"Black Ops 2" was released toward the tail end of 2012, as has been the trend for past "Call of Duty" games, but this franchise apparently nearly ruined the first-person-shooter (FPS) genre of gaming.
According to a report from VG24/7 on Thursday, Tripwire president John Gibson talked about how FPS games are finally making a comeback despite "Call of Duty's" linear experiences.
"I think that single-player shooters are getting better.
"I think they’re finally coming out from under the shadow of the Hollywood movie, overblown 'I’m on a rail' linear shooter. I’m talking about 'Call of Duty'-style shooters.
"The melding of RPG elements and shooter elements has been great. I’ve seen this reflected in a lot of the reviews, it’s like, 'Okay guys, we’re tired of this on-rails experience,'" Gibson said.
Gibson provides some bold statements indeed, especially since the "Call of Duty" franchise is still one of the best selling franchises in history.
And that little game they released last year called "Black Ops 2" wasn't too shabby in its sales of over $1billion worth of physical copies sold within the first 15 days of the game being released to the public.
To say the series has ruined the genre may be taking things a bit too far. Yes it has definitely changed the way FPS games are presented, but other developers have free will to develop these games however they want to.
Just look at "Borderlands 2." That FPS was easily one of the best games last year, and competes with the best of previous years. Gearbox provided a different experience than what "Black Ops 2" did, so to say this series has ruined the genre is a bit extreme.
Gibson goes on to talk about the current state of multiplayer shooters and referenced "Call of Duty" as the main culprit again.
"On the flip side, I’m really discouraged by the current state of multiplayer shooters. I think that, and I hate to mention names, because it sounds like ‘I’m just jealous of their success,’ but I’m really, I feel like 'Call of Duty' has almost ruined a generation of FPS players.
"I know that’s a bold statement, but I won’t just throw stones without backing it up. When I was developing Action Mode [for RO2], I got a group of people that I know that are pretty hardcore 'Call of Duty' players.
"And my goal was to create something that was accessible enough for them to enjoy the game—not turn it into 'Call of Duty,' but try to make something that I thought was casual enough but with the Red Orchestra gameplay style that they would enjoy.
"And we iterated on it a lot. And just listening to all the niggling, pedantic things that they would complain about, that made them not want to play the game, I just thought, 'I give up. 'Call of Duty' has ruined this whole generation of gamers,'" Gibson said.
This is an interesting point at the end though because how gamers have been conditioned over the course of this past generation is a different discussion.
You can absolutely attribute a lot of gamers' likes and dislikes to the most popular games of the generation, which is of course, "Call of Duty."
People are creatures of habit, and so when a game tries to do something drastically different from what a game like "Black Ops 2" has done, it can tend to shake people up a bit.
It would be something to find out if other developers feel the same way Gibson does, and then after that, gamers would be the ones to ultimately answer that question as well.
Have games like "Black Ops 2" and other "Call of Duty" titles changed or ruined the FPS genre?
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