Biggest franchise in the world? Once, maybe. Now it's just a by-the-numbers borefest. Here's why.
Call of Duty: Ghosts saw a downturn for the once all-conquering series, and we don't see it stopping there. In fact we're calling it now: Call of Duty is dead. Why? Read on...
This generation we want more
It's about more than just running down a straight corridor and shooting foreigners in what amounts to a virtual game of whack-a-mole.
This new generation we want more - and we will expect to get more.
It ain't a looker no more
60 frames per second is all well and good (and in fact Ghosts runs higher than that on PS4... by mistake), but it doesn't make up for the flat, bland and lifeless world you inhabit.
You don't buy a supercar for the engine alone, even if it does purr like a fat kitten on your warm lap. How you dress it up matters, and CoD has not been dressed to impress for years now.
It's all so superficial
And just to add to the fact it doesn't look great, Call of Duty is a series that apparently takes place inside a mostly indestructible world of perpetual wars.
That's mostly because try as you might, you can't knock that wall down. But when it comes to a cutscene or setpiece, you better believe that wall can be blown up.
The air of respect is long gone
When Call of Duty began it was a Second World War shooter, aiming to bring that level of respect you had seen in the original Medal of Honor game, or that you went on to see in TV shows like Band of Brothers.
It wasn't entirely successful, but it was a noble pursuit and one people could get on board with.
Now we have neo-communists banding together against 'Murica and raining down satellite-based fire from above before you set your super-canine mutt on them. Not quite the same.
It's a cut and paste job
They're out of ideas, it seems. Don't believe us? Check out this videocomparing the ending of Modern Warfare 2 with the opening of Ghosts: it's pretty damning.
It shows that not only are there no creative juices flowing, but that they're happy to literally copy bits from their older games in lieu of actually making something new.
And the next time we see a helicopter crashing, we're going to be having words.
The story is ludicrous (in the bad way)
Following on from the earlier respect point, Call of Duty really did lose its way when it came to storytelling.
Retelling the Second World War is one thing, and bringing about nuclear armageddon in the Middle East after a rogue terrorist goes a bit mad(der) is another.
But these days we've got James Bond fan fiction written by 12-year-old boys with 'issues' masquerading as mature entertainment.
It's been lost to the fanbase
What was once the best online experience in gaming is now an exercise in pandering to a market of terrible, horrible people. Alright, it's unfair to generalise those playing the Call of Duty games, but we've done it now and we're not going back on our word.
The newcomer to the series is met by an impenetrable wall of gobbledegook; reams of settings and setups that need to be sorted through, perks and loadouts and dogs and more guns.
And then you get into the game and it's just a nonstop procession of being killed by those who have been playing the exact same game (with different titles) for the last half a decade.
That's just not fun.
And finally...
Because the fans do things like this, and killing off Call of Duty might mean these idiots go somewhere else outside of gaming to be useless, cretinous morons.
