Call of duty WAW - Single Player woes

[NoSeraph]

I remember playing the first Call of Duty on PC back in 2003 and loving every second of the single player campaign. I thought it was like playing through a WWII movie - great script, distinctive and likeable characters, intense cinematic gameplay. I felt bad when I accidentally shot my guys (not to mention having the game end sometimes because of it with a big "Friendly fire is not tolerated" screen) and felt the company camaraderie when Sarge told me to go do something.

And on top of that, the whole thing felt like a noble undertaking, complete with thoughtful and appropriate quotes and a stirring orchestral score. The whole thing was scripted, of course, but it was a damn fine script.

When I play through the single player campaign of World at War, it feels like Treyarch took the tasty ice cream cone of the original CoD and dropped it in a mud puddle. Gone are the human touches like the journal entries (Roebuck's voiceovers and the faceless narrator don't count) and the great soundtrack. In their places we have flamboyant intro cutscenes outlining mission locations and electric guitar backdrops.

I used to really feel a bond with my fellow soldiers in the first CoD, especially when Sarge went out of the trench to go rescue some guy and ordered us to cover him. I really wanted to protect Elder in the Jeep mission after he got hit in the arm (in the expansion), because he was such a great guy.

I can't say the same about any of the guys in WAW. I actually wait for the guys on my squad to die so that I can replenish my ammo.

So this may seem like a rather aesthetic quibble, and I do understand that many people play it because the multiplayer is quite good, but I just wanted to know if anyone else misses the great single-player experience that Call of Duty used to be.

 

[Zersy]

not sure whether you have tried COD4 out aswell but that single player was PERFECT

i really cared for all my comrades but in COD5 i did the same as you

let them die so i can use their ammo

 

[willard3]

not sure whether you have tried COD4 out aswell but that single player was PERFECT

As related to the OP, I agree with this. CoD4 did a really good job of making distinct personalities and keeping them through the game. Of course, in a war like WWII, it's doubtful that your entire squad would survive multiple engagements. But CoD5 *was* kind of annoying in that the only really recognizable character was Roebuck, aka Jack Bauer (check the voice credits). Sure, there were maybe two other consistent characters, but they never did anything.

 

[ygetoff]

Two reason why WaW is different:
a) It is made by a different developer.
b) It is aiming for a different "feel" than the first CoD. In this WaW, it's trying to be CoD:MW.

 

[Reload92]

Yeah I get that a lot too with newer games. A lot of my friends don't understand because all they wanna do is frag on multiplayer but I love a game with a good single player and likable characters. That's what made COD4 so great is because they combined a really great single player with an intense multiplayer.

 

[gamshobny]

Yeah I get that a lot too with newer games. A lot of my friends don't understand because all they wanna do is frag on multiplayer but I love a game with a good single player and likable characters. That's what made COD4 so great is because they combined a really great single player with an intense multiplayer.

Aproved.

On another note, I found CoD:WoW (funny how practicaly nobody talks about this... thing as CoD5) to be lacking in every sence of the word. The multi player was much like the one of CoD4 (and how practicaly nobody talks about this... MASTERPIECE as CoD:MW), while the single player lacked a coherent story and had a very awkward level design.

 

[Reload92]

Yeah I get that a lot too with newer games. A lot of my friends don't understand because all they wanna do is frag on multiplayer but I love a game with a good single player and likable characters. That's what made COD4 so great is because they combined a really great single player with an intense multiplayer.

Aproved.

On another note, I found CoD:WoW (funny how practicaly nobody talks about this... thing as CoD5) to be lacking in every sence of the word. The multi player was much like the one of CoD4 (and how practicaly nobody talks about this... MASTERPIECE as CoD:MW), while the single player lacked a coherent story and had a very awkward level design.

Well partly because its not COD5, but yeah I hated the level designs in COD: WaW, some I think have made me worse at the game!

 

[gamshobny]

Well partly because its not COD5, but yeah I hated the level designs in COD: WaW, some I think have made me worse at the game!

Why not? It has Call of Duty in it's name, it came after Call of Duty 4 but it's too different from 4 to be an expansion pack, so by all means, it should be 5. Right?

 

[Reload92]

Well partly because its not COD5, but yeah I hated the level designs in COD: WaW, some I think have made me worse at the game!

Why not? It has Call of Duty in it's name, it came after Call of Duty 4 but it's too different from 4 to be an expansion pack, so by all means, it should be 5. Right?

But it is officially not. Just like Call of Duty 2: Big Red One was.

 

[Zersy]

not sure whether you have tried COD4 out aswell but that single player was PERFECT

i really cared for all my comrades but in COD5 i did the same as you

let them die so i can use their ammo

No UO had perfect SP
I wish theyd drop the whole fucking perk system cod3s multiplayer was THE best in the series SP sucked but the MP was indeed perfect all perfectly balanced
i want IW to go back to theri WWII roots not make another Modern one because every adolescent wanker will buy it because its 'modern'

i like the perk system

whats so bad about it ?

 

[NoSeraph]

not sure whether you have tried COD4 out aswell but that single player was PERFECT

i really cared for all my comrades but in COD5 i did the same as you

Yeah, I really enjoyed the single player in CoD4. At least the SAS missions. The first level with the sinking ship was amazing, and so was the sniper mission. The Gunship mission was also a lot of fun.

Gaz was awesome, although he hardly ever spoke a word.

 

[legolas23]

I agree with the OP, only I felt that Roebuck and Reznov were two distinct characters that I personally cared for...Anyone else hated the choice you had to make, as to whether to save Miller or Roebuck in the last level of the American campaign? I saved Miller first, then saved Roebuck on my second playthrough...

As for the Russian campaign, I felt it was awesomely done...It was great that players FINALLY get to experience what its like to have Nazis running from you, as you chased after them with molotovs, flamethrowers, and even tanks...BLowing the SS to bits as you stormed the Reihstag, made me laugh sadistically at the epicness of it all.

That being said, I also felt that the Black Cats mission was done well...It might even be more epic then the AC-130 mission from COD:MW...

Anyone ever notice that Medal of Honor tried their hand at the Pacific theater? It was called Rising Sun, and it spanned from Pearl Harbor to a Japanese Supercarrier...Pretty good for its day...Sadly, the Japs weren't as advanced as they are in COD: WaW...THe officers would rush you with swords, not bayonets...and in some cases it was hard to spot some. Thank god for WaW's Flamethrower!

 

[Necrophagist]

WaW has one of the worst single-player campaigns ever. I hated every inch of it.

 

[Xapno Mapcase]

I have thought that there have been garbagy bits throughout the whole series but on the whole I think it is getting worse. I was less than impressed by the whole storyline of COD4. I had been led to believe that it was something between art and the second coming but what I found was something like a mid-quality Arnie movie mixed with Tom Clancy and a big measure of post 9/11 wish fulfillment and posturing. I was underwhelmed. In comparison to the "story" in COD3 though, COD 4 was a work of lambent genius. COD3 was excrement. Which brings me to COD5 WAW. I didn't give a toss about the characters, I thought the story was guffed up jingoistic bilge and the difficulty curve was designed as some kind of squint eyed revenge from Treyarch for the reviews of COD3. I spent most of my playthrough(s) of COD5 actively disliking the people responsible. In my opinion extra blood and sadism does not add to the quality of gameplay. Added to that the whole "Perk" system in the multiplayer amounts to a giant case of rigging. When you start off playing, the game actually interferes with your aim (among other things), and gives an unfair advantage to your opponents. Down the track, (if you persevere and climb the ladder) you are rewarded with the chance to kill noobs with the kind of advantages that amount to giving you something like impunity. Is it just me, or is this really rather creepy? Some kind of twisted, rather pervy, kind of hazing? I ahve gotten to the point where I will look at COD6 buty I won't be holding my breath for a return to the glory days of Soviet/Nazi tank warfare.