I don’t know if it’s been made clear yet on this site but I happen to be somewhat of a fan of the Call of Duty series. I think they are a wonderful example of the FPS genre done right. Some would disagree with me. Those people would be wrong of course.

There has been five games in the series up to this point and a couple expansion packs. Only one game has taken place outside of World War 2 – Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare. The name of course being misleading since it takes place in the near future. Not near future like Robocop near future but closer near future like Predator 2 near future. So you know, plausible near future.

That’s apparently about to change.

As everyone who is anyone who knows someone knows that since Call of Duty 2 the series has had two main developers. The superior Infinity Ward who created the series and is full of awesome. And Treyarch the sluttier cousin who tries so hard but still has the stink of used on them. In a rare move of wisdom from a big publisher like Acti-Blizzard they have both teams working on the titles in a leapfrog manner. IW gets the even numbered games and Treyarch gets the odd numbers. This keeps the games coming on a yearly basis and gives the developers a full two years to make the games. Sounds good on paper except that IW is clearly the superior developer.

So again outside of COD4 all the games have been set during WW2. Well all indications point that the seventh game in the series will take place during Vietnam.

Once again no one remembers Korea.

This game will be tricky for them to make. Will there be baby killing? Will Vietcong hop out of trees and holes to ambush players? Will there be acid power-ups to go on killing sprees? I kid I kid. That would be trivializing a brutal conflict that deeply divided our country and in some cases the wounds never healed.

Though I would put money down that there will be a Lieutenant Dan.

So they are moving away from WW2 and moving onto Vietnam. The game could be cool. But if the game is anything like the pacific levels in World at War the game will be mostly lame. Unless – and I believe this is the real reason this game will exist – there are some pretty sweet action sequences set to some stock Vietnam era music.

Oh yeah the 60s had the “best music ever”, now fly low across some green fields to Fortunate Son again. That’s Vietnam to me and mine.

Seriously why no love for Korea?


  • Paul

    Nail on the head, as always. :)

    Also, testing out this comment subscription thinger.

  • http://www.rickyjacy.com Rick

    Why the hate on Treyarch? i have heard nothing but positive reception for World at War. I know people love to dog on them because CoD3 sucked, but do remember that they were very rushed, having only like 1 year of development time compared to the 2 years that they got for WaW (and the 2 years that Infinity Ward got for CoD4).

    I just don’t think it’s fair to call them the “sluttier cousin who tries so hard but still has the stink of used on them”. They are talented and competent and they produce games that people enjoy.

  • Paul

    Rick, don’t forget you played WaW and hated it. You we’re even willing to stick it out with me and give it a gamefly so that we could play it together without online donkeys fucking everything up. I mean, I enjoyed it and agree that Treyarch is getting better, but I agree with Lance that IW is the better developer.

    Also, I’m not so hot on the idea of an FPS being set in Vietnam. I’d much rather shoot aliens or zombies than recreate another historical tragedy.

  • http://www.rickyjacy.com Rick

    @Paul: I don’t like any of the CoD games, that doesn’t mean that Treyarch sucks. I agree that Infinity Ward is BETTER, but, again, that doesn’t mean that Treyarch sucks. Can there only be 1 good developer in the world?

  • Paul

    Yes Rick, only one. Do yourself a favor and go to their site. Check out the games they’ve worked on. Quantum of Solace? Spiderman: Web of Shadows? The track record isn’t exactly stellar.

    http://www.treyarch.com/games

  • http://www.rickyjacy.com rick

    Treyarch has produced a variety of games, with varying degrees of success in terms of critical response. I’m still not convinced that they stink.

  • Paul

    Being in the design field I realize there are other factors at play here. Sometimes these things get “designed by committee.” And I know first-hand how annoying that can be. To sit there and watch something you created get torn apart and reassembled by idiots into something akin to an abomination is something I deal with on a regular basis.

    But, that said, you can still turn out a decent product that meets both the client’s and the consumer’s needs. Is that product the best you could turn out? Probably not, so I see where you’re coming from. I do believe Treyarch does the best to their abilities with what they have to work with. I mean, I DID like Ultimate Spiderman.

    Yes, they do get the red-headed step-children rap a lot however. And sometimes it’s merited. But maybe someone just needs to give them something inspiring to work on, rather than being stuck in the limbo of move tie-ins, WWII shooters and Spiderman games.

  • http://www.mavlock.com Martin

    Treyarch has brought us some solid spiderman playing over the years. The last few blew, but before that it was some tight work.

    Big chunk of the issue with Treyarch is the last minute push. The publisher comes in and puts the boot to the ass making them release the game sooner. Since they have a smaller staff it tends to leave us with, well crap.

    If Treyarch is given the time they do produce solid work. When they are rushed, well you see what happens.

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  • http://www.rickyjacy.com rick

    ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops’ says hello.

  • Lance

    Thanks for remembering Rick.

  • http://www.rickyjacy.com rick

    i never forget.