The leap from its World War 2 setting to modern combat situations was a brave one for the Call of Duty franchise. WWII games were massively popular only a few years back, and modern shooters were already very well catered-for by the likes of Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon whose developers had spent many years honing their genre. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare took a broader approach: using the same smooth and fast gameplay of the traditional WWII games, it involved the addition of a persistent character development system, a big XP bar along the bottom and some cool rewards and perks for levelling up.
Andrew says: "The intrinsic values of COD are the following: memorable campaigns, meticulous multiplayer marathons, and lobbies populated by screaming 12-year-old kids that think puberty is the evolved form of Jigglypuff."
Call of Duty has come a long way
Call of Duty has come so far graphically (sort of, barely passable by today's standards) and absolutely nowhere creatively. Why do something new with WW2 when you can re-re-re-re-re-redo the same old WW2 troupes and settings that have been done to death. Why sit down to write interesting characters with compelling story arcs when you can reuse the same flat 2D characters that are the same archetype and same the same lines you've used in all your games. Why create a new fun secondary mode when you can beat the zombie's concept to death some more. Call of Duty certainly isn't the game to show "how far we have come"
This week's Achievement HUNT, brings you Geoff vs. Ray.