If you were a designer for the next Call of Duty game, how would you make the game better?

[aconnellan]

Greetings, fellow Escapists! As this is my first post (after prowling these forums for years without an account), I decided to ask a question that hounds me every time I hear someone put down Call of Duty (even when it's warranted).

Seeing as Call of Duty is one of gaming's ridiculed series', one that has been recycling the same formula for year after year, game after game, I already know what the majority of my fellow Escapists think about it. What I want to know is what you would like to do differently?

Think in terms of single player, story, multiplayer, mechanics, gameplay, engine - anything you want. If you were a designer, how would you make the game better?

 

[alphamalet]

If you were a designer for the next Call of Duty game, how would you make the game better?

I would not make it.

My suggestion as a designer would be to take what you've learned from COD and make a new IP. Create a new world, start a new story, innovate the gameplay, and for the love god USE A NEW ENGINE.

That's what I would do.

 

[Zontar]

I'd make it good.

Alright, on a serious note: I'd make a campaign that was actually good and not blatantly racist. Have it be at CoD 4 level of suspension of disbelief (where you can actually take it seriously, instead of everything post World at War where you can barely pass it off as a comedy, let alone drama).

 

[aconnellan]

If you were a designer for the next Call of Duty game, how would you make the game better?

I would not make it.

My suggestion as a designer would be to take what you've learned from COD and make a new IP. Create a new world, start a new story, innovate the gameplay, and for the love god USE A NEW ENGINE.

That's what I would do.

That alone sounds like a good idea. With the story they seem to just be running around in circles and trying to constantly one-up themselves (example: a nuke went off in MW1? Damn, we'll have to have another one in MW2 then).

And a thousand times yes to the new engine.

 

[King Billi]

Why do I have the feeling that the majority of posts here are just going to be along the lines of zingers like these?

I would not make it.

I'd make it good.

Anyway on topic I suppose I would split the game in two separating the single player campaign from the multiplayer and release both as separate titles. The Multiplayer could include more maps and whatnot that would normally be sold as DLC in order to make it more worthwhile to those players and the single player would be forced to make a longer and more fleshed out campaign since it wouldn't be able to rely on the multiplayer to justify itself.
They could also be sold cheaper since they're two seperate titles.

 

[Savagezion]

I would remove single player first.

Then I would have all team games have objectives. Team deathmatch would have orders for both sides where you are supposed to take and hold a position while the other team is as well. Aspects of domination, seek&destroy, or capture the flag would all make appearances in team deathmatch randomly. Mostly because if someone is running around "hotshotting" on your team they feel like a good team mate, not a KS'er.

I would then add a zombie campaign you could co-op through in place of the single player being removed. This would be "campaign mode".

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

Personally, I would get rid of Multiplayer. I actually have enjoyed the campaign since Modern Warfare 2, and I never touched the multiplayer in the games (zombies and Extinction are a different story when I have friends over.) And personally, if they took time on the single player, I think it could be pretty awesome.

 

[Spambot 3000]

No campaign. Just make a multiplayer game.
- Remove snipers (they're unnecessary)
- Give players slightly more health
- Use only the support killstreak structure from MW3 with killstreaks that aren't ridiculously overpowered
- more weapons/perks that actually emphasise supporting your team
- The same class creation method used in Black Ops 2
- Maps that aren't so bland and rooted in realism
- Also some more crazier gun ideas as opposed to just shooting bullets
- Listen to the community for feedback and observe trends to see which weapons/perks are being used the least and making them stronger to encourage people to use them more

 

[senordesol]

CAMPAIGN

1. Return to the spirit of original CoD. Call of Duty never had to be a Hollywood summer blockbuster type campaign, and a lot of its missteps come from the fact that it tries too hard to *be* that. Instead, return to a campaign that's just about showing multiple facets of the same war -it doesn't have to be a real war, but it should be about soldiering first-and-foremost.

In this way we can have different setpieces, different challenges, different characters without having to chain them to a single plot or narrative.

2. No two levels should feel the same. What made CoD4's campaign shine were missions where they didn't shy away from changing the formula: the AC-130, Ghillies in the Mist, hiding from patrols; this introduced pacing and expanded the gameplay, making a more rounded experience. You should test the limits of your players' adaptability. This is Game Design 101: teach the basics, test the basics, teach advanced, test combined.

3. Reward planing, thoughtful approaches, and preparedness before entering combat. For instance: give the player the ability to (but don't expressly tell him to) disable the enemy's motorpool. I he does so, he doesn't risk pursuit upon extraction. Rather than missions with an infinite number of NPCs, give the Player an extremely limited and ever-dwindling pool that he has to manage.

4. Keep it grounded. You don't need to turn CoD into a Glenn Beck fever-dream wherein America is being constantly invaded by...'not' America. Chances are, that's never going to happen. That said, there's still plenty of aspects of warfare to explore in the asymetrical conflicts we constantly find ourselves in. You don't need to dangle the end of the Red, White, and Blue to get me to care.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

1. New Engine

2. 1 for 1 animations between third and first person views (meaning no bullets coming out of the tops of heads, and therefore no "head-glitching")

3. Increased mobility and speed on maps. Every map would have multiple stories, and each room/area would have multiple entrances making it difficult to camp anywhere

4. No killstreak rewards that do the killing for you (no automated turrets, or helicopters flying around overhead with no one piloting them.

5. Fewer guns and more gun variety. Take out all the guns that are just basically reskins of each other with tiny stat changes.

6. Remove claymores, bouncing betties, and all other equipment that automatically detects and kills players. Leave in grenades, C4, throwing knife, emp grenades, flashbangs, stun grenades, etc.

7. Change knife attack to be 1 hit from behind and 2 hits from all other angles.

8. Deaths end you killstreak. No deathstreaks.

Essentially the point of most of these changes is to make camping much more difficult, increase the speed of the gameplay, and make players work for ever kill rather than allowing AI/dumb luck to hand them killstreaks.

 

[xDarc]

-Remove Aim Down Sight!
-Increase Run Speeds
-Increase travel time on bullets w/ visible tracers to allow for dodging.

Can anyone tell I miss pre-xbox shooters yet from the PC glory days? I'm turning 32 this year. Back when FPS games were actually fun? I mean, dodging was a huge part of play and with ADS they took it away. Now everyone is a turret, and there's hardly any point to a 3d map at all- if you can click an object on your screen, you can play CoD. But then again, that's the point.

Without COD, FPS games would still be the past times of guys who spent their birthday money on PC parts rather than a car or something to attract women. (I realize 20 years later this does not sound all too unusual, as cars are becoming less attractive to people who "hang out" on social media, but not many teenagers in 1994 saved up for a new Pentium or AMD K6, let me tell you) COD made it mainstream. Guess that makes me an FPS hipster, oh good lord. Whatever, I know if these games come back, that style- I will make all the guys who have only ever played CoD/BF (which is no better) cry. That will make me happy.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I'm not sure, but I've always thought of a special level...

Game starts on the level where, in MW2, you are going to the safe house, only you're not playing Roach. You play as Toad or Archer. You know, the two snipers who were with you in that mission. You start as creeping through the forest, then cover the download, and then when you see what happens, you both have to escape. From there, you play as them throughout the events of MW2 and into 3. Maybe have them doing covert work, or trying to find evidence that Shepard was a traitor. I don't know, but I've always wanted to know what happened to those two.

If that doesn't work, I'd set the game in the future. I want Call of Duty, with with lasers and epic battles in space and whatnot.

 

[MysticSlayer]

1. Rather than the unlock system, fully utilize the currency system from Black Ops. In other words, everything is available to be bought from the start, but you do have to earn the currency to buy it. The less important aesthetic changes have to be unlocked, though. This seems to be the best way of making CoD's obsession with unlocking not feel like a chore, and people don't have to wait ten hours to possibly enjoy what they want to enjoy.

2. Remove offensive killstreaks. Passive killstreaks (ex. UAV, Counter UAV, Vests, etc.) can still be gotten, but rewarding a player who has already proven they are doing well with an even easier way to do well just seems nonsensical. If anything, make the offensive killstreaks more like power items that show up occasionally and have to be fought over. Sure, it will still likely go to the stronger players, but at least it centers killstreaks around the team, not some individual who couldn't care less about how his team is doing.

3. Remove auto-aim on snipers completely. I don't care if you have no scoping and quick scoping or one-hit kill snipers. Those things have been part of the genre since before Call of Duty. Allowing snipers to exploit auto-aiming like they still do is what bugs me. If you want to make the PC version harder due to the easier aiming, then make it so that headshots are the only way to get one-hit kills on that version.

4. Bring back dedicated servers, and actually do them right. None of the crap that Black Ops and MW3 pulled.

5. Knives are only a one-hit kill from behind. Anywhere else is a two or three hit, depending on whether or not the person is using anything to protect themselves from knives.

6. Make explosives worth something again, but actually provide decent counters to them. MW2 tried to offer a counter to explosives, such as blast shield, but it was mostly rendered useless with Danger Close. Also increase the time limit in respawning after a suicide, so that people don't just run around RPGing the whole map and taking them and everyone else with it.

Yeah, there are so many other things I can think of, and I used to have a long list of ideas I had. However, that list is gone and I'm really tired, and that's all that's coming to mind right now.

 

[Mikejames]

Surprise all the fans with a psychological horror ala Spec Ops: The Line.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

If you were a designer, how would you make the game better?

PLOT - The United States has finally taken enough shit from it's greatest foe and declared a full-scale war against their ultimate enemy: THE UNITED STATES! I'm thinking this would be something along the lines of the Northern and Western states against the Southern and, South-Eastern states. Not-Too-Distant Future would be a great time setting. Single Player will have you quantum-leaping between sides as a variety of soldiers. As for The Big Controversial part...I would have that be The Declaration of War. I would have that set in a Texas, Alabama or other Southern High School and you play as a Senior when War is declared. I would have the teachers begin to try leading prayers as the Principal urges males who are "of age" to hurry and enlist. As you leave the school, you see as ballistic missiles begin to rise from the fields outside of the school's windows. None of them launch but they're clearly ready to go. Military vehicles arrive at the school and while some students follow along your path to enlist, others are literally dragged kicking and screaming. I would also show females students try to enlist but have them turned away, the shocking point there being one who insists on enlisting only to get hit with the butt of a rifle. The shocking part of this should be the lack of violence. Nobody should die, no missiles should launch or, strike, it should just be a slow laborious walk to the outside of the school and a waiting military truck.

MECHANICS - If you see a vehicle, you get to drive around in the vehicle. What's that? You're playing as an Engineer or, Sharpshooter? Well we're going to use the D-Pad to let you switch characters if you're a part of a squad. If you're just completely against driving that's fine because NPCs can drive for you while you ride shotgun or take up the turret booth.

MECHANICS CONTINUED - I haven't played many CoD games but I have noticed one important thing missing...Boss fights. Since this is the US fighting a civil war, I want to see a bunch of huge boss fights such as a Voltron Style Drone that combines multiple pieces to form a mech, a Mark I version of that which just IS a giant mech and, other huge cybernetic enemies. I want the final boss fight to take place in The Smithsonian/ DC itself, as your player character is alone against a reanimated T-Rex; brought to life with drone-controlled machinery and armed to the teeth. Keeping with the theme of robots and, robotics, all attack dogs are to be replaced with robot dogs, dog-sized dinosaurs and, other such things.

MULTIPLAYER - Change nothing. This is what sells the series. Maybe ship the game with more maps instead of nickle-and-dimeing the player base

Single-Player - Weapon Limits are gone: Once you find a gun it's yours for good. Levels will be re-designed to be expansive and, non-linear with hidden areas which give out exotic ammo for the weapons you're carrying with you. In keeping with the robotic theme, you will be armed with prototype weapons which can range from EMP-cannons, Sound-Wave "Rifles", Laser Weaponry and, some kind of gun that shoots water balloons filled with acid or some other corrosive liquid. Like I mentioned before: end and mid-level bosses will be coming back in a big way.

---

Call of Duty: Land of the Free

This is a Call of Duty that I would buy for $60

 

[Dalisclock]

I'm not sure, but I've always thought of a special level...

Game starts on the level where, in MW2, you are going to the safe house, only you're not playing Roach. You play as Toad or Archer. You know, the two snipers who were with you in that mission. You start as creeping through the forest, then cover the download, and then when you see what happens, you both have to escape. From there, you play as them throughout the events of MW2 and into 3. Maybe have them doing covert work, or trying to find evidence that Shepard was a traitor. I don't know, but I've always wanted to know what happened to those two.

You mean patch the (many)plot holes in MW2 and MW3? Most notably towards the end where suddenly the remains of the 141 are suddenly on great terms with the Delta team despite the fact they're still wanted for killing a US general. Or explain if Makarov is for or againest the Russian military(because MW2/3 couldn't seem to make up it's mind on this). Yeah, that sounds interesting.

I'd kind of like to see what happened between MW1 and MW2 that put the ultra-nationlists in charge of russia and maybe justify the whole "massive Russian invasion" thing a little better, maybe show Makarov's backstory/character.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Disclaimer: I've only played the first Modern Warfare, everything else is hearsay.

Single Player: Just an idea I had in response to concerns over the abundance of railroading, and probably based partly off my initial impression of what Metal Gear Solid 4 was going to be like. You are an American soldier who was cheated out of their pay, honours and benefits by the government due a political mishap, perhaps an accident in the field being labelled a war crime.

Because you have a large family to provide for, you desert in anger and turn to mercenary work, going into 'hot zones' where the U.S. military is currently engaged with someone and finding a specific target to save or destroy. The main idea being that there are two sides engaged with each other regardless of what you do, but the more attention you draw to yourself the more heat comes down from both sides. What this means in practice is that NPCs behave closer to well-organized teams of players with more limited attack patterns, and complete freedom of exploration in each hot zone, though with a time limit to reach the objective if you dick around too long.

Needless to say, conflicted loyalties and ethics abound. Eventually it comes to light that these objectives have been leading up to a major scheme, perhaps a military coup, by your employer and you intervene. Employer protests that you owe nothing to the nation that betrayed you, and to turn on him is to forfeit all future paychecks. You destroy the plan anyway (because it wasn't your entire nation that betrayed you, it was a handful of politicians trying to score points by persecuting you as a war criminal) with the aid of a CIA infiltrator, who is impressed enough by your fortitude and skill to offer you a job there under a new name and a call sign, the same as what I would call the game: Freelancer.

Multiplayer: They must be doing something right if it's still selling this well after so many games, but I'd eliminate bonuses from kill streaks whose only benefit is extending the kill streak at the expense of other players' fun. Even if it takes 25 kills to earn, there should be a way to stop it. Maybe make it so kill streaks temporarily enhance your perks beyond the usual effect, giving the other team more incentive to bring you down. More vehicles and objectives, more precise hit detection and perhaps a bit more forgiving for all types of damage except head shots. Restrict the magazine on some of the more spammed weapons such as grenade launchers and sniper rifles, forcing a return to the (driveable) team supply vehicle when you run out. If that's unacceptable, create a system of diminishing returns so that a weapon will inflict less damage the more kills it rakes in during a match, forcing people to diversify and learn new weapons outside of their comfort zone.

 

[Evonisia]

Put more effort into the first person and third person models. You can remove headglitching and wall leaning almost entirely just by making it so the bullets come out of the third person model's gun rather than his eyes.

Use Black Ops II's scorestreak system to allow people who play the objective to get the benefits of risking their ass. Use Black Ops II's Pick 10 Class system, too.

Work on the spawns, MW3 has possibly the worst spawns I've seen in a game and Ghosts is not far behind it. Black Ops II also has a horrible spawning system. Maybe make it so you don't flip the spawns just by entering their area.

As for singleplayer, do what Black Ops II did and just make fun of yourself and have a sympathetic villain. Out of all the ones there have been (so from CoD 4 onwards) only Menendez has had any kind of reason to feel sorry for him. Remove most, if not all of the damn film moments where control is taken off you to do an overly long lying down or prepping your gun animation. Remove the slow motion gun scenes (mostly gone in Black Ops II and Ghosts). I don't mind the linearity so long as I can properly hide from bullets rather than dashing between chest high walls at a high frequency.

 

[Vlywncint]

I'd make it the story of a person who's town was caught in the crossfire from two opposing nations. Make it a small conflict with an option to join either side.

Multiplayer is their main thing. My main goal would be to fix the spawn system. Maybe a thing like domination but the flags you capture would be at the edges of the map and you can only spawn at ones you control. I'd have maps split into different sizes for those wishing to have run and gun fights, mixed, or long range so both the knife only and sniper guys have their fun. I'd also set up a random party option where teams could get together and challenge other teams directly before making a lobby.

Also, a weight mechanic. If you only have a knife, sure you can run fast and do all the freerunning/fencejumping stuff. If you're using an LMG, expect to walk slower and use the door. Also, gore. We need limbs lost if a .50cal hits a leg.