “Big Issue” with Call of Duty‘s Campaigns
Anybody who has beaten Ghosts should recognize this scene right here, the screenshot does not do the best job illustrating what is happening, but it is a pretty recognizable moment. In this level you are rappelling down the side of a building when you come across a guy on a balcony, leading to a classic “knife from above” moment. After you kill the first guy, these guys come running out of the building. As the game enters slow motion, you are prompted to throw your knife at the nearest guy. There was a day that I would have thought that this was really cool, but that was at least six years ago. Now, the gamer in me just wants to shout at the TV about how scripted that scene is. For whatever reason, Activision keeps repeating these same scripted scenes over and over and over, making it harder and harder to enjoy their campaigns every year.
Now, I am not saying that everybody feels the same way. There are a whole slew of people, probably even the majority, who still find this super cool because they simply are not big gamers. That is perfectly fine, I am not necessarily saying it is a bad thing, I am just saying that I think it is time to move on. Leave the Modern Warfare games for the casual gamers.
The New Game Mode: Extinction
I am not really sure how I feel about Extinction, and it is a game mode that I am not quite sure how most people feel about. If you comment about anything in this article, make it about your opinions of Extinction. For those of you who have not played, Extinction is Ghosts‘ answer to Zombies; however, it is different than Zombies in more ways than it is similar.
One part of me loves Extinction, it is a fresh take on the survival game mode and it gives me another chance because I also loved Zombies, until it got old for me. I especially like the upgrade and class system, it’s not much compared to most customization systems, but at least its something. Look back to the original zombies: Nacht der Untoten, it wasn’t fancy in any way at all. In fact, it was really basic, but it was successful and they took Zombies to a whole new level after that. So, I would give the current Extinction a 6/10 for quality of its features, but a 9/10 for the potential it has in, dare I say, Ghosts 2?
The other side of me though thinks Extinction is completely out of place. The game is set in the future, but it is not in the distant future in some kind of Halo universe. The rest of the game has nothing to do with aliens and suddenly here they are. Overall, I think Extinction is fun to play, but that’s it.
What’s So Good About It?
As you can see, I have some grudges with this game, but I keep on playing it. In fact, I have even gone on to get all the miscellaneous objectives, like collecting all 18 Rorke Files. So, why do I keep playing? The fact is, it is not a great game, and the general community agrees, but all the hate to Call of Duty is also a little biased. It isn’t a bad game either, it’s average, but the hay days of the series make it look bad. Call of Duty went from top-of-the-line shooter to mediocre shooter with fun gameplay, but it still is fun. Regardless of how much I like to hate on it because of the good old days, I will probably still keep giving Call of Duty a chance for a long time.
-Tyler
Published: Mar 17, 2014 02:27 pm