Support NeoGAF

[Sub_Level]

I kind of want to give them the benefit of the doubt and that it was intended as a fun callback but given the shit storm surrounding this game I'm really not too sure lol

 

[ComputerMKII]

 

[eot]

It's not something to get too worked up about IMO, they re-use lots more that you don't notice / care about. The fact that the campaigns are similar enough that they can re-use a cutscene is more worrying than the fact that they did.

 

[Brick]

PR will spin this as "fan service," when it reality it means "we got caught."

 

[speculawyer]

I gotta say the reporting of a "sell-in" number instead of sell-through was worse than this.

But holy smokes, Kotick is out of control.

 

[test_account]

Lazy. Lazy as can be. "Nostalgia" and gaming has become watered down to the point of no return. It's not nostalgia when the game it's pulling from can still be played on the console you're playing the the current game on. That's ridiculous.

To be fair, the word "nostalgic" is not bound to any specific time frame. Being nostalgic just means to reminisce about something that happened. Modern Warfare 2 came out 4 years ago, so its been a while. Personally i'm not sure that i would use the word nostalgic in this case, but its not a wrong definition of the word at least.

 

[freenudemacusers]

This is pretty clearly metacommentary on the repetitive and unchanging nature of war combat in the modern era. Not surprised it flew over everyone's head.

 

[wenis]

That saved them some money and time. Good cost cutting measure (as small as it may have been).

 

[Dictator93]

This is pretty clearly metacommentary on the repetitive and unchanging nature of war combat in the modern era. Not surprised it flew over everyone's head.

 

[BibiMaghoo]

Well ok then show me more examples when EVERYONE does that, show me an exact same cutscene from let's say the God of War series or MGS or FF, you name it.

This post made me laugh. MGS certainly does reuse cutscene assets in multiple games. MGS4 uses parts of MGS1, as does MGS2. I think 3 is the only game that does not. Given your username, I would think you would know this

 

[NinjaMouse]

PR will spin this as "fan service," when it reality it means "we got caught."

The truth is that people just love to hate things. There's nothing wrong with this and it changes the actual game NONE.

 

[Disguises]

Ok after first thinking they were being lazy, I played the game and I'm convinced it's meant to be a throwback to MW2s ending. That's what I thought when I saw this scene anyway...

 

[Demon Ice]

For me it would depend on what type of tech issues and corner cutting we're talking about. If its corner cutting that really affects the gameplay experience, then it would kinda suck for me indeed. If its an 18 second reused animation and camera angle in a 5-7 hours single player campaign, for me personally, i cant think of any reason why this would actually matter to my overall experience with the game. I do play the CoD single player campaigns, but i buy those games mostly for the multiplayer What other tech issues and corner cutting were done in CoD: Ghosts? Honest question, i havnt followed the game that much, and i havnt tried it yet either.

I dont think i would feel that i've been taken advantage of regardless though. Bugs and smaller technical issues is quite common these days. Not many developers can (or do) promise that their games will be bug free.

Graphically the game looks like current gen iterations of Call of Duty. That's not an exaggeration. There are also reports of frame rate drops on all consoles, and those extend into the multiplayer mode.

 

[NoTacos]

Oh no, I just saw this walkthrough the other day, how did I not see that similarity? That cut cut and paste mentality

 

[Clefargle]

IW better sign an NDA for this so they don't have to look lazy when the inevitable interviewer asks about this.

 

[Stallion Free]

Well ok then show me more examples when EVERYONE does that, show me an exact same cutscene from let's say the God of War series or MGS or FF, you name it.

I'm pretty sure God of War has used the same hideous jump animation in 6 games now.

 

[Brick]

The truth is that people just love to hate things. There's nothing wrong with this and it changes the actual game NONE.

You're not wrong. Even I fall pray to hopping on the hate train every now and then (see my previous post). I'm one of those weird people that actually enjoys CoD's single player campaigns, so I guess it just bums me out to see a property that makes so much money put less effort into making something unique.

 

[xJavonta]

Nah, I'd say xJavonta was the one that got mad. I'd probably be angry if I got fooled into spending money on Ghosts though.



See, calling this fan service is an absolute stretch. Did you consider the re-used building geometry in MW2's maps to be fan service as well?

It's pure laziness.

Yeah, I was a little mad when you grouped all fans of call of duty together and essentially called them stupid fanboys when that's far from the truth. But you're acting like IW has personally victimized you too.

How is it a stretch? When I saw the scene the FIRST thing I thought of was "MW2. Holy shit" not "what the hell did they just reuse the same scene from MW2"

And no, I didn't even know nor did I really give a shit because I wasn't a huge fan of MW2, I considered it the weakest MW game. I just liked the story.

Btw I wasn't fooled into buying Ghosts. I bought it because I genuinely like the series and the multiplayer looked like it would be a blast to play (the same reason I bought Blops 2 on PS3, 360, and PC). I wasn't "fooled" into doing anything. I knew what I was getting and that's exactly what I got. And, get this, I'm happy with my purchase.

 

[KarmaCow]

It isn't like they're using the same assets. It looks like it's animated differently.

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

What happened there is a bad example. It isn't comparable to what appears to be taking place with COD. Why would they cut a corner on this scripted sequence? did they run out of time?

 

[Zekra Dezivad]

I'm pretty sure God of War has used the same hideous jump animation in 6 games now.

Almost every franchise reuses lots of animations.
Assassins Creed, God of War, Gears of War, Uncharted, sport titles, battlefield, Cod and so on... apart some minor tuning animations are ofter reused and it's legit.

This cutscene in Ghosts is different imho, it's the first time I feel that something went "wrong", the first time i said WTF?!?!.
Sure, it isn't an important thing, probably I wouldn't even notice without this thread.

 

[test_account]

Graphically the game looks like current gen iterations of Call of Duty. That's not an exaggeration. There are also reports of frame rate drops on all consoles, and those extend into the multiplayer mode.

About graphics, true, it doesnt look like it push much boundries on PS4 (and probably not Xbox One either). Hopefully the framerate drops isnt any worse compared to previous COD games.

What happened there is a bad example. It isn't comparable to what appears to be taking place with COD. Why would they cut a corner on this scripted sequence? did they run out of time?

In COD, i would guess that they wanted to do a scene where a guy was picked up by another guy, and instead of using time on making new animation for that scene, they reused the same animations from MW2 in that scene. I havnt seen the movies in the pictures, but to me it looks like it is the same situation, that they wanted to make the transformer in traffic, but instead of recording a new shot of traffic, they just reused what they had.

 

[rosaceadude2112]

Terrible analogy considering Bay is pretty shit. CoD ranges from mediocre to genuinely great.

pain and gain was fantastic.

 

[EightBitNate]

Title is really off. They're not exactly the same. Only the motions of the characters is.

 

[Haunted]

Fuck off with that shit.

I'm so sick of the stigma that someone who enjoys cod is essentially a brain dead fanbot that will willingly support and buy everything cod.

Well, looking at some of the replies in here...

you can imagine where the stereotype comes from

 

[Harlock]

Madden do this for 25 years.

 

[Rated-Rsuperstar]

And here the whole time I thought Eurocom was lazy for recycling art assets, animations, and music from their previous game for 007 Legends. But this thread has taught me I was wrong and that it was all fan service. My score for Legends is now 9/10 compared to worst piece of shit I played last year.

 

[Lijik]

Id understand if CoD was some kind of niche series, but they rake money oceans of money with this series. Its kind of embarrassing to just slap new models over existing mocap

I wonder if someone higher up called for this? I know thats what happened with the Disney even as the animators protested it wouldn't actually save time or money (although reusing reference for hand drawn animation is way more effort than just reusing mocap)

 

[speculawyer]

Title is really off. They're not exactly the same. Only the motions of the characters is.

Yeah, it is clearly not the same cutscene.

Exact same animation asset though. I think this re-used asset is the least of Ghost's problems right now with the xbone resolution stuff, the alleged PS4 framerate stuff, the mediocre reviews, the misleading 'sell-in' sales announcement, etc.

 

[Mogwai]

Id understand if CoD was some kind of niche series, but they rake money oceans of money with this series. Its kind of embarrassing to just slap new models over existing mocap

I wonder if someone higher up called for this? I know thats what happened with the Disney even as the animators protested it wouldn't actually save time or money (although reusing reference for hand drawn animation is way more effort than just reusing mocap)

It's a bit difficult for IW after all the talent left. They gotta work with what they have, even if that entails c/p...

 

[mattp]

isnt this a little blown out of proportion?
no one would call IW lazy if they reused a texture(im sure theyve reused hundreds)
so why is a little animation any different?

 

[Foxtastical]

If you're thinking about this for more than 10 seconds of your day, you should probably think about your priorities in life.

They borrowed some animations from a previous game because they thought the time could be better spent elsewhere. Or they were lazy. Or who cares.

isnt this a little blown out of proportion?
no one would call IW lazy if they reused a texture(im sure theyve reused hundreds)
so why is a little animation any different?

Man children syndrome?

 

[Talladega Knight]

About graphics, true, it doesnt look like it push much boundries on PS4 (and probably not Xbox One either). Hopefully the framerate drops isnt any worse compared to previous COD games.



In COD, i would guess that they wanted to do a scene where a guy was picked up by another guy, and instead of using time on making new animation for that scene, they reused the same animations from MW2 in that scene. I havnt seen the movies in the pictures, but to me it looks like it is the same situation, that they wanted to make the transformer in traffic, but instead of recording a new shot of traffic, they just reused what they had.

someone died during a stunt making transformers 3, so michael bay just reused footage from the island.

 

[Volcane]

They've re-used buildings before:-

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Mo...ed-Buildings-From-Modern-Warfare-1-36816.html

But a bit strange using the animations from one cutscene to another.

 

[Captain Chaos]

did you know Zelda 64 was built on the Mario 64 engine?

But, because Nintendo isn't lazy and actually tweaked it so much... that Zelda 64 basically created a brand new engine?

But technically, it's the Mario 64 engine.

That's how you reuse things.

Not this.

Never this.

I always thought Twilight Princess and Okami played very similarly.

 

[EatinOlives]

I, too, remember that truly iconic, one-of-a-kind moment in MW2 when shit happened, my character's underground with blurry vision, and I'm picked up by a buddy. I had never seen any sequence like that before in FPS games.

 

[Axass]

People are really getting mad at this?

Nope. People are just looking in disbelief at how the mighty have fallen. This comprehends the subpar graphics and fps issues as well. Badly optimized game with recycled scenes, it doesn't speak too well about the ones who created it.

 

[nature boy]

Where does all of that CoD money go?

Activision buying itself out of the sinking ship called Vivendi.

 

[Felsparrow]

Building recycling is okay. I'm kind of okay with the animation recycling since, to be frank, the story is paper thin enough that you wouldn't need to make new animation for the same things happening over and over again in the series.

Even Uncharted reuses assets, and The Last of Us reused a bunch of Uncharted series assets.

 

[Omotesando]

Believe it or not but CoD is more and more like Fifa. Next year it's going to be 20% reused assets in cutscenes and they sell even more. Cut down the cost, make more money.

Activision are brilliant.

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

I hope this game bombs.

 

[Mugatu]

It would be awesome if the character who picks you up in Ghosts is named Captain Cost.

 

[wonzo]

Even names get recycled

Work smarter, not harder.

rip pvt. davis

 

[Tookay]

isnt this a little blown out of proportion?
no one would call IW lazy if they reused a texture(im sure theyve reused hundreds)
so why is a little animation any different?

Because it's an animation. In a scripted cutscene. That has the exact same mo-cap. In a blockbuster franchise.

You expect a little more effort there.

What a dumb equivocation.

 

[joesiv]

Title is really off. They're not exactly the same. Only the motions of the characters is.

And the camera angle/positioning and timing of cuts...

Anyways, we're all blowing this out of proportion, clearly it's just another case of "great minds think a like!". There is probably only one ideal way to animate, shoot and cut such a scene. What we're looking at it just pure cinema genius at work!

 

[ThatStupidLion]

Spoiler

the gameplay is the same too

 

[samurai1226]

Halo 4 used a lot of recycled Halo Reach Models and Animation and just added a few new textures.

e.g. Banshee, Ghost or the Plasma Pistol are 1:1 the same model, the animation of halo 4 br and Reach DMR are the same, same goes for Plasma Launcher and Incinneration Cannon.

Gears of war also reused a lot of animations trough the whole series, so it seems like it's common sense to recycle assets in modern games

 

[Branduil]

Even names get recycled

Work smarter, not harder.

Maybe they're brothers?

 

[Valnen]

Doesn't pretty much every Resident Evil

Spoiler

end with a rocket launcher?

 

[citroen-e402]

Casual gamer won't notice it anyway, but hardcore fans will appreciate the nod to the previous games and devs will save money. Win-win for everybody.

Excellent post. Hardcore players will feel slighted, and complain loudly at the mediocrity of the game and franchise, while Casual gamers will be enjoying themselves too much to even finish the campaign. Great use of resources by Infinity Ward.