Poll: Call of Duty is 15 years old

[BFG10K]

Note: I had to combine multiple poll options due to forum limitations.

So I just finished replaying Modern Warfare 3. It looks and runs fine at 2560x1440 with 4xTrSS at a constant locked 80FPS with gsync:

Spoiler

I’ve played up to and including Ghosts and I found all of them average to mediocre, except for 2 and MW3.

In particular I found 1, MW and MW2 to be vastly overrated and their gameplay and level design to be poor and superficial.

To me 2 and MW3 were much more interesting to play and I voted for 2 because I’ve finished it more times.

 

[BSim500]

I voted for CoD1 simply because it's the only one I've ever played (and both then at the time and even replaying both today, I still prefer Medal of Honor : Allied Assault's gameplay because it just felt "more game, less movie"). Never really hated CoD, but the series also never really "clicked" with me at any point, and it's still the worst (and most oft-quoted) example of a publisher that just doesn't know when to call it a day and actually make some new IP.

 

[DigDog]

Dont think ive ever played one, due to the reputation of being a shooter for casuals.

 

[Zenoth]

The first and second are the only ones I finished. I liked the first, really liked the second. Then I played around 1 hour of the third, on the original Wii. At that point I already had enough I think. Then I remember playing CoD4's first two hours or so (of its campaign) at a friend's place, and I never touched the franchise again since that point. I always held the opinion that CoD4 is one of the top 10 most overrated video games of all time. If it had a dick it seems like about 90% of the world's [male] gamer population at the time would have sucked it.

 

[MBrown]

COD2 then COD4.

 

[jimrawr]

COD2 then COD4.

Nailed it, and in the correct order IMO. What a disappointment the rest of the franchise is. Hugely over-rated like someone else said, 2 and 4 made this franchise by themselves.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

The only Call of Duties I've played are the 1st and 4th (or is it 3rd? I dunno I'm talking about Modern warfare 1).

I have to gove the nod to Modern Warefare for first and foremost getting away from the beaten to death WW2 shooter genre, essentially establishing shooter mechanics for the next decade of games, and for having a legitimately engrossing and engaging campaign.

Everything since MW1 just feels like a rehashed and recycled yearly sports title release. I have no interest in them or the apparent 'Murica level jingoistic plots the campaigns (now gone I suppose) these games appear to ship with (correct me if I'm wrong here, I'd love a good "there are no winners in war" style plot).

 

[BoomerD]

I voted COD2, since it’s really the only one I’ve played. (I have Ghosts and one of the MW games on x-box 360, but don’t play)
I played COD2 occasionally until last year when something in a Windows 7 update made it unplayable.

 

[Kaido]

It hurts to think that Half-Life is 20 years old

 

[crisium]

4, then 1. 1 had the best single player for its time, but 4 wasn't far behind and importantly I had more fun in its multiplayer.

I never played 2 sadly

After 4 the series became stale.

 

[WhiteNoise]

I chose 'other' and my pick goes to MOHAA.

 

[Rifter]

Dont think ive ever played one, due to the reputation of being a shooter for casuals.

Same

 

[crisium]

That doesn't make sense if you're as old as your join date makes you look.

The first 2 games were PC exclusive, and the first was a major pioneer of what DX9 could do. 2003-2004 for the golden age of early DX9 FPS: CoD, Doom 3, Far Cry, Half-Life 2. Any enthusiast bought most if not all of those games.

Nothing casual about buying CoD 1, 2, or even 4 around launch. 3 was a console exclusive, but wasn't popular among anyone really. After 4 you are quite correct.

 

[tamz_msc]

Interesting to see the votes evenly split between 1 and 2. Also interesting to note that the OP finds MW3 better than say MW1. MW3 campaign was one breathless stream of action sequence after another, in other words, pacing was horrible and there was absolutely no presence of any quiet time.

All Ghillied Up and One Shot One Kill will remain up there as among the most memorable levels in any SP game, in my opinion.

 

[Homerboy]

It hurts to think that Half-Life is 20 years old

Nah - When I think about things like HL and how old they are I just realize I was blessed enough to be around when games were good and TRULY groundbreaking. We won't see things like that ever again.

 

[paperfist]

1 had the cow?

 

[Chaotic42]

MW2. The Black Ops games just felt wrong. I stopped buying them.

 

[Kaido]

Nah - When I think about things like HL and how old they are I just realize I was blessed enough to be around when games were good and TRULY groundbreaking. We won't see things like that ever again.

I had several factors that led to getting me into computers growing up. HL was one of them. Really wanted to play HL, didn't know squat about computers. Went out & bought the completely wrong video card (non-gaming model) with my lawn-mowing money, and it didn't even fit my motherboard lol. Good learning experience

 

[WhiteNoise]

I had several factors that led to getting me into computers growing up. HL was one of them. Really wanted to play HL, didn't know squat about computers. Went out & bought the completely wrong video card (non-gaming model) with my lawn-mowing money, and it didn't even fit my motherboard lol. Good learning experience

Agreed. When HL released I didn't even own a PC. I bought one a year later at 26-27 years old and one reason was to play HL. Then I discovered my brand new PC couldn't play it due to not having a decent video card. I had to save up some money and buy a TNT2 RIVA card. The first time I started HL using that card I was...pretty blown away. Amazing gaming experience.

 

[Kaido]

The first time I started HL using that card I was...pretty blown away. Amazing gaming experience.

The 3D quality, the cinematic feel, and the story blew me away. I still like to play through it every year just for kicks. Still holds up!

 

[BFG10K]

The first 2 games were PC exclusive, and the first was a major pioneer of what DX9 could do.

Eh? The first game was a Quake 3 engine title that used OpenGL.

Furthermore, the first game (along with Halo) is what's responsible for modern FPS "design":

Spoiler

After coming from Allied Assault, Call of Duty's level design felt lifeless and superficial, devoid of depth or exploration. Right at the start they even had a pop-up saying not to bother trying to open doors, because apparently doors are too complicated for the average gamer.

This is what started the whole "cinematic experience" which turned most FPSes into interactive cutscenes.

 

[DeadFred]

Dont think ive ever played one, due to the reputation of being a shooter for casuals.

Then you missed out. MW1 or CoD4 whatever you want to call it, was the game that finally broke me away from Quake 3 Arena. Playing and competing with the promod version was the most fun I've ever had playing video games.

Cod2 was good but Cod 4 was epic, sadly it all went downhill from there.

 

[DigDog]

Yes i .. oh dear. Ok prepare for a wall of text.

Or not. Maybe i can keep it short. Let's just say that "i suspected" they were good.

Like i wrote before, they had a reputation. One guy once tried defending COD on ESR and everybody piled on him, but, he did sound like he knew what he was saying.

But the horrid reputation that came with COD didnt give me an option. Remember that these were games played originally on console by jocks who had never touched anything with a cpu before Halo and the Xbox.

 

[dasherHampton]

I just checked to be sure if I remembered correctly:

I bought the jewel case of the original CoD probably 12+ years ago at Best Buy, back when racks of bargain PC games were still a thing. I enjoyed the demo, and I thought maybe I'd get around to playing it one day. When I got home I set it down on a shelf of an old PC gaming station in my basement I used to use.

Sure enough - It's still there, unopened, in the exact spot I put it. I had set some discs on top of it over the years and forgotten about it.

I blame STEAM.

 

[DeadFred]

Yes i .. oh dear. Ok prepare for a wall of text.

Or not. Maybe i can keep it short. Let's just say that "i suspected" they were good.

Like i wrote before, they had a reputation. One guy once tried defending COD on ESR and everybody piled on him, but, he did sound like he knew what he was saying.

But the horrid reputation that came with COD didnt give me an option. Remember that these were games played originally on console by jocks who had never touched anything with a cpu before Halo and the Xbox.

That's why I try things that interest me and then decide for myself whether they are any good or not. Don't follow the herd, whether they be jocks or nerds, always choose your own path.

Of course the standard multi-player was very casual, and the promod players would always mop the floor in pub servers. We were always accused of hacking and being bannned especially when joining as group and playing together, it was a blast. lol