The Call of Duty backlash: What it means going forward

MMGN: For a long time readers have been sceptical about reviews, previews and features written on the backs of these trips, and I think that’s fair enough. No publisher is ever going to offer a bribe, but they do take care of the press, and it’s not unreasonable to think that maybe, just maybe, critics aren’t doing enough to divorce themselves from their surroundings on these trips.

The reviews on Call of Duty: Ghosts are a relief, not just because critics are starting to recognise more of the complaints the community has had for such a long time, but because they are proof of a turning tide, a suggestion that critics are increasingly aware of the need to divorce their privilege from their judgement of these games.

[GraveLord]

Why is the media acting like something unexpected has happened? Call of Duty hasn't been a critical success since Modern Warfare 2. After that game it dropped below 90 and never looked back. But guess what? People didn't care. Sales still kept on climbing. Hell, Black Ops 2 got an 83 on Metacritic. Those of us who played it can tell you that the game was much better than MW3 which got an 88.(Ok that was an opinion)

So I hoped you guys learned something today. Reviews Scores don't necessarily translate into sales and review scores themselves are entirely subjective.

There is no backlash on COD Ghosts. For every person saying the maps are too large and empty, I hear another say they are awesome. For every person saying they have lag or frame drops, I hear another say the opposite. It's the internet. Sales for the game seem to be good. $1 billion shipped to retailers. Whatever internet chatter or negativity you've been hearing...its launch issues. Check back on COD Ghosts a year from now and I guarantee the game will have a healthy community.

(DISCLAIMER: I have no played COD: Ghosts so I can not attest to its quality or lack there of. This comment only exists to mock the article above.)

[wsoutlaw87]

I like your very official disclaimer. I dont think anyone cares about COD reviews because they already know what they are getting. It is nice though to see reviewers admit that this big, top selling and advertising game doesn't deserve top review scores.

[fenome]

See folks, this is how you use that damn bubble!
+well said
Keep bringin' it like that man. We need comments like this around here.

[fenome]

Official reviews have been dead for me for a long while now. I always read 'em for shits and giggles though, just to see what they say. At the end of the day they are opinions, but still, game "journalism" has a long way to go. I'd rather read a whole bunch of user opinions and kinda see what aspects stick out the most, positive and negative. I always play the game anyways, but I like to see what I think, what the general consensus is and then see what the "professional" reviewers say about it. These are the people that get paid for this shit. They need to be the most real about it, positive or negative, they need to provide the details.

[Funantic1]

@ GraveLord I like Black Ops 2 better than MW3 also. And I like Ghosts better than Black Ops 2. You can't listen to people that want to see COD fail and BF4 succeed. People love to see the underdog win.

[MightyNoX]

Interesting question and I'll attempt to answer.

I read a very nice article how Call of Duty is THE GAME. It represents our gaming culture whether we like it or not. The average Joe would be hard pressed to name one game besides Call of Duty, partly because it has sept into pop culture (TV and Movie chars even mention it by name)

Ghosts piss poor performance kinda makes the gaming scene go into an existential phase, how can we define ourselves without call of duty, what game will represent us to the average person etcetc.

This is another stage in the gaming industry, we're growing into a new territory and because it's new, it can be scary. Those are just growing pains.

[The Meerkat]

Ghosts has big maps?

Damn, now I'm interested again.
I felt like every COD game since MW1 could have worked without guns as the lines of sight were so short you could just stab everyone.

[mxrider2199]

Ive played it... you wont be..

[The Meerkat]

Thanks.

I'm like a reformed drug addict.

I know its bad for me but I keep thinking just maybe this time will give me the same feeling I had when I first tried it.

[fenome]

@everybody

I've never bought or played a Call of Duty game in my life.. GASP!.. I know right? I actually have nothing to say on this topic other than Madden XXXX, never bought any of those games either. I know what I like, I know what I don't, but try harder..

EDIT:

Yes, I did contradict myself here on the whole "I always play them too" thing. At least I admit it though.. I don't get paid to talk like this and then say F*-it, let's change the subject. I know what I like, you know what you do. DO dat sh*t!

I don't dig on military shooters, not my style. Not a fan of the military in general, they take money away from our schools to build bombs. Keep in mind that I'm from Murica! I like killing weird shit in games. I know the "media" wants to get people to believe this causes violence, but that's just a cop-out. It's just another form of escapism. Things suck in the real world, this is just another way to not think about it. If anything this is what keeps me from going on a 'k-spree'

[1nsomniac]

I'm not a fan of COD but I can say without question that their hands will now be forced to create a new engine if they want to continue the franchise.

Even my most extreme die-hard COD friends have all agreed that the latest one is complete rubbish & the ones who didn't buy it on current gen & waiting for their next gen copies are now deciding whether to cancel.

[pompombrum]

Unlikely, they'll still be able to milk the series for probably the whole of next generation and still have good enough sales to justify modifying the ageing engine.

[fenome]

Unfortunately, that's not necessarily true. While they did (Finally!) get backlash from this release, they still made a shit-ton of money right out of the gate.
http://www.forbes.com/sites...

For every one person bashing it there are 100 people buying it, and I'm sure a lot of the same people bashing it are also buying it as well.

Right now they're probably reading all the negative comments about them online while their sitting back laughing and lighting up cigars with $100 bills.

They still aren't at a place where they have to care, or try harder. They're selling out faster than anything else. While the big-wigs will take notice and prompt them to make their game on a new engine, doesn't mean they're not still just gonna copy/paste and throw in some extra particles...

[1nsomniac]

You have to understand though that COD is a game bought by the casuals. These are the people who don't look at gaming on the internet & know absolutely nothing about the game before it is released. Know they've played the game & they see that the game is more stale than ever & runs like crap & that BF is now into its 2nd year of taking the crown. A huge majority of those people will now be switching to the BF franchise only next year.

[fenome]

Good point, they definitely need to step their game up

[CPTN MITCHELL]

I got the game for my stepson and i just wasted $64.87 the mp sucks they try to be like battlefield, the maps are too big and the token formula is crap. Back to gta v

[Soupaman66]

I have a feeling your stepson is annoyed at how you're playing his game and raging about it. Its only a waste of money if your stepson don't like it.

[CPTN MITCHELL]

My stepson and i have a great relationship and we play together all the time since cod 4 so don't talk sh!t... He's not even playing it right now he's playing gta v

[Riderz1337]

Agreed the maps are too big...6V6 it's difficult to find someone to kill on some of the larger maps. If you're going to have battlefield type maps in terms of size, at least increase the player size. They actually had the audacity to not include Ground War...What the hell man.

[Soupaman66]

I mean no disrespect, its just that I was annoyed that when I was a kid a and received a ps2 as a gift, my I dad still kept it at his house and played a lot of his kind of games. Now if he sold it, I would be very displeased. I never said anything about your relationship with your stepson in the comment. I'm sure you have a healthy relationship, thus giving him a gift. However, its just that I think he would be bothered that you think his gift was a waste of money.

[phantomexe]

I've not played it but from what some of you are saying it sounds like they were trying to create battlefield and then stoped and made it 6 on 6 on a battlefield size map. Like part MW3, and part battlefield 3 is that the jest of it?

[Jagsrock]

Nothing happens since people are still eating it up and we already know another is set to release the same time next year.

[BobBelcher]

what I don't get is most of the reviews I've seen are 8/10... How is that not good? BF4 is primarily 8/10 and yet, people are calling it a complete success.

[AlexFili]

Black Ops 2 was a good game, the Wii U version certainly did well and utilised the hardware (the last games were on the Wii so the difference between this game and older ones was clear). Arguably Infinity Ward haven't struck gold since the original Modern Warfare and many of the other games didn't have the same kind of impact.