On Tuesday we put out a list of expectations for the upcoming "Battlefield 4" reveal at the end of the month. We thought it only fair to do the same for the inevitable "Call fo Duty: Modern Warfare 4," despite severe reservations that the franchise is actually capable of moving ahead into the next generations. Here it goes:
The Microtransactions, Just Let Us Down Easy
"Call of Duty Online" over in China is already trying out the free-to-play model and "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2" just introduced the first cosmetic microtransactions into the series here in North America, so don't play coy with this "evolving" business model and just come out with it. Lead with the positives, like perhaps how cheap the microtransactions are, or how non-game-breaking, and then slowly and surely open our eyes to all the horrible ways the "Call of Duty" franchise is going down the tubes.
Okay, Activision probably won't do anything like that, but the backlash following the release-day unveiling of a slew of microtransactions in "Gears of War: Judgment" should be some indicator as to how gamers feel on this subject. If they're coming, Activision, at least let the gamers know to some extent how bad the damage is going to be. Don't worry, we'll be gushing over everything else in that reveal trailer you'll be putting out.
Next-Gen Qualities
"Call of Duty" has looked exactly the same since the original "Modern Warfare." The engine running the game may have received a few minor upgrades, and that wonderful 60 frames per second is always appreciated, but this year the franchise needs to prove it has a place in the next generation. "Halo" did it between the original Xbox and the Xbox 360, but changes were made, visuals were upgraded and Bungie supported their franchise with a severe amount of enthusiasm all the way up until 343 Studios took over.
"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4" needs to play with the Playstation 4 social features, do whatever it can with the Xbox 720 upgrades (Activision is no doubt privy to more information than we are right now) and even leverage the Wii U's gamepad as well as it can. Don't just sit back and prey on the merits of last-generation expectations. "Call of Duty" won't survive the storm otherwise.
Calm Down
The next-best thing to kill streaks and the rpg-lite class system has never been more kill streaks and more classes, despite what every "Call of Duty" title has tried to do since "Modern Warfare" first came out. Really, it's not, and every time you try to one-up yourself these two departments, your games just get more ridiculous and far less user-friendly. Tone it down a little bit, quit playing the sheer numbers game and show gamers there's a new hook, a new twist, that doesn't have the word class, kill or streak in it, and maybe you might just entice a new group of gamers instead of the same jackholes who aren't aware other games actually exist.
Which brings us to the campaign that no one really actually cares about at all. World War 3 is over, which does not mean you start World War 4. Look at the characters in "Black Ops" and "Black Ops 2." They prevented a world war, so let's have Price and the gang actually do something a little more proactive than SHOOT and ATTACK everything that moves and rile up the entire world.... Well, I suppose if you must, you could instigate an intergalactic war, during which Price dons the Silver Surfer's super powers and blows up all of Mars to destroy a federation of giant army ants. That's preventative and more realistic.
The Development Team
Show us some people who give a damn, not just some punked-out guy who's supposed to look young and a bunch of suits who define the word "fun" as "profit-yielding." Since Infinity War was gutted with the departure of its founders and creative leads after "Modern Warfare 2," the series just hasn't looked all the confident and barely made any changes to the formula at all. Unsurprising, yes, but also unacceptable in the long term. Put together a group of new, enthusiastic talent, maybe even name drop a couple of high-profile names, and show them off to the public.
Gamers would love nothing more than to see somebody they consider "one of their own" trying to fix the "Modern Warfare" franchise into something more than a slightly playable mess.
