I personally think Black Ops is better than Modern Warfare 2 in every way. Campaign is better, story was better, Multiplayer is far more focused on actually "playing" and not ridiculous kill streaks adding on top of each other, they've already giving the game far more support in a month than Infinity Ward ever gave MW2, etc. All my opinion, obviously, others feel different. I got far more enjoyment out of World at War's multiplayer than I ever did with MW1 or 2, so I guess I just prefer what Treyarch's always tried to do with multiplayer. I had no issues with Infinity Ward whatsoever until Modern Warfare 2, I pretty much hated everything about that game. It felt like a cruel joke in comparison to the first Call of Duty (PC), which is easily one of my all time favorite games.
Infinity Ward is essentially dead. I'm not sure why these discussions continue at all in that regard. Yes, the company still existsm but essentially every single person who mattered at all in regards to making the Call of Duty franchise since the beginning is no longer there. The likelihood that they'll put anything out in the future that doesn't feel like a subpar clone of the early games is crazily low (see Bungie after the first Halo as an example, 3 mediocre sequels before they made another good one, and even that's debatable by a lot of fans).
Maybe I'm wrong about the annual release thing. Maybe other consumers have no problem buying essentially the exact same game with new maps and a shorter and shorter campaign every single year, but I'm certainly not. It's the worst part of the industry now for me personally. Little creativity, and everything is a hastily released sequel, remake, or cash in using the exact same game engine.
Of course we all have our opinions here. But, with all due respect, I cannot even accept your opinion on the campaign. I'm not a huge campaign person when it comes to linear FPS games like Call of Duty, but I always play them. And always on veteran, because I'm an achievement whore. I cant comment on the storyline for Black Ops because I havent finished it, but I can certainly comment that the storyline for MW2 was pretty damn good. I would love to comment on the Black Ops storyline, but sadly Treyarch doesnt know how to make AI in a reasonable manner. I dont know if you've played the game on veteran or not, but the AI respawn system is absolutely foolish, something that Infinity Ward generally stays away from (although still uses it). There's no such thing as 'clearing out a room' because there are AI respawns just about everywhere in Black Ops. And their incredibly fast auto-aim system on veteran makes it so that it's impossible to not take damage - I'm currently stuck in a hallway and I cant move forward without dying a thousand times. I know I can pass it, I've never had real trouble with any game even on its hardest difficulty. But it's a turnoff when the game is so incredibly unrealistic. Makes me not want to bother with it. Where is the tactics? What is the point of a video game if all you do is charge in, take as much damage as you can, hide, kill, move forward, etc.? That's all it is. No tactics at all, it's almost luck when you dont die sometimes.
Back on the multiplayer though, which undoubtedly is the most important part for any COD franchise, I can see the concepts of Black Ops being better than MW2. I just think that the physics of the game fails on a big level. The user player has an incredibly low damage threshold. Treyarch tried to offset that by reducing accuracy. So in short, guns dont shoot as far or as accurate, but you die pretty quickly. For Call of Duty critics, it only feeds their argument that Call of Duty takes no talent (and go figure, it's a mainstream video game trying to appeal to all audiences, not just gamers).
On the state of Infinity Ward, you're right, the team leaders were all fired with that EA Sports nonsense... but it's a pretty simple game they've got running. I can see them screwing up the single player, but it'd be hard to really screw up the multiplayer for the Modern Warfare series. All they've really got to do is copy and paste. Tweak a few things. I wouldnt put it past a whole team of developers to follow in the footsteps of the previous head developers. Although you're right, there's big potential to flop there as well.
I dont know quite what you're saying with the Halo series. The original Halo wasn't exactly a hit (it was Halo 2 that was the hit). Halo 3 had its critics from Halo 2 fans, but is definitely one of the best, most innovative games to date. I'll give you that ODST was lame (although very overlooked for it's amazing storyline/single player). I personally think Reach is a lame knockoff of Halo 3. Just pretty'd up, with some Call of Duty angles in perks.
I know I'm writing too much lol, but I enjoy talking about the topic, both business wise and recreationally (which is why I want to take my career in this direction). As I said above, Call of Duty is a mainstream video game that appeals to a larger audience than just video gamers. Many people own an xbox or PS3 simply to play that game. Most do not care about the single player, or any offline experience whatsoever. Many have limited previous experience to the previous Call of Duty games. If the majority of the players really stick to just Call of Duty, dont you think they'd get bored quickly? Which is why if you keep on releasing a game that is similar, almost identical, to it, with updated features/maps/etc., it will continue to sell. You might see a fallout of the more serious fans (I'm not falling for the Treyarch trick again, but that's just me). I know what you're saying with the little creativity. Even in the most creative games, they're abusing this whole new online age for gaming. Take a look at Bethesda Studios and the Fallout series. New Vegas was
great, but it was the exact damn same thing save a few fancy adjustments as Fallout 3. What irks me most is the abusing of DLC. Which is why I have a huge love-hate relationship with Rockstar. Make a new damn GTA already.
). But the maps from MW2 and Black Ops are still inferior to the maps from the first MW, imo. I dont know what it was, but they were so perfect
