It hasn't been announced yet, but no one in the world is going to be surprised when Activision drops Modern Warfare 4. After half a dozen games since the Call of Duty relaunch though, the series is really starting to feel like the same game is coming out every year.
That's a real shame, because the first Modern Warfare really and truly innovated on the genre, and defined first person shooters for over half a decade. With that in mind, here's a few ways I think Activision can bring the next Call of Duty back to breaking new ground.
New Place, New Time?
The modern setting is great. It feels real, it uses weapons that handle like they should, and it's a compelling scenario to place these larger than life battles. But after three Modern Warfare games and two Black Ops, can't we see something new? Even World at War still felt all too similar.
I get that Activision needs its yearly payday, but why not use the Call of Duty brand to experiment in between those releases? How about some guerilla warfare in the Revolutionary War or Call of Duty: In Space? The CoD name is going to move units in almost every instance, and experimenting doesn't mean you have to put a stop to the yearly release cash cow.
There's a pretty vocal section of gamers that hate on the Call of Duty series simply because every year it feels like the same game is being released. This could be a very smooth way of convincing them to finally give CoD a try.
Take a Shot at a Story
Call of Duty's singleplayer campaigns get one thing very, very right: that white-knuckle, adrenaline fueled, balls to the wall pace that feels like an interactive action movie on speed. It's a intense and entertaining experience, but even after an entire interconnected trilogy of Modern Warfare stories, it's surprisingly forgettable.
Aside from a few cinematic moments, there's really nothing worth remembering; no characters, ideas, or dialogue worth discussing; and that's alienating a large population of dedicated, hardcore gamers who would love to see just a little more writing.
You might be saying, but Call of Duty is all about the multiplayer, the singleplayer is just icing on the cake. Well, you could say the same about Halo, about Gears of War, about StarCraft. Each of those games have a strong balance between their singleplayer and multiplayer components. People played Halo 2's multiplayer for years after it came out, but the Halo trilogy is still best known for the memorable character it created. Good multiplayer doesn't mean you can't have a decent story, why not try and shake things up in Modern Warfare 4?
More Variety in the Multiplayer
Yes, Call of Duty has a lot of game modes ranging from deathmatches, to capture points, to objective-oriented maps. However, when you really dig into it, every mode basically boils down to run around until you see someone and hope you iron sight faster. It's fun, simple, and addictive, sure, but after half a dozen installments, it's starting to get a little repetitive.
How about a change of pace? This doesn't mean you can't have the classic game modes, but why not take a shot at including something radically different, just to see how it works out? Zombie mode is a great example of this. It was completely insane in concept, but turned out to be one of the best parts of the Treyarch installments.
Giving us more ways to play Call of Duty simply means you're going to have more gamers finding niches of the experience that appeal to them. Horde mode? Battlefield-sized maps? Hell, even a proper map editor? A few new options would really shake up that multiplayer scene.
Do you agree with any of these ideas? Do you think Call of Duty even needs some freshening up? Let me know in the comments section!
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