Speaking to Eurogamer’s Johnny Minkley, current Call of Duty reins-holder Treyarch have claimed that their upcoming Black Ops iteration of the famed series will be “the best Call of Duty in the franchise.” So, that’s better than the first Modern Warfare, a game so well-received that it catapulted developer Infinity Ward into the stratosphere and confirmed their status as one of the best creators of FPS titles around. Also better than its follow-up, Modern Warfare 2, a game that grossed a billion dollars, fuelled media events usually only seen for blockbuster gala openings, and a game that – though polarising the gaming community in terms of quality – is still one of the most widely played online games today.
The source of the bravado comes from Treyarch’s community manager Josh Olin, quoting Black Ops’ triple treat of multiplayer, offline single-player and co-op – three elements regarded as fully-fledged games in themselves – as the foundation of the title’s impending future success.
We were incredibly impressed with Black Ops from what we saw at E3, but whether or not it will be the “best” Call of Duty in the series is obviously subjective. Nonetheless, it’s refreshing to hear Treyarch bravely make such rousing if impossible to verify exclamations. We’ll find out just how good Black Ops is compared to its predecessors this November.
Source: Eurogamer
cc_star
I have to say, from everything I’ve seen – this does look the best CoD.
Treyarch seem to get stick from the masses, but aficionado’s prefer their games to Infinity Wards
jonny_bolton
I think my problem with Black Ops was with the E3 video. Yes it looked impressive and those “puddle noises” were pleasing but the gameplay itself looked stale.
Oh what’s this? Me and one other guy have to steal a helicopter all by ourselves? Right. Oh and now we get to go on an on-rails drive over some bridges which I get to blow up? Woopee.
3shirts
In other news “I am totally frickin awesome” – Me
It always makes me concerned when the very people that produce something, bang on about how good it is (Apple being the kings in that particular arena). If the product is good, let people use it and talk about it. I give considerably more credibility to neutrals!
C_S15
“No we think it’s gonna be a bit crap really!”
The day a major developer of a major game says that with regards to their own game, I will eat my metaphorical hat.
BetaGhast
Like this guy did with Blacksite?
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/smith-explains-blacksite-issues
C_S15
Thats after his game sold though =P
benny boy
I can’t imagine them saying, “Quite a good COD, but not as good as COD4 or MW2.” Pretty standard hype talk for a new game in a franchise.
toutski
This does look good so it will be interesting to see how it shapes up.
Are they ever going to say it is anything BUT the best CoD though?
Nauraph
Imagine him telling it’s not as good as Modern Warfare. I think he would lose his job. But ofcourse he could just shut up.
Either way, I’ll just wait and see for myself.
Amphlett
Ha ha, made me laugh at the thought of the developer being honest and stating… “Well… it’s a decent enough game but it’s based upon previous wars of at least 30 years ago and still using the same base COD engine so it’s unlikely to do anywhere nears as well as MW2.”
Amphlett
“…whether or not it will be the “best” Call of Duty in the series is obviously subjective.” Which is why he can make such outlandish claims. Interestingly, I use the word ‘outlandish’ to deride the Developer’s statement as a means of expressing my opinion of someone else’s opinion.
TSBonyman
It looks very fine indeed from what i’ve seen and it’s not unfair to expect improvements as the series progresses.
project84music
When they say co-op do they mean through the campaign? I certainly hope so…
Big Goose
‘a game that grossed a billion dollars, fuelled media events usually only seen for blockbuster gala openings’
Just because it’s the latest craze that all the sheeple are obsessed with dosen’t make it the best game in the series.
Kovacs
There are many ways to determine “best”. Sales performance is one way, hence, the sentence is valid. As I said in the article, “best” in terms of quality is always going to be subjective.
iAvernus
No it does not, it means it’s the best SELLING game of the series. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters to them…making money. Whichever one makes the most money, will be considerd the best. Well IMO atleast.
Kovacs
You’ve actually just proved my point. One way to determine “best” is through sales figures. MW2 is the best selling game. If Black Ops beats its numbers it would classify as being the best in *that* area. There are other departments of course. Best graphics, best online play, best sound. All if these are subjective, however. My point is: the claim is a bold one considering the performance of its predecessor. By saying “this is the best COD” there are some metrics that can decide if such a statement turns out to be true. Like sales. There are many others, however, that can never be proven – because “best” is subjective. When such a claim is made, we can look at the measureable factors to see if it holds any water. Will Black Ops sell more than MW2? I doubt it, but that’s not my point. It’s a quantifiable marker people can use to measure success from an economic standpoint. Hence, mentioning the sales of another game – a game with the “best” sales around – is very valid IMO.
cc_star
Something that may count against it when it comes to sales is CoD fatigue
Some people will have heard all this hyperbole about MW2 and a percentage of them could have been put off by the short fractured story, the early glitchy online play and constant patches and they may not touch a CoD game again
So MW2’s sales ‘greatness’ may impact negatively on the next CoD.
Although I agree, sales or more precisely profit is the ultimate metric, and pretty much the only one that counts in the boardroom