A reader is upset to find that he has no interest in this year’s Call Of Duty and worries that the series has lost him for good.
For 14 years now, ever since Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, I’ve been buying each new Call Of Duty as it comes out. I wouldn’t say without question, because I do pay attention to reviews, but even for the low points like Ghosts and Infinite Warfare I stuck with it and always enjoyed the generous mix of single-player, multiplayer, and Zombies. But this year I’m breaking the cycle. This year I’m not buying the new Call Of Duty and… I barely feel any regret about it.
In truth I’d decided a long time ago, especially after playing the open beta – an experience so underwhelming I hardly saw any discussion of it online. Which is way worse than people complaining that it’s bad, because at least then you know they still care. Although, really, I was put off the moment I heard it was set in WW2, which I don’t think anyone wanted, and even more so with the gameplay/story reveal which didn’t seem to have anything going for it.
And then on Friday morning I woke up to find that almost no-one had reviewed it, with GameCentral explaining how Activision had purposefully not sent out review copies, so as to stop negative reviews on launch day. So instead of buying the new Call Of Duty I instead wrote this, about how I’m done with the series.
Call Of Duty 4 was the first multiplayer game I ever got into and while that aspect never became an obsession for me – I still probably prefer the single-player overall – I still managed to play endless hours with my friends and continued to do so, on and off, for years. I think the last one we played was Black Ops 4 though.
I guess you could blame that on all of us getting older, and having family commitments, but it’s definitely not just that because we do play other games, like FIFA, together. But nobody has seemed much interested in Call Of Duty in years. I did manage to get a few games with a selection of my mates for the new Modern Warfare, but nothing like the old days.
I’ve not played Warzone at all with any of them, which seems to be what Activision are most interested in nowadays, but if Vanguard had been something interesting that wouldn’t have been enough to put me off. But Call Of Duty just seems so tired. Not just tired, but flat out exhausted and with nothing left to give.
EA must be rubbing their hands with glee that the Battlefield with the most hype in years is coming out at the same time as the Call Of Duty with the lowest amount of interest, but I’d still be surprised if I bought it. I’ve never liked Battlefield, the maps are too big and I don’t like wandering around for five minutes just to be shot by someone I never see, so it’s not as if I’m defecting, I’m just giving up.
I say Vanguard has been a disaster from the start but really, it’s been a disaster since before it was even officially announced; when those first rumours revealed the setting and the fact that this was going to be just the same old thing. It’s sad to see Call Of Duty like this but I honestly don’t know if there’s anything they can do to entice me back.
It’s just not the pop culture event it used to be, so I don’t see my friends coming back whatever happens. Modern Warfare was the best recent one but even the idea of a sequel leaves me completely unexcited. Call Of Duty is basically dead to me now and I feel… nothing.
By reader Tommy
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
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