Call of Duty

 Series That Changed Gaming

           Call of Duty is a franchise that has become a house name for all first-person shooters.  In the perpetual argument as to whether at game ought to be cinematic, no game is as important in the discussion as Call of Duty.  When the franchise debuted some eight years ago, very few games had taken the movie aspect in which Infinity Ward is now famous for.  A few others had taken inspiration from various films, but none had captured the intensity and production value of a cinematic movie such as Call of Duty.  The series has become a poster child for linear, scripted gameplay, for better or worse.

            It’s impossible to truly understand Call of Duty’s heritage without first looking at classic PC shooter Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. 2015, a relatively small-time studio based in Oklahoma, had developed a few first-person shooters that would become but footnotes in the gaming industry.  The game tended towards the cinematic-as evidenced in the iconic Normandy invasion mission.  This refined the genre into a full-on revolution.  Due to some creative conflicts with the publisher EA, key members of 2015 broke off to form Infinity Ward and begin work on Call of Duty.  The team pushed for a more realistic take on World War II, including the viewpoints of soldiers other than the standard American and British troops.  Funded by Activision, the game was released for the Windows OS in the Fall of 2003.

            Reviewers and gamers alike praised Call of Duty for raising the bar for the genre; it received over 80 games of the year awards.  The days of small hallways, unconvincing AI, and finding the right key are gone and over with.  Though, the praise was not unwarranted: the game would rise to become one of the most influential series around, spawning annual sequels and dozens of spin-offs.

            Shattering sales records that some blockbuster films could never hope for, Call of Duty has captured the hearts and minds of millions of gamers in the world over.  Though, the series is still controversial.  Some circles of gamers complain of the strict, on-rails experience; others detest the sometimes spiteful multiplayer community.  Whatever the games are doing wrong, the sales numbers speak for themselves.  They definitely do some things right for a while lot of gamers.

            The first few games in the series played a huge part in the revolutionizing of single-player narratives.  The later entries into the series were focused more onto the multiplayer arena, the effects of which will shape the way of gaming for years to come.  The reward system, Prestiges, and killstreaks have all profoundly changed the way multiplayer games are developed and experienced.  Looking back on the early aspects of the gaming industry of the 2000’s from now, love it or hate it, we can all agree that Call of Duty is among the most successful in the past ten years. 

Article by: Matt Scott