Virutal Soapbox: Call of Duty every year!?

Hey all,

Well its been about a week or so since the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops and I thought I would toss in my two cents regarding the series and such. To begin I want to start by saying the series as a whole is great for gaming. Now more than ever there are more players getting into my favourite pass time. It's games that build bridges between gamers and well....Everyone else in society. For we gamers are a seclusive society and we need all the help we can get when interacting with others.

So why am I standing on my virtual soapbox today? Well Activision is having another Call of Duty coming out next year and there are rumours that they plan to release yearly editions of the games. Don't get me wrong it will still be a great game in a long proud line of games but when will it become stale? When will people start to groan the fact that they are gonna have to shell out $60 dollars for the same game with new character skins and similar multiplayer maps? But some of you may say "Justin people will still buy the game because it's Call of Duty. It's just like those gamers willing to dish out money for a new Madden or NHL game every year." I simply reply but the guys who buy the new sports game every year are a rare breed. They are a niche group and their game needs updates due to players coming and going on teams. Yet even some of those gamers still feel reluctant to buy purchase a new game every year. There is only so many Maddens can have in their collection before they get sick and tired of the series. The same can happen to Call of Duty.

I get that people enjoy first person shooters but they also enjoy their money. So how can developers like Activision still keep the Call of Duty buzz alive without launching a new game every year? Simple, DLC expansions baby! Just look at what it did for games like Red Dead Redemption. For around $15 you can add a zombie apocalypse to a Western and BAM! The game seems fresh and new. Companies like Bioware release new quests, story arcs and expansions to their games like Dragon Age and it drives the game. Sure Activision released map packs online, but they can do more. They can give players mission packs that are outside of the main game, like you can play a few missions from the eyes of the bad guys from the main game. This opens up the story more and can lead to some really interesting ideas and discussion. Also you could throw in what if Call of Duty was set during an alien invasion. I know not the most original idea but still, it's something.

This could be fun to play in a FPS. Now I wanna watch Starship Troopers...

So when the next Call of Duty launches next year, I hope Activision will take the series on a break and let people enjoy the game without constantly thinking about the new game on the horizon. Release expansion packs to build on an existing experience and not just give us a "new" one. I know that this article may sound like I don't like the series but trust me, to this day there is nothing that makes me smile more than hearing the wails of an 11 year old on xbox live as I snipe them from the other side of the map. Check out our review of Black Ops coming out soon from Sam.

Justin