Opinion: COD4 Vs. CODWAW It’s In The Numbers

March 4th, 2009 by

codvscod

RESPONSE: COD4 Vs. CODWAW Vulnerable Humility

The main difference between these two games is apparent without even discussing their content.  The simple fact that not everyone knows is that these two games are made by entirely separate companies.  COD4 was made by Infinity Ward, the makers of the most award-winning entries in the series.  Call of Duty, Call of Duty 2, and Call of Duty 4 are the sole productions of Infinity Ward.  That is seriously all they make — great COD games.  The first COD (Metacritic score: 91) won over 500 Game of the Year awards when it was released in 2003.  Call of Duty 4 (Metacritic score: 94) holds such titles as “#1 FPS of All Time” and “#1 Best-Selling FPS Ever” with over 11 million copies sold (compared to, say, 8.1 million for Halo 3).  Treyarch, overall, generally makes B-List games.  Recently, in addition to CODWAW (Metacritic score: 84), they’ve made the licensed Quantum of Solace (Metacritic score: 65), Spider-Man Web of Shadows (Metacritic score: 68), Spider-Man 3 (Metacritic score: 62), and Ultimate Spider-Man (Metacritic score: 75).  Treyarch has essentially never made a game on their own with a Metacritic score over 90.  That is all that Infinity Ward makes.  With that said, I’ll touch on the true differences between the games as well.

To be completely honest, I never finished CODWAW.  I couldn’t bring myself to, even with conscious effort.  This has excluded me from the much-touted Nazi zombie mode, but I can just pretend that Hitler is on the bad side of Left 4 Dead if I want such things anyways.  To me, especially considering the track records of the respective companies, the differences between the two games were apparent as soon as you first get control over your character.  Since Infinity Ward works on the major updates for the series, I suppose it is reasonable to expect that a very large amount of mechanics, graphics, and storytelling methods will be “borrowed” by Treyarch for their entries in the series.  CODWAW certainly lives up to expectations in that regard.  I’m even willing to say that a lot of what people enjoy about the Treyarch entries into the series are just reflections of what Infinity Ward has added into the series.

For me, even though I was playing CODWAW on a ludicrously powerful computer with all of the settings at Max, and additional anti-aliasing supplied by Nvidia tools, the graphics just felt cheaper than those in COD4.  Treyarch was technically using the same engine for their game, but it isn’t an engine that they have built from the ground-up, there’s little chance that they know all of the minute intricacies of said suite.

Treyarch does spend more than their average game-developing time on their COD games, but nowhere near as much time as Infinity Ward.  In fact, I’m willing to bet that the Treyarch entries into the series are merely space-fillers to give Infinity Ward more time to craft their masterful games.

Immediacy is attained in COD4 primarily through the setting.  The guns, the places, the uniforms are all taken from Modern Warfare and show you just what’s going on in the world today.  The crimes, the issues, are all plausible and indicative of the initiatives undertaken by today’s military in extreme situations.  The market is saturated with WW2 games, and it is increasingly difficult to make additional ones compelling.

The online multiplayer in CODWAW is certainly similar to COD4, but not enough to make it better, or even as engaging.  The online multiplayer is what has made COD4 the giant it is today.  There is no single game that I have ever played for more than a few hours online except for COD4.  The levelling system that allows you to throw all that you’ve earned away for a more prestigious icon was a stroke of genius and is the driving force behind keeping the game continually fresh and exciting online.  Balance, which is also key, is maintained very well in COD4.  All of the weapons and perks can be the key to your success if they’re used properly, and there is no one sure-fire combinations that trumps all others.   Even in my first online match in CODWAW, meeting the dogs and a manned tank instantly let me know that balance was not a factor in the game’s online world.

Infinity Ward, continuing with their greatness, have just launched a Twitter Page where you can go and suggest elements for addition into Modern Warfare 2 and its community site.  Suggestions can be piped live directly to that site by using the key-phrase #mw2 in a Twitter message.  It is not surprising that a lot of the top suggestions ask for the exclusion of elements added in CODWAW, and a return to the glory of COD4.  No matter what your opinion is on these two games, you should definitely check out the new Twitter page and let them know what you’d like to see in the next COD game.

Anyways, the feud between fans of both games is sure to continue regardless of scores and figures.  While you duke it out, I’ll be playing COD4 with patient anticipation of its true sequel.