THQ: Call of Duty has "stamped out memories" of what made the FPS great

OXM - It's important to treat claims that Call of Duty has "peaked" with a measure of suspicion. Everybody loathes the top dog, after all, and Call of Duty isn't so much the top dog as a gargantuan, howling dog-shaped mass in the sky, blocking the sun and dooming the Earth to a second Ice Age.

[Majin-vegeta]

I'll just leave these here.
http://somerandomcrap.com/0...
http://www.operatorchan.org...

[Lockon]

QFT.

[Monstar]

How is COD slow and realistic? If anything it's FAST and UNREALISTIC, besides it being a more cover based shooter which is a good thing. Fail to understand that logic.

[LAZL0-Panaflex]

THQ is dogging callof duty!!! THQ!! THQ is on the verge of closing their doors,...instead of bashing a very good and sucessful franchise, why not ask activision for help,...or advice,...or a buy out?

[Hydralysk]

Its not a THQ quote its a 4a games guy who said it, they're just owned by THQ.

If anyone has the right to say it its the guys who made metro 2033. That was an incredibly atmospheric shooter.

[faizanali]

THIS^

[Root]

Good find and so true

THIS is why people hate Call of Duty, it's not because it's "popular" it's because FPS these days have turned into crap because of it.

I mean it's not even that good is it, people mainly buy COD because their friends are getting it and their friends, friends, like it's some massive social gimmick, not because it's a good game. For reviews...well they give it good scores because they want Activision to give them the first details when the sequel is announced the following year, if they slag the game off and be truthful then they will get nothing and if they get nothing off Activision when it's announced it means people are going to look else where for their COD news meaning less hits/sales...and they don't want that do they. It's very corrupt when you look at it, shame really.

Hopefully when Half Life 3 comes out they'll reinvent the FPS genre again like the good old days.

[CrimsonessCross]

Agreed!-
although I don't even know how things will be handled in the future. It just depends on the dev/pub companies, what they want to do with the game they are trying to create and where they go with it (from announcement to post-launch).

I bought Black Ops 2 because I (sadly) thought things (multi-player wise) would have been better and changed enough, but things have (obviously) been getting worse over time. I am horrified at the people who have already purchased the season pass on that game. I am not wasting a whole second pricing (close to a full game) on a "season pass calling card" "nuketown zombies" and maps that aren't even released yet (especially when the maps they have on the disc aren't even that great layout-wise...seriously all of them reading medium/small...and the spawns...-sighs-)

People just want a piece of what CoD has to offer so they try to use the same system (or, of course, change it up but keep the same idea) that CoD does but fail because it isn't what they are used to or don't pull it off well. It is just like people calling games a WoW killer. It MIGHT take some people away, temporary or not, but it sure as hell won't die until people realize it themselves. I hope one day we take CoD to the Bermuda and shove it out the emergency exit to see it hit rock bottom.

It depends on what the company implements and wants to pull off as well (ex. by the looks of Far Cry 3 it might not have some of the greatest systems/mechanics in spots but what it has done, it has done well)

oh well...I have been supporting other games I have had an interest in and have been happy to do so.

[Larry L]

IMO, the problem isn't CoD....a game is a game, nothing more. The problem is the bandwagon jumping mentality of alot of people, and the fact that they continually buy the product.

For me, I've been done with CoD4 since CoD4. That was the last CoD I've bought. They've all just been expansions since then. Though I did rent W@W to try out the zombies mode everyone was so hyped up about. But that was the end of my relationship with CoD until perhaps some time in the future when they once again do something different, and bring it up to the next level like they did with 4 over anything else that had come before.

Maybe next gen when a specifically numbered CoD5 comes out, it will once again top everything else on the market like 4 did and I will buy that game. But I guarantee that once again the rest of that gen will be filled with CoD5 expansion packs. They did the same thing last gen too with CoD, this isn't a new thing for the franchise.

Luckily for my taste, games like Killzone and Rage and a variety of other FPSs I don't personally play but like Killzone and Rage actually have character, design, and you can feel real effort and thought was put in exist. Because if they didn't, I really wouldn't be playing any FPSs at all.

[faizanali]

And revolutionize the whole PC Gaming industry ONCE AGAIN HOORAY FOR VALVE HOORAY!

[Plagasx]

I'm stealing these and spamming it all over the COD forums if you don't mind.

[csreynolds]

So so true...

[DeadlyFire]

Wow THQ. On the verge of closure you call out Call of Duty. This is surprising to me.

They must believe in Crytek's Homefront 2 vision pretty boldly.

[OptimisticPrime]

Says the company that just filed for bankruptcy...

[aviator189]

Yeah, but they're right about it.

[Ducky]

... and the company that published Homefront.

[TekoIie]

Yeh like Homefront was 10 times better right THQ?

You made that generic shooter because you were trying to get "your own COD". You wanted a Microsofts Halo, Activisisions COD, EA's FIFA or Sony's Gran Turismo to call your own.

In other words you wanted a fail-proof moneymaker and I think we all now that trashing COD results in good rep like it did for EA. So to sum up what yours saying is this:

"Hey gamers! We're in a pretty sticky situation right now and we really could use your help to bail us out and we will do ANYTHING you want... Oh seems that current internet trends are to hate COD! Lets do it for some good PR!!!!"

Anyone with a brain though will see that you throw out games which are worse at times which is quite ironic... Especially with that headline -_-

[Forbidden_Darkness]

I definitely agree with this. I recently started playing Doom 3 BFG edition (just beat the campaign for it, not I gotta beat RoE and the lost missions) and I see how much more I enjoy the game compared to shooters nowadays. I also enjoyed Rage alot, despite what others feel. The enemies are all up in your face and I just love how it feels compared to other games. I want more games like the old shooter, these new shooters bored me.

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

What that have to do with 4a games? They are the ones who said it. pc devs know how to make better shooters than most console devs sorry.

[Soldierone]

You can't push all the blame on COD. No one is forcing these other companies to make COD knockoffs. They can still make good FPS titles, but choose not to because they rather attempt to steal sales from COD...

[Truthandreason]

I dont know, in some ways they probably are somewhat forced. When the presidents and whoever else are at the top meet with their shareholders, I'm sure the shareholders are asking

"why dont we have a CoD or WoW game making us tons of money???"

which puts pressure on the president which trickles down to the developers. This is why its great to keep your companies private if at all possible if you truly want to make the games you want to make, otherwise your a slave to whoever signs your checks.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

CODs is a "everybodies" game. A game that caters to the casuals. therefor, everybody can win at it. Nothings complex about cod nothing requires any type of skill. And is HIGHLY unrealistic.

Again its lost its way to practically the none gamers. And cod relates to the sorriest, lowest common denominator of gamer. But then again nobodies making you buy COD. All Infiniti Ward and Treyarch's job right now, is to re-sell COD to you every single year. They throw spin, reason and (chuckles) Hype but its the same product year in and year out

THQ is right, Shooters (thanks to cod) has lost there way. That's why the hardcore has turned to the third person genre ME, Gears, Saints Row and soon to be GTA again. The hardcore is moving on to the next big and what I think growing genre. The third person experience.

If the third person does blow up in the future I can see it suffering the same fate as COD. Sorry but Assassin' Creed is lookin that way right now.

Either way, I'm leaning towards the third person games. GTA V and Watch Dogs look so promising right now.

[gamernova]

Bankruptcy? Haha

[konnerbllb]

This shouldn't be something to laugh at. THQ has put out many great games over the last twenty years. They currently have a few great IP's under their belt, we as gamers should be rooting for them, they won't be the last big studio facing financial issues.

[gamernova]

I am more like laughing about the fact that they waited until they declared bankruptcy to say this stuff. It is like they are trying to blame their shortcomings on CoD. I do not agree with that.

[pompombrum]

I find it ironic that THQ are complaining about COD. Did they not jump on the COD bandwagon themselves with Homefront? While people say it's a good game, it had a very distinctive cod feel to it.

Also I agree, cod might be ruining the fps genre but it's the investors/board/decision makers at companies where we should be pointing out finger. Seeing how even Halo fell flat on it's face (population wise) trying to make their game more cod player friendly, hopefully soon the people up top will get the message that cod players only care for cod and start to think about creating their own unique games again.

[KrisButtar]

not a big call of duty fan but i do play, and the reason i play it is for MP for when my friends an i are hanging out, having a few beer. ut why call of duty you ask? it is cause there are very few 4 player games once you take away music and sports games. even out of the FPS genre some dont even have 4 player split screen and/or have bots, so my friends and i can play on the same team. for me those 2 reasons are why i believe call of duty is a cut above the rest

i cant think of any other game recently that has both those in it. if anyone can mention a few, it would be nice as it would be a good change up to always playing black ops when the friends are over

[TheDivine]

Not to me. I think it captured what makes a fps great. Fast, easy to play hard to master, and it really took me back to goldeney 64. What i dont like is when the perks are too rediculous. I like even gunplay where skill wins and maybe some fun stuff added in the mix.

COD is like a sport now. Its not really a fps its the fps for everyone which is what makes it great. Everyone can play and have fun. You dont have to search for a game and if you put it down for a few months its easy to get back into it. Dont like it play som Halo, Tribes, Kz2, Bf3, Socom or whatever else you think is a great shooter. Its not killing your games. Dev's kill their own games by changing a game people love to emulate a game nobody wants a clone of. Stick to your guns, keep your fans happy, and carve out your own audience.

[aliengmr]

CoD isn't to blame, its the rising cost of development which requires a larger audience that is. No matter what, the higher the budget, the more it has to appeal to a larger audience, thus CoD and every clone there of.

Lowering the budget and targeting the core audience and building on that might help.

Personally, I could do with less eye-candy if it meant I could keep the experience that hooked me in the first place.

[GraveLord]

Translation: We're mad that we're bankrupt and unable to compete so we're blaming Call of Duty and we know the trolls will agree with us.

[isyourhouseonfire]

It's the greatest franchise in the history of gaming, it's not absurd to think it has peaked even when it is still dominating all competition.

Trust me, it has peaked, even if it still can't be matched.