MarsAtlas said:
Maybe I'll like this one. Haven't really enjoyed any CoD campaigns since Modern Warfare. Hopefully another good co-op mode. Zombies is nice, but its the same thing as its always been. I really enjoyed the underplayed co-op mode in Modern Warfare 2, which includes some missions which are actually very fun.
SmashLovesTitanQuest said:
You must be a (very lucky) xbox player.
I guess that makes me the second in the thread. The only time I've ever had a freeze or a crash was when I got into a hacked lobby or when there was a problem with the disc. Lag aside, which is dependent on variables that the developers can't account and adjust for, the games are very well polished, albeit probably because there's so little change between each new one.
Aetheora said:
At least with those they really try to add more to the formula (except maybe Mario). Zelda gets a new everything (except the save the princess plot), Elder Scrolls gets an upgraded everything, Pokemon gets a new/upgraded everything (except severely less so than other games), Metal gear does the same, blah blah blah. CoD can arguably get that as well with each new game, but its certainly not half as much really. A new 4-5 hour campaign, some new weapons and perks, a few new maps, boom, new layer of icing on the old cake.
You must be playing different games than me. TLoZ games typically follow the same formula, except for each one tends to have one gameplay feature unique to each one. OoT was time travel, MM was the masks, WW (probably the most unique) had sailing, TP had the twilight world, and I haven't played SS yet, but I'm assuming its the whole flying-around-atop-a-giant-bird thing. Other than that though, the formula is identical with every game. MGS 1, 2, and 3 are all pretty similar in terms of gameplay, dungeons, etc. MGS3 added camoflague and a survialist minigame, woo-fricking-hoo. The biggest change in the Pokemon series between Gen I and II was breeding, II and III was double-battles, III and IV was... stuff, and things, and IV and V was the addition of triple-battles. You could take somebody who has only ever played Gen I and give them Gen V, and aside from all the new pokemon, they'll be about as familiar with the game as somebody who has played every Gen up to V. If you've played one Pokemon game, you've played them all, and the same goes for all of the franchises mentioned. Let me throw in a few more - Fire Emblem, Metroid, Castlevania, Persona, less-recent Final Fantasy. These are all highly acclaimed franchises, not doing much to change the formula because it works. Whats wrong with Call of Duty doing the same - just because its not your cup of tea? Don't play it. I've been turned off from the series ever since they decided to make the games essentially an MMOFPS, so I just don't buy them.
Oh, and personality, that comes with the previous games you mentioned. I never found CoD to have more personality outside of its colour pallet (But that's just me). That and we have way too many modern military shooters. At least the personality of a MGS, LoZ, Mario and Pokemon game, you're basically going to that one franchise for that experience. With CoD, you can get it anywhere with the way the AAA market is going.
So? Don't like them, don't buy them. Rather than complaining about it on an internet forum, write a letter to every developer that you can think of. When you play a game that isn't an MMS and you enjoyed it, let them know. When you think a studio is wasting their talents on trying to out-Call-of-Duty Call of Duty, let them know. Much more productive than complaining on an internet forum completely unassociated with the developers. I've just recently acquired Bioshock Infinite, XCOM Enemy Unknown, and Dark Souls, and since I'm loving each of them, I'm taking my time to let the developers of each know with a letter including both praise and constructive criticism. At the very least, it'll cheer somebody up at work.
Shooters litter the market, but how many good Pokemon, highly selling MGS-like games and highly loved Mario and LoZ like games can you think of?
a) Everybody likes different Pokemon gens. Personally, I liked Gen II the most, haven't really enjoyed it too much since then. However, a lot of people seemed to love Gen V.
b) MGS4 shipped over 5.5 million copies. The entire series has sold over 25 million copies. I don't know about you, but five and a half million copies is pretty highly selling. Maybe not by Square Enix's standards, with their comments about disappointing sales of Deus Ex: HR, Hitman Absolution, Sleeping Dogs, and Tomb Raider, but Square Enix isn't run by people who are sane. If you're using Call of Duty as a gauge for "highly selling", then you should also take into account the amount of casuals who buy the game, since they're a market unlikely to play/buy any other of the franchises you mentioned.
c) People seem to love Mario titles. Speaking recently, hasn't Galaxy very well-received? I could go on and on about how I loved every Mario RPG I played.
d) The general consensus among gamers is that Orcarina of Time is the best game ever. Personally, I'm more partial to Majora's Mask and Wind Waker, but weren't those extremely well-received, well-loved games as well? If somebody asked on this forum for a game recommendation for N64 or Gamecube, you don't think people wouldn't be tripping over each other to mention Zelda?
TheRightToArmBears said:
Eh, say what you like about innovation, but CoD is a blast to play splitscreen. Hopefully my flatmate will pick it up, and we can run around shooting eachother in the face with shotguns again. MW3 was actually really good for that, I'm pretty sure it's the first in the series to let you have bots in your matches.
Black Ops let you play with bots, but I'm not sure you could do it split-screen.
I'm hoping that this one will have a co-op mode with some sort of progression and customization system. I never much cared for zombies because at the end of the match I had nothing to show for it, whereas say a co-op game like Borderlands I'd have a ton of sweet loot. Quite frankly, that alone would probably be enough for me to pick up the game, albeit not at full price.[/quote]
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I think you missed what I said about other games being successful like the previously mentioned franchises. I meant OTHER franchises, not games within the ones I mentioned XD
Arguably, yeah, all those other series don't do much to add a whole lot, but I at least personally feel they add more than what each CoD installation does. I don't see yearly releases of other titles, but CoD is just lining up to push out as many games as they possibly can. And for the record, I don't like CoD and I don't buy them. But I don't deny their success, it's commendable. I always found that because they're making so many games so soon and so quick, ready to cash in for another several million, they all seem to lack one thing: personality. At least with a game like Metroid, Pokemon, Mario, even MGS or Castlevania, I find more personality in them. This could just be me not loving the FPS market or "bown and grey shooters" much, but you have to admit that they don't have the same flair some other series might have with each installation into the franchise.
Whatever gen Platinum was was my favorite generation, and Majora's Mask and Wind Waker were my fave Zelda games, and those I found a lot more enjoyment in than any of the 50+ modern shooters that plague the market. The new styles, new mechanics, interesting new locations (not linear corridors) and people all make for a fresh new experience, one I can't find in the modern FPS game. I dunno, this is just me, another non-fan of FPS games doing the same old hate hate thing, but I don't deny them and their success, and Borderlands 1 and 2 are littered with personality, and that's what I wish we could see more of. Not another CoD, not another Battlefield, not another developer trying to strike gold doing the same thing, I wanna see some new FPS experiences. The Metroid Prime Trilogy, Hawken, Borderlands, Bioshock Infinite, and the like all are much more fun and exciting FPS games to me.
That's kinda why I'm bugged about the dozens of modern FPS games, they're all trying to be CoD. Nothings wrong with a good formula if it works, it works for them. It'd just be nice to see other games with more personality than it, not just another brown and grey corridor shooter fest that every other developer tries to be. I don't see many LoZ, Mario, Metroid or Castlevania like games out in the public eye, and I find that unfortunate.
Final note: I like to rant here and talk amongst the users, that's why I'm replying to you. It's fun and adds discussion value to the topic. I could go rant in a letter to a developer, but that's not why I'm here on the Escapist.
