A lot of information has been pouring out of media outlets across the net over the last few days concerning Call of Duty: Black Ops. All of it has concerned multiplayer. And multiplayer, like legs, feeds the wolves.
For those completely unfamiliar with the development swapping that happens within the CoD franchise, let me lay it down quickly. Projects flip between Infinity Ward and Treyarch. Infinity Ward rocked Modern Warfare, Treyarch had World at War. Infinity Ward made Modern Warfare 2 and now Treyarch is making Black ops. The history goes back to the original Call of Duty, but that's the gist of it.
World at War has the best multiplayer to-date for Call of Duty. There, I said it. This is the part where ravenous Modern Warfare (2) fans amass on my lawn wielding pitchforks and burning crosses. Yes, I know, people love their Modern Warfare. I get it, it's a great experience. CoD 4 feels better than MW2 in my opinion. The multiplayer was extremely fresh, super tight and just rewarding enough to make it addictive as hell. World at War, by Treyarch, took that set of addictive features and polished it, made it better, added terrifying dogs... catch my drift? They took an already solid experience and buffed it out, making it more awesome than before.
That's what they're good at. Their singleplayer experiences are top-notch too, don't get me wrong. But Treyarch's ability to capture the fine points of Infinity Ward's multiplayer segments and make them better... that's what Treyarch does right.
So Modern Warfare 2 came out. A multiplayer built entirely around a constant stream of positive reinforcement. When players used to go several levels before getting a reward for their work, Modern Warfare 2 made positive reinforcement pop up every 30 seconds. It was like watching a magical puppy run through a candy store whilst sharting a rainbow of diarrhea. I don't even know what that imagery suggests...
But, hey, it works. All of those perks, tags, banners, etc. made MW2 an addictive game. It also made it one of the most successful console shooters of all time. Right, those features aren't going anywhere. But Modern Warfare 2 was also horrifically unbalanced. Between the Noob Tubes, Thermo Scopes and Nukes during Domination, Modern Warfare 2 became a shit-show.
Is that the arm of a Constructicon in the distance?
Up steps Treyarch, the same company that's so good at polishing multiplayer elements. Nukes in Black Ops? Nope. Noob Tubes are limited. Thermo Scopes? I believe they're gone too. Killstreak perk kills don't incur bigger killstreaks. Yeah, that's right, the asshole in the AC-130 won't be able to hit his next perk from up above. The highest streak in the game is 11 kills. That's a lot harder if dogs, mortars and bombs aren't doing the work for you.
So all of that unbalance that made Modern Warfare 2 a difficult game to enjoy? Fading away. Plus, there are zombies.
I’m not going to sit here and say that Treyarch is better than Infinity Ward (a company that is now a shell of its former self). But both dev teams have their strong suits. Infinity Ward was full of the kind of moxy it took to innovate the console shooter. Treyarch are great at taking that model and making it even better. That’s the perfect marriage for inbred evolution in the console shooter market.
And people will continue to bitch. Infinity Ward against Treyarch, for some stupid reason that's been one of the many weird mantras of this generation. The game will come out and no matter how good the multiplayer experience is, people will bitch because it was made by Treyarch.
Like I said... zombies.
