There's a tendency– I'd go so far as to call it a phenominon where games are concerned to look at a product at some point in time, make a judgement about it then promptly forget that it ever existed. I'm exaggerating a bit of course but perhaps not by as much as I'd like to be.
The easy explanation is that there are so many games being released on a near-constanst basis these days that any given title has at best a brief window of opportunity to make its mark and be judged, purchased and played before it's swept away by the relentless tide of new releases chomping at its heels.
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| Confirmed: Jetpacks make everything better! |
For a long time, Call of Duty games seemed to be immune to this phenomenon– attracting and maintaining a large player base throughout their intended lifespan and in some cases long after the inevitable, annual follow-up had been released.
Of course, Call of Duty's (CoD's) demise has been predicted for ages now. Like so many other annualized gaming franchises, it's more been a question of when than if CoD would run out of steam and be cast out from the pop culture zeitgeist.
In a lot of ways, "Advanced Warfare" (the latest in the series) feels like CoD's last hurrah– a late-game, surprisingly-compelling (at least to me) attempt to breathe some new life into the series and draw in new fans while staying true to what made it so popular in the first place.
I'll freely admit to not being a CoD expert. I haven't even played a CoD game since "Modern Warfare 2" but I know a thing or two about video games and "Advanced Warfare" is a good one of those.
Yes, there are some issues with it. On the PC in particular, I've experienced occasional framerate, networking and stability (crashing) issues– most of which ironically starting after the first post-launch patch but I haven't been annoyed enough by any of said issues to conclude that they ruin the overall experience. In my view, they are minor annoyances that briefly interrupt a generally-fun romp through a cool (if laughably unrealistic) vision of the future of war.
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| In all seriousness, the extra mobility provided by the EXO suits adds quite a bit to the multiplayer experience. |
And here's where things get tricky. There are lots of different ways I could go from here. I could talk about the multiplayer and how it's some of the most fun I've had not just since "Modern Warfare," but in any arena-style twitch shooter since the original "Unreal Tournament."
I could talk about the campaign, how its generally fun (if nonsensical) ride is occasionally interrupted by one-off game mechanics, scenarios and checkpointing gaps that don't always hit the mark. Of course, if you've played a CoD game since "Modern Warfare," you're not going to be surprised (though you might be occasionally impressed) by what "Advanced Warfare" has to offer in that regard.
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| Virtual Kevin Spacey certainly doesn't hurt the single player campaign and he makes the most out of the material he's given but his presence in the game isn't as impactful as I thought it might be. |
But the really fascinating thing to me, and the reason why I wanted to write this post is the fact that none of that matters. "Advanced Warfare" could be the best or worst game in the series' history and it wouldn't make any difference. The internet has spoken and declared Call of Duty "over." Consequently, you won't find more than a few thousand people playing "Advanced Warfare" (or any other CoD game) on Steam at any given moment these days.
Of course, part of that could be down to being smack dab in the middle of triple-A game release season and I wouldn't be surprised to see "Advanced Warfare" rebound if the technical issues are resolved or once map packs start dropping for it. Still, there's something both intriguing and terrifying as a game developer about seeing a game that in my opinion is quite good being all but ignored due to factors beyond its quality.
Of course, Activision has made its own bed where CoD is concerned– as they did with the Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero series before it but it's a good cautionary tale nonetheless.
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| Extensive character customization unlocks go a long way toward making your multiplayer Operator look more cool and unique the more you play. |
The bottom line to all this is that I think "Advanced Warfare" is a good, fun game with some minor (if annoying) issues in its current state. The campaign is mostly fun, extremely silly and occasionally frustrating, but worth the ride. The multiplayer player base will probably never be what it was at the height of CoD's popularity but there are still enough people playing that it's not too tough to get into a good lobby for most of the more popular game modes (TDM/KC/DOM/Etc.) and it's a barrel full of monkeys when everything works as intended.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (via Steam)
