Franchises that failed to "evolve"

[BogusMeatFactory]

I hate to be the guy who ever defends Call of Duty but it's going to happen, right here and right now:

Call of Duty is the Megaman of this generation. Vastly popular, ubiquitous with the majority of gamers, and subject to near yearly releases with tiny changes and tweaks between iterations. And look at those sales!

All I'm going to say is that Megaman went down hill really, really fast when Capcom began to "innovate".

With the Megaman comment, I really feel that Megaman Legends was a brilliant series that never got the love it deserved. Outside of that, yes I understand how Megaman faltered. Their attempt at 3D with the PS2 titles were horrific. The Battle Network series was meh. It is a shame, but I still feel that Legends was far ahead of its time.

[oxymoron]

I didn't say that it was a move forward in the way something like better AI is, just that it changed the way the games play. Your character was faster and more agile, and as a result stages became larger and more vertical and designers could design levels and obstacles and boss fights that you couldn't do in the classic series. Classic and X are two different series because they play differently. Switching from a M1 Garand to a M4 does not have a dramatic effect on overall game and stage design like that, so you can't compare it really to COD iterations.

But from what I understand about modern CoD games, there are drones, air strikes, a variation on character classes, etc. that weren't in the older games. I think maybe CoD gets crud for being derivative when many classic and beloved series like Megaman, Castlevania, Mario Bros, Zelda, Contra, Sonic, Final Fantasy, etc get a free pass.

Don't fix something that isn't broken. Like you both said, Mega Man was great until they started to "innovate". The thing with COD is that the game can still be fixed but they refuse to do so.

[Menegrothx]

How would you fix the series then?

[Sload Soap]

In a strange parallel to the Mega Man franchise, Titanfall, the game made by ex-COD developers, also uses enhanced jumping, wall climbing and mech-riding as its central innovation.

[ZenErik]

In a strange parallel to the Mega Man franchise, Titanfall, the game made by ex-COD developers, also uses enhanced jumping, wall climbing and mech-riding as its central innovation.

I haven't looked into it much. Only knew about the mech thing. Wall climbing sounds pretty fun. Not really a FPS guy, but Titanfall is one of those games I'd probably get if I get an Xbox One.

[oxymoron]

How would you fix the series then?

Do you mean fix Mega Man? If so, then just bring it back to the original format. Give the people what they want. If you mean COD than I think they should actually work hard to see what the gamer wants. I know you guys give GTA 5 a lot of heat for being repetitive but they work hard to listen to the consumer. Thus, innovate successfully.

[Menegrothx]

I was talking about COD. What do the gamers want then? I don't see your logic, if you (presumably) dislike Call of Duty for not evolving. How exactly does the series need to evolve? Should the series change the way it plays? Should it add new gameplay elements to the existing formula? Something else?

As much as I dislike COD, the series provides a certain style of FPS gaming that's not found in other FPS games, and that's the way (uh huh uh huh) I like it. I assume quite many other people like it too, because the series sells so well and many other FPS games try to copy it's style. I'd rather have diversity: different FPS games offer a different take on the genre and have slightly different gameplay, so jumping from Quake to COD, TF2 to AA or from L4D2 to CS, it never feels like you're playing a carbon copy of the other game because of slightly different physics, gunplay, gameplay mechanics etc. The new COD games offer a certain type of style within the FPS genre and I think altering it too much would be pointless and detrimental to the series.

[oxymoron]

I was talking about COD. What do the gamers want then? I don't see your logic, if you (presumably) dislike Call of Duty for not evolving. How exactly does the series need to evolve? Should the series change the way it plays? Should it add new gameplay elements to the existing formula? Something else?

As much as I dislike COD, the series provides a certain style of FPS gaming that's not found in other FPS games, and that's the way (uh huh uh huh) I like it. I assume quite many other people like it too, because the series sells so well and many other FPS games try to copy it's style. I'd rather have diversity: different FPS games offer a different take on the genre and have slightly different gameplay, so jumping from Quake to COD, TF2 to AA or from L4D2 to CS, it never feels like you're playing a carbon copy of the other game because of slightly different physics, gunplay, gameplay mechanics etc. The new COD games offer a certain type of style within the FPS genre and I think altering it too much would be pointless and detrimental to the series.

They need to:
*Block quick-scoping
*Stop releasing DLC at a ridiculous $15
*Apply patches and fix online in timely manner
*Actually create a good story
*Always look to improve mechanics

That's all I could come up with off the top of my head. I'll update it if I think of something else. I don't hate COD either I just think they're getting stale.

[Menegrothx]

None of those suggestions really are radical changes to the game. Stopping DLC and patching their games properly (and writing better stories) is just giving a shit about your customers, not evolving the gameplay.

What's wrong with quick scoping and how would it be prevented? As far as I remember, Counter Strike pros were quick scoping people long before the whole MW series even existed and no one ever had a problem with it. Some servers banned/restricited the number of AWPs, but I don't think I've ever heard people bitching about people scoring quick scope headshot skills on the Scout, that requires skills to pull off (and skills/constant moving and hopping around and crouching to avoid if you're in the receiving end)


I agree with you that COD is getting stale. But the problem is the yearly releases, not so much the core gameplay.

[oxymoron]

None of those suggestions really are radical changes to the game

Very true. But then again I'm looking for a refresher not a 360 degree change up.