New “Call of Duty” is stale and unoriginal

New Call of Duty is stale and unoriginal

Lucas Wanlass, Staff member

Activision’s newest installment in the “Call of Duty” game franchise, “Call of Duty Advanced Warfare” was released for all next generation consoles on Nov. 3. This is exciting or depressing, depending on which side of the flame war you’re on.

The game, which has been at center stage in the eyes of most gamers for the past decade, has started to die out after this 11th installment.

“Call of Duty Advanced Warfare” is definitely the farthest reaching installment to date, introducing new settings, gameplay and weapons such as mech suits, lasers, and all other manner of fantastic gadgetry which the series is in no way known for.

Normal settings for the games have always been in a grounded military reality similar to our modern world, but “Advanced Warfare” breaks Infinity Ward’s (the games developers) iron mold in gameplay.

The game’s most notable advancement is its new range of movement. All previous “Call of Duty” games have restricted movement to running and jumping.

However, with the introduction of exoskeletons, movement has taken an additional vertical approach, with the ability of jumping over buildings, as well as turning invisible, and running at high speeds.

The heads up display (also known as hud) has been completely overhauled. In the past, player information such as ammunition and grenades, has been placed along the corner margins of the screen.

Now they are placed as holographics, surrounding your primary weapon, which virtually removes all clutter. With all this new futuristic syfy game style, many gamers were concerned that Infinity Ward abandoned that which made the game successful in the first place.

Diablo Valley College student Jesus Aguiler, 19, said, “the range of movement, and general shift from its modern roots is refreshing and gets rid of much of the problems previously had.”

The fast pace gameplay is still there; it is just under a new setting with new toys. Although the genre is in not “modern” warfare any more, it doesn’t really matter.

Infinity Ward has an uncanny ability to make the technology in their games very believable. While in this game, it actually feels like the smart flying grenades and exoskeletons could exist, and if they did, that’s how they would look and operate.

Customization has taken a large leap forward, taking into consideration fine details such as what type of boots your character wears, and the highlights in their hair.

To be clear, this is still largely the same Call of Duty that has consistently dominated the market: it still has that fast paced gameplay, featuring bullet fests and explosions that would make Michael Bay proud.

Now whether that’s a good or bad thing is, as I said, up to you. However one thing is for sure: Call of Duty has peaked in recent years.

Its last two installments, “Call of Duty Black Ops 2” and “Call of Duty Ghost” have dropped significantly in sales when compared to their early predecessors.

The same can be said for the game’s multiplayer. In the past it was the most played game on Xbox Live, but in recent years, it has steadily been dethroned by games such as “Minecraft,” “Halo,” “FIFA” and more.

An end to the series is coming, most likely within five years, so get your fill before it’s gone.