Despite the constant criticisms towards Activision for their alleged lack of innovation in the “Call of Duty” series, the studio have still been releasing new installments in the franchise and they don’t seem to have any intention to stop soon.
However, while critics have been pleased by the single player campaign of the recently released “Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare”, the game hasn’t been performing that well in its multiplayer department.
The story of the game was reportedly developed with a lot of attention to detail, and the gameplay of the single player campaign comes with various innovative features as well. In terms of length, it’s nothing special, but fans of “Call of Duty” should hardly be surprised of that at this point.
There are actually some more thought-provoking moments during the story, according to reports, and the game can be a surprisingly stunning experience for a “Call of Duty” game. On the other hand, the campaign still delivers a good dose of cinematic moments and explosive action scenes, all balanced with some calmer periods where players can catch their breath.
Things don’t look so good on the multiplayer side, however. While the game is not bad in any way, it simply fails to innovate, according to the majority of criticisms that we’ve seen so far. Player numbers have been laughably low for a fresh release in the franchise – on the PC, it’s barely managing to hold 15,000 players online at the same time, a number which fans were used to not seeing for months after the initial release.
The multiplayer gameplay hasn’t changed that much from the previous installment, according to reports. Even though there are some new ideas brought to the table, it all still feels like the same experience, critics and fans agree.
At least the remastered edition of “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” has been performing quite well among fans of the franchise, despite the strong criticisms many had towards Activision for the way they released the game.
Being forced to purchase “Infinite Warfare” just for the remaster was seen as a poor move by many, and it undoubtedly also had an impact on the reception the game saw. The remaster was at least executed well in terms of quality, according to players and critics, and those who’ve gotten their hands on it report to have been enjoying themselves quite a lot.
Things are certainly looking grim for the future of the “Call of Duty” franchise at this point if Activision don’t make any drastic changes to the formula. It’s clear that the next release is going to be a complete disaster if the current trend continues, and some players are worried that there may not actually be a “Call of Duty” game next year.
That doesn’t have to mean that the franchise as a whole will end though – quite on the contrary, it could be a good thing for it. For almost ten years now, Activision have been releasing these games on an annual basis, and slowing things down could allow them to do something much more impressive.
After all, “Battlefield”, the main competitor to “Call of Duty”, doesn’t release on a similar schedule and it still enjoys a lot of popularity. Actually, recent “Battlefield” games have been completely dominating the scene, while “Call of Duty” has been losing players in large numbers. At the same time, “Titanfall 2” has been making a strong impression on gamers, further scoring some points for EA.