Don Mitchell and Charles King come together to share their opinions on why they believe the Call of Duty franchise caused gamers to ignore the truly unique titles in the First Person genre.

Don Mitchell – Blip 74

Call of Duty is the most popular first person shooter franchise this generation and the competition isn’t even close, but has their popularity ruined other First Person Shooters this generation?

I will be using Killzone as my prime example because I’ve put the most time in with it. Killzone has gone through many changes, and I recently picked it up and started playing it once again and can see how the game was highly underrated. I will toss out some other games as well, just to get you thinking.

Has COD had a negative impact on FPS?

First let me start by saying, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was the SHIT! I was hooked for months and there would be no GOS without that game. All that aside, at least to me, it is obvious that the franchise works off a standardize blueprint, and they just rinse and repeat every release. This is fine when COD is concerned, but for all other FPS here lays the problem…THEY ARE NOT COD. They are unique in their own way and they at least try to offer something new to the FPS genre.

Killzone is a prime example of how COD’s popularity has ruined another shooter’s ability to introduce something creative or innovative to the FPS genre. Guerilla Games created Killzone as a tactical shooter, COD is not a tactical shooter therefore it was bound to suffer.

People love to say, “It’s all about gameplay” but it’s funny when a game tries to introduce something new or different those same people aren’t willing to adapt to a different style of gameplay.

With Killzone it has steadily improved since the beginning. The first in the series was weak and that’s putting it kindly. The second was nice, but ruined by the COD community/mentality and the third was highly underrated ruined and failed for the same reasons. All three of the Killzone offerings had its shortcomings, but each had solid gameplay and introduced something new in terms of its gameplay, whether it is the campaign or multiplayer. The game just didn’t play like COD, which I don’t understand why it should because COD’s gameplay is far from perfect, and the name of the game is “Killzone” not “Call of Duty“.

Shooters like MAG and the  Battlefield, Resistance, and Killzone franchises have all gotten the comparison treatment while trying to offer something different, even though their differences are night and day.

Charles King – DCI

Let’s be real here, COD is really a quick fix when it comes to what a lot of gamers really want to see in the genre. It isn’t that COD are bad games and no one should play them, but their popularity overshadows games that blow it out of the water when it comes to creativity and innovation. There are dozens of First Person Shooters that are released every year, but the sad part is that gamers have judged certain games unfairly because they don’t contain the arcade and twitch gameplay we have come to expect from COD. Mirror’s Edge is a great example, as the game is more of a FPP (First Person Platformer) more than a shooter. I’m sure just the concept alone made most FP fans turn their heads in disgust.

Borderlands and Deus Ex: Human Revolution are examples of shooters that bring more to the table and has enough experiences to keep you full for weeks. I will admit, Borderlands was a buggy mess but the content alone made you forgive the game for its many glitches. Regarding Borderlands 2, It should be a crime for anyone to overlook it. Trust me on this one!

Borderlands 2