The Main Reasons Call Of Duty is Dying

(Intro)

Call of Duty is not only one of the largest first-person shooters out there across all platforms, for many including myself, it was substantially impactful on my younger years growing up and playing online games with my friends and with others around the world. From the legendary Call of Duty 4 and Modern Warfare 2 games, to World at War and the first couple of black ops games, this franchise is important to so many people, and it’s not a surprise to say that the last half decades’ worth of Call of Duty experiences haven’t really hit the mark. But why? What has happened to Call of Duty that has created such a negative connotation when you even just mention the franchise out loud? There are a LOT of reasons that can be pointed to and called the culprit to the downfall of this franchise, but today, I wanted to look at some potential reasons that are maybe just a little more below the surface. I’m not going to breaking any new ground or coming up with some revolutionary reasons that haven’t already been addressed, but I think if we put aside the obvious answers for a moment and look at Call of Duty across all of the more modern titles, and compare the older titles, we can come to some interesting conclusions that maybe people have either forgotten or simply didn’t think about in this context. So, let’s have a conversation about Call of Duty; the rise and fall of this series and what is truly preventing it from making a triumphant return that enjoyers of this series would love to see come back into their regular gaming rotation.

(It’s the engine[s])

The first and most glaring reason why this series nowadays feels so similar is because to put it simply, it literally is. One of the more recent changes over the last five or so years, was the mandating from Activision for all Call of Duty games to unified under the same engine. That being the IW8/9 engine that was used to make 2019, which was the first major shakeup to the franchise in terms of visual presentation and gameplay. After Cold War failed to meet the gargantuan sales expectations, Activision had set on it; a new rule was made: all developers were to use the same engine going forward, so there would be no more mishaps. Sadly, what this has done is make every game truly feel the same. You remember that joke during the 2010’s that everyone used to say: the new Call of Duty is just the previous one with a different coat of paint? Turns out that wasn’t the case, because between Infinity Ward, Treyarch and eventually Sledgehammer games, each had their own engines that made the games feel unique to one another. Infinity Ward had the IW engine which has its origins from the quake engine long ago, Treyarch had the T engine, which was a heavily modified version of the IW engine, and Sledgehammer had their own proprietary engine because they were brought on for Call of Duty so late into the game. But with three different developers making these games, each had the opportunity to really create something unique to one another because the engines that ran these games were different.

Which is why people back in the day would have a preference for which series they enjoyed more. If people wanted something a little slower, a little more grounded they would’ve liked the modern warfare series of games. If they enjoyed faster, more aggressive and arcade-y feeling games, most people attribute those adjectives to Treyarch games. Sledgehammer is a weird one; with their first game being advanced warfare. And right off the bat that game rubbed people the wrong way because of the exosuit movement and first proper introduction of loot boxes into Call of Duty. Which has now led to the modern Call of Duty store front we know and most likely hate because loot boxes got stigmatized to hell and back thanks to Star Wars Battlefront Two. Either way, each studio had their own ways of making the same games. And for a while, people not only appreciated the differences but found their own reasons to enjoy them. But now, post 2019, every game literally feels the same. All we’re doing is jumping around to different time periods; using weapons with attachments that may or may not have existed during that period. But going beyond the engines, these games feel so cut and dry. There are no more surprises with Call of Duty. Which is why I feel as though a full-scale, proper reboot of the entire franchise could solve this problem.

(The series should reboot [again])

I know we already went through this song and dance before. That’s the whole reason Call of Duty 2019 exists. But that was with familiar characters and similar plot points that are reminiscent of the original title. What I am referring to is a brand-new entry in a modern setting with new characters that we can grow to appreciate and like. Something that feels gritty, in the moment and very real. I would love to see a brand-new recruit who has just graduated from boot camp be thrown into a war and just showing off what war does to someone. The choices they make, the gruesome circumstances that get put upon and how war ultimately changes people. If it was done well, with characters people can see a bit of themselves in, while keeping some of the more bombastic and over the top moments we’ve come to know and love from Call of Duty, who knows? It could be a success. But there’s a problem; a project, a title like that, is risky. And these studios will do anything except take some risks. Even if it means returning to gameplay that is familiar but with a new story that feels refreshing, they are so unwilling to do anything except what they think will work. And obviously, they are so out of touch with players of Call of Duty want, even if we told them directly, there is a good chance they wouldn’t listen. I can’t be the only one that is sick and tired of how new CODs play. The movement, the sliding, the twenty-four seven small map playlists so you can farm weapons to take into Warzone; it all needs to go to the wayside. The players would need to actually be put first, which again will never happen because of Activision. But in this hypothetical, let’s say they do just that. They capitulate on some aspects of modern games and return some of that old feeling to them. Either through the campaign, multiplayer, user interface, or whatever it might be. Would that even be enough to satisfy players? Or is this franchise just designed to fail going forward? I mean it’s been around for almost thirty years; it feels like game series shouldn’t last that long. At least without undergoing some serious changes. And while we did see some of that with again 2019, it was cool for that one game, but now we need it to change and iterate massively once more. And the first hurdle I would like to see tackled is injecting some quality and sincere personality into these games.

(There’s no personality anymore)

When I say personality, let me just say some phrases that will most likely get the nostalgic part of your brain going. The ACR’s reload from MW2. The MP5 from Call of Duty 4. The Scorpion EVO from Black Ops 2. The Galil from Black Ops 1. The AC-130 also from Modern Warefare 2. I don’t know about you, but when I hear these weapons, these score streaks out loud, I can close my eyes and see the weapons doing their unique reload animations, their sounds, the call outs from the announcer. Everything. There are so many things about classic Call of Duty games that live rent free in our brains. And just hearing them makes me smile. I don’t have that same feeling for anything about the new titles. They all kind of just blend together into a messy blob. There is no uniqueness to any of them, no personality, no grace, and no style. All the reloads have been homogenized to simple, more realistic reloads that the military would use. And while there is a part of me that appreciates the level of detail and care that goes into adding more realistic elements into the game, I also have come to reject those notions if it’s at the cost of the game feeling unique. I would much prefer longer, more special reloads tailored to each weapon that is unique rather than each gun just taking the magazine out, replacing it with a new one, and putting the old back into a pouch slot. I mean seriously, open another tab and watch some montages of reload animations from older games and then the new ones and tell me that they aren’t boring. Yes, the weapon inspection animations are solid, and I won’t downplay those, but then again even those feel kind of similar according to each weapon class.

(A nostalgic moment)

It’s such a shame that the older games are basically unplayable unless you own an Xbox and play through those online systems. All the older Call of Duty’s on PC are compromised and filled with hackers and people who will literally add malware and hack into your PC. And of course, Activision being the company they are, have done nothing to fix these titles to try and make them safe except remove any online related tags from the games on Steam. Because they don’t want anyone to compete with their newest title. Last year, they even, the night before it was supposed to release, issued a cease and assist noticed to a group making a mod for Call of Duty 4 remastered that turned its online into Modern Warfare 2 remastered. Activision must’ve known about it because the week it was going to launch, they made Call of Duty 4 remastered which you had to own in order to play the mod, heavily discounted in price. I bought it for this reason and then immediately refunded it when the mod was shut down. They will not let us have anything nice because it will eat into the profit margins of their newest game. But imagine if they swept through and fixed these older titles? Imagine if they were relatively safe to play because at this point it would be impossible to make them 100% hacker free. You could, if you wanted to, boot up any of the older titles and have a nostalgic trip if you wanted. It would be awesome and would give players more agency for the games they wish to enjoy from this franchise. But again, Activision sucks so they would rather have a games’ sales plummet by over 60% than let more than one title exist at the same time. Even the merging of all the recent games into just the Call of Duty app on steam, is ridiculous. These older titles are so important to so many people, and it really isn’t bizarre that a company like Activision would do so little to try and keep these titles up and running properly. These newer games will continue to suffer unless they look to the past for inspiration and the things about those games that people found so fun and exciting, while also actively trying to iterate on the formula in ways that are not too invasive to the thirty second gameplay loop, and still feels both engaging and rewarding to play. The new games feel too clinical and boring in gameplay; just what we the company think you want, and nothing more. It doesn’t help that Warzone has been essentially a parasite on this franchise ever since it was released. If that game never existed, Call of Duty as a franchise would be in a drastically different position. Better or worse, I don’t know. But Warzone isn’t helping anymore. Which hey, don’t get me wrong, I had fun with the game, but the loadout elements of Warzone quickly made me despise it and wish for another Blackout style battle royale. Where you needed to find the attachments for your weapons and that was part of the story instead of doing a couple of contracts, getting some money and instantly having your entire loadout ready to go.

(Outro)

I don’t know what else I can say about Call of Duty that hasn’t been spoken about. The game series was at one point a legendary and must-own set of games for anyone who was an enthusiast of the first-person shooter genre. Each new game felt different from one another in an era where each studio felt like they were having friendly competition with one another. Which is always good; competition breeds creativity and forces people to think outside of their comfort zones while keeping games fresh and familiar at the same time. The formula for Call of Duty is so easy at a surface level to understand. But somehow, within the last half decade, the series has fallen into a rut the likes of which I don’t know if there’s a way for them to climb out of. Black Ops 7 was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It has never been more apparent that players are fed up with this franchise and that the studios are one hundred percent creatively bankrupt. They had to issue a statement (more so for the shareholders not the players but still), basically saying they know they screwed up and are committed to fixing it. The problem is, unless Activision backs off and lets the teams be creative and gives them the time and budget necessary to make something good, nothing is going to actually change.

This is kind of a side anecdote, but we recently and tragically lost Vince Zampella, who was essentially the godfather of the best Call of Duty games to ever release. His legacy goes down as a true visionary of this genre and the reason why this franchise became so successful in the first place. And to see what has become of Call of Duty, it makes sense why he left to make his own studio and games. If Call of Duty can’t figure its shit out and fast, there is a good chance we might see something drastic happen. Xbox certainly isn’t too happy with the game after acquiring Activision for almost seventy billion dollars, but don’t feel bad for the companies. If anything, feel bad for the ground floor employees who actually make the games; who have basically suffered at the hands of this goliath that has finally tripped for the first time. There are a lot of reasons why Call of Duty feels like it’s dying, but it’s never been more apparent than right now. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. Let me know down in the comment section below your thoughts on the current state of the franchise, what Call of Duty could do with a new game that would get you to buy it again and be sure to subscribe for more videos about the inevitable failure of a series that has been around for arguably too long. I hope to see you in future ones.