@el-shmiablo

A lot of the major staff who made COD2-COD MW2 left after MW2, went to Respawn then made classics at Respawn, then returned again to make COD MW 2019. I think NoClip covered some of the development of that game (could've been another company tbh), but a ton of the core IW staff returned to make Modern Warfare.

@bam541

I never understood the World at War love. That game was terrible. I don't understand how a series could step backwards so much from COD4 yet sell so many copies.

Treyarch is like the douche bag in college who is banging the smart hot chick AND stealing her notes yet and somehow gets better grades than her despite stealing her essay verbatim.

@bam541 @El-Shmiablo

It's a mix of both. Black Ops CW engine must be different than IW's tech cause it literally feels like dogshit compared to Modern Warfare. It actually feel like dog shit compared to Black Ops 4 from 2018 so I don't even know how that happens.

I've liked a few non-COD Treyarch games over the years but it seems like their main skillset is delivering a COD game in under 14 months like Activision keeps asking them to do when they cancel a game mid-cycle.

@Bigdude1

Call of Duty 3 is by far the worst COD I've played and was trying to copy Battlefield 2 unsuccessfully. I actually hated that game. Black Ops 1 was janky as all hell on PS3 and was a pretty bad follow up to MW2, and BO2 had appeal with it's speed and attachment system and is, in my opinion, the only great COD game by Treyarch. I didn't love it, but I'll accept it's praise.

EDIT:
I liked Call of Duty: Big Red One by Treyarch, but wouldn't call it great.

@bam541

COD Modern Warfare was my 2019 GOTY and a massive improvement in multiplayer, single player, and added a ton to the Battle Royale genre when Warzone released early 2020. It's still COD at it's core but it was varied by having really personalized custom classes so the meta-guns weren't the be-all-end-all if you wanted viable options for having a fun time in multiplayer. On top of the gameplay stuff, it just had some of the best animation in gaming that I've ever seen. It ran beautiful and it looked amazing graphically.

I re-joined the COD train back in Black Ops 4 which was fun for a bit, but not great. But Modern Warfare had me telling everybody to at least try it or get it on sale it was that good.

Black Ops CW was just such a MASSIVE step down that I'm like... okay I get why people are sick of this. I played a healthy amount then just stopped.

I'm back off the COD train until the next Infinity Ward title for next gen.

@bam541

COD BO Cold War at the top just feels dirty every single time. I bought it while it was discounted in January or something like that and it's just so absolutely mediocre in all avenues while looking worse and having way more glitches than the prior game. I hate knowing I contributed to its success because its so cash-in unambitious.

EP 5 is out on Patreon.

Jones made some good points about Life Is Strange, a game I love. It's funny though because he mentions the mindfulness from the POV of what the game is trying to show in its themes. Also mentions those sit and pause moments in every chapter. Personally, I didn't get too much thematic value from the plot and took it more as a sci-fi thriller with lots of sweet teen melodrama. I also didn't get a lot of of those moments where Max sits and basks in her own thoughts. Basically, the value Jones found in LiS was lost on me.

But what I really enjoyed was the photography mini-game. That is a prime example of just taking in a scene or a moment for what it is and just embracing where you are and what's happening around you. No judgement so to speak.

Personally, I know it was a little collectable side quest thingy, but I really got a lot of value from it in LiS. Helped me get to know Arcadia Bay better and just "take a knee" as Kyle would say. Definitely a lesson to take into the real world too. Photography can teach you a lot.

Ahh too bad, but definitely expected considering only 6M of 35M Canadians are inoculated. My step dad and I rolled the dice by booking a hotel but I think we can get a refund. Here's to 2022 with the new generation of F1!

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/canadian-grand-prix-f1-montreal-cancelled-1.5988769

@jdincinerator

Watch the Game Informer video.

Youtube Video

Fuck hunting chickens. All bout that ammo and dying an ignorant death setting me back an hour.

@dmcmaster

All I know is that they better pipe up about their plans soon so I can avoid spending like $150 on PS1 games for PS3 by June.

@bam541

I wouldn't play them if I was torturing myself. Life is too short to play games just because they reviewed well. I'm actually pretty intrigued by them all, even Days Gone to an extent.

I just wish Sony 1st party didn't go all in on AAA open worlds. Even God of War had a semi-open world and weapon XP grind.

Spidey = side missions for upgrade tokens to make combat better
Horizon = side missions to upgrade skill tree to make combat better
GoW = XP to upgrade weapons so the pace of the game picks up and combat becomes better
Days Gone = money to upgrade motorcycle

I understand that starting weak and improving is a common tried and true video game design choice, but I just don't appreciate how the open world of Spider-Man or the combat in God of War only become bearable once I'm very upgraded.

I feel like I only warmed up to both of those games about half way through when I was upgraded and the game felt more fully fleshed at that point.

Anyways, I don't have much more to add about Days Gone until I play it so I'll keep on topic after this.