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Infinity Ward not very good at Campaigns

SMZC said:
To me, COD4's single player was good. Not because of the gameplay, but because of the cinematic experience.

If you ask me, All Ghillied Up is one of the most amazing missions in the history of FPS games, and I know many people think the same thing. What exactly makes it so great? The atmosphere, the immersion... It's very simple from a gameplay standpoint, but the things I mention make it amazing.

The problem is that the same level of awesomeness of All Ghillied Up is not seen throughout the rest of the game. Yes, there are some missions that are very good too, but not nearly as much as that one. I think the whole single player could have been considered one of the best ones out there if everything had been as awesome as All Ghillied Up, but it's not, and the serious gameplay problems that are being mentioned in this thread don't help either.
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I agree on All Ghillied Up- I felt like a badass that entire mission. UNTIL i played it on veteran, and then the second half made me want to kill myself. COD4 is crafted perfectly for the Normal difficulty level, and some parts get to be cheap on hard. Come veteran, the game is damn near broken.
 
t4ng0 said:
I agree on All Ghillied Up- I felt like a badass that entire mission. UNTIL i played it on veteran, and then the second half made me want to kill myself. COD4 is crafted perfectly for the Normal difficulty level, and some parts get to be cheap on hard. Come veteran, the game is damn near broken.
Click to expand...

Yeah, One Shot One Kill it's just like the rest of the game. Endless enemies coming out until you get past an invisible barrier. It gets ridiculous when you and MacMillan have to defend the lanzing zone.

But All Ghillied Up is perfect!
 
COD4 on veteran was nowhere as difficult(for me sans the epilogue) as COD2. The only level that gave me problems was "No Fighting in the War Room" and that was only in the part where you had to go through the hallways. The mission where you carry McMillian was an annoyance too but wasn't that bad although the last part of the level took a couple of tries.

Anyway, I really liked the campaign as a whole. There's really only one main route you can take since it's all scripted but I thought it was well done. Do I think it's the best single player in a FPS? Probably not but it's nowhere near as some of the bad ones that i've played either.
 
I enjoyed the campaign, but yes the whole "cross the magical line that makes all the enemies go bye-bye" mechanic is getting long in the tooth.
 
I thought the campaign was brilliant. I really enjoyed the fact that you had to keep moving and pressing forward rather than just sitting back and taking out enemies and constantly recharging your shields/power etc. What's fun or engaging about that? Everything doesn't have to be the same.
 
Beavertown said:
I thought the campaign was brilliant. I really enjoyed the fact that you had to keep moving and pressing forward rather than just sitting back and taking out enemies and constantly recharging your shields/power etc. What's fun or engaging about that? Everything doesn't have to be the same.
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did you play on veteran? i am in no way trying to pull some "I am better than thou" thing, the mechanics simply become ridiculous on veteran.
 
t4ng0 said:
did you play on veteran? i am in no way trying to pull some "I am better than thou" thing, the mechanics simply become ridiculous on veteran.
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Yeah, I finished it on veteran on my second playthru, and yes, it's hard, and a pain in the ass. But I kinda thought that was the point.
 
Beavertown said:
Yeah, I finished it on veteran on my second playthru, and yes, it's hard, and a pain in the ass. But I kinda thought that was the point.
Click to expand...

It's just cheap though and it doesn't make any sense. It also make the AI look stupid.
 
COD4's SP campaign on Hardened was a nice challenge. Veteran is all cocked up. On Veteran, the NPC's charge you without any regard for life or limb. Infinity Ward can call it what they want, but it's fucking lazy design IMO. Otherwise, I love the game.
 
Beavertown said:
Yeah, I finished it on veteran on my second playthru, and yes, it's hard, and a pain in the ass. But I kinda thought that was the point.
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On most of the campaign, I would agree that it being a pain in the ass is legitimate. After all, you should die from one or two bullets. However, areas with infinitely spawning enemies do not belong in great games(thats right TV station, I'm looking at you) And its not like a, "Ok I died because I made a stupid decision/missed that shot" type of difficult. Its a "Well fuck this there is no way I can beat this area without doing something in the game that I would NEVER do as a soldier"

By the end of the game, I was playing against the game mechanics, not the enemies.
 
t4ng0 said:
On most of the campaign, I would agree that it being a pain in the ass is legitimate. After all, you should die from one or two bullets. However, areas with infinitely spawning enemies do not belong in great games(thats right TV station, I'm looking at you) And its not like a, "Ok I died because I made a stupid decision/missed that shot" type of difficult. Its a "Well fuck this there is no way I can beat this area without doing something in the game that I would NEVER do as a soldier"

By the end of the game, I was playing against the game mechanics, not the enemies.
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Yeah, making it through the TV station is almost pure dumb luck.
 
Kittonwy said:
I was more disgusted with the constant barrage of grenades that the enemies kept throwing at me.
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The grenades in Veteran can't possibly be any worse than the endless torrent of them you face in the multiplayer.

They REALLY need to tone down grenade usage in booth SP and MP in the next game.
 
Man theres a lot of hate in this thread.

The only time I really got frustrated with the SP campaign is the final section of the sniper mission near the ferris wheel. I think that part can make ANY player, good or bad, fume like crazy.

Other than that, I've played it through every difficulty and I've enjoyed playing through it every time. I love the story and the atmosphere. I've never had more fun with a single player campaign in all of the FPS games I've played. The last time I felt this immersed was back when Medal of Honor Allied Assault came out for the PC and I stormed the beaches of Normandy.
 
The first Call of Duty didn't do the infinitely respawning enemies, except for the one level where you had to hold out for reinforcements. COD4 was sometimes annoying in single player, but it was okay. I don't want to find out what Veteran mode is like. In COD2, I started a Veteran run, but it's just too frustrating. It wouldn't be so bad if you had multiple routes in a level like Halo 3, but since there's one path that drastically limits your options. But that doesn't have to be a deal breaker. HL2 and its episodes are linear, without seeming linear, if that makes sense and never were nearly as frustrating. For the next game, and hopefully it's a modern setting again, they should have enemies that hide and are smarter instead of endless hordes. They had some great ideas they could expand, like shooting through walls and doors was awesome. Maybe give the enemies random locations too, because beating the levels required memorization sometimes. They could also give you a bunch of ways through the levels for once too.
 
Call of Duty 4 single player was mediocre.

Constantly respawning enemies are bullshit and should have died out years ago. This was weaksauce in 2005 when CoD2 came out and in 2007 it should be unacceptable. I guess IW relies on this cause they can't write good AI or something? Veteran modes are crap too, more cheap and frustrating than fun. I am the type of gamer who likes to kill every enemy and completely clear an area, you can't really do that in this game. It's just sprinting forward to trigger invisible checkpoints that will stop the constant flow of enemies.

I hate how the game is so heavily scripted too. Often times certain areas are just a memorization game, you know that this enemy will always show up in the same spot and the exact same thing will happen every time, etc.

All Ghillied Up is the only level that I really enjoyed in the SP. It felt the least scripted and I felt like more of a badass just sneaking past enemies in the grass and killing guys stealthily.
 
So I guess the CoD 4 GAF hype train has stopped, allowing its members to openly let the hate flow without worrying about group rejection and subsequent banning. :lol

As for me, I played the game through on normal and enjoyed every minute of it. From Call of Duty 2 I already knew what I was getting: an FPS rollercoaster ride that would be exciting to go through, but may come up a bit weak on the single player value.

Crew Expendable's Climax, all of The Coup, the beginning of Charlie Don't Surf, Death From Above, Shock and Awe/Aftermath, One Shot, One Kill, the end of Sins of the Father, Game Over and Epilogue. You can't play this game an deny that IW aren't masters of cinematic, first person storytelling.

I tried playing the game on Veteran. I got alll the way to 'Charlie Don't Surf' (I bet you can guess exactly where) before I decided that the frustration factor was outweighting the fun and moved on my other X-Mas games.

Best COD 4 memory: making my 8 year old niece play through 'The Coup' I'm going to hell, folks.
 
Robert R1 said:
Clearly we know how amazing CoD4 and from hearing, CoD2, multiplayer is. However, the single player campaigns outside of good visual presentation leave much to be desired.

My main issues rests with the NPC's. Play the game on Hardened or Veteran and the game becomes an exercise in frustration. Tactics really go out the window. Yes, you have to shoot the NPC's and so forth but the key is to advance past an invisble barrier or you can spend your entire ammo and have infinite enemies coming at you.

There are many such choke points in the game where you can literally see a set of enemies spawn in the same exact location as the previous wave, mainly because you haven't advanced to a certain point. Sadly, getting through some areas require a bit of dumb luck and just running for the next check point.

I have played other games on their campaigns on such difficulties such as Halo3, Gears of War, currently Mass Effect and mainly a lot of PC games. I'm all for increasing difficulty in the sense that they have more hitpoints, better accuracy or even maneuvering tactics but having endless spawning NPC with flawless accuracy, doesn't bring any joy to the game.

Not only is it backwards in approach but turn the game from enjoyment to chore. Hard difficulty should be rewarding and engaing. Not "hey, let's run and see if i can get across" or "wtf?" which is often my response.

While I'm only discussing COD4, have recently borrowed CoD2, the same painful concept exists. I'm hoping the next IW FPS game does a much better job at such. I know I'll get many "LOL NOOB!" "FAIL!" and other such gaf reponses but that doesn't fix the issue.
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Yeah, this fucked me over on the very last level of COD4 when you're underground. I didn't know there was infinite spawning, and hell i spent too many retries trying to kill them all. Dumb me. Luckily enough, i just rushed through and who would have known: i won.

Not a fan of it when the spawning never ends, but a limited spawn is fine for me.
 
Game is fundamentally flawed. Went through it once at a friends and never want to do it again. Lack of co-op only adds to this.
 
Deepblue said:
Game is fundamentally flawed. Went through it once at a friends and never want to do it again. Lack of co-op only adds to this.
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Yeah i was really pissed when i found out there was no co-op. What game doesn't have co-op these days? Disappointment total.
 
Shockgamer said:
So I guess the CoD 4 GAF hype train has stopped, allowing its members to openly let the hate flow without worrying about group rejection and subsequent banning. :lol
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It's not about hate. It's about a legitimate gripe in a game that is very apparant at higher difficulties. In a shooter, the higher difficulty should reward players on tactics, shooting ability and such. Not dumb luck and the race to the invisible line that makes the endless spawning enemies stop. There should be a sense of "hell yeah!" style accomplishment for getting through areas not a "thank fuck..." attitude.

I think a lot of the posters (not you) didn't ready my OP and are just jumping in to defend or have not played the game on veteran. The issues in my OP are painfully evident.

CoD4 campaign graphics and presentation is GREAT people. Not knocking that so stop defending it!
 
Why do you have to play it on the hardest dificulty?

On veteran you are rewarded for thinking quickly and fast reactions. Sounds like you just want to hide behind a box till you kill everything.

I actually liked the challenge on veteran, made the game much more interesting for me.
 
My friend let me borrow COD4 this weekend and here is what I have to say. COD4 SP was a mixed bag of good to mediocre gameplay. The obvious respawning of enemies in the same exact areas was annoying and frustrating. When I finally realized the invisible lines you have to cross sometimes to advance, it made it a little bit more "easier". And i don't understand the praise it got for its graphics because they where mediocre and at times downright horrible. I guess because it was one of the first games to look "good" on both platforms. I did Like the interactive cinematics though, like the ending.
 
Stop fucking whining. Great campaign, great MP. The only thing wrong with SP is the length. That's it. Want to test the hardest difficulties, then deal with getting crushed by waves of spawns and overcome it. It's been that way for decades.
 
Easy solution: Play through game on Normal. Might not be that challenging but sure as hell makes for a fun time.
 
COD UO>COD>>COD2>COD4>>>>>>COD3

Only the original and United Offense was good in terms of single player, I hated CoD there after. Got CoD4 to play with friends, spit on the garbage campaign. Guys, stop using your refined Return To Castle Wolfenstein engine, seriously I feel like I'm playing that all over again.
 
Since we are have a full blown out pity party:D COD4's sp missions are like deja vu after playing mp as the maps are too damn recycled. They are literally all the mp mas connected together. If you play online do yourself a favor and ignore the sp as long as possible.
 
I can't believe what I'm reading! I thought COD4 had the best SP campaign of any first person shooter I've ever played. There were too many jaw dropping moments to mention, and the fire-fights were so intense that even when I was in the middle of them I was busy marvelling at that fact :D

And this business about Veteran being frustrating or broken is ridiculous. I played my first time through the game in veteran mode, and there were only a couple of places where I ran into hiccups: the mission where you have to
shoot down the chopper with the stinger
, the section in Heat where you have to
run back down the mountain (mostly just figuring out that you should cut through the barn)
, and then the part of no fighting in the war room when you have to
go through the missile silos
. Of those 3 areas, the
missile silos
were the only time I wasn't enjoying replaying the mission.

Epilogue on veteran was tough but so much fun it was addictive.

Can I just point out that in NO WAY am I an FPS god or anything, I would consider myself fairly average and my online performances bear this out :D So if I can beat veteran and have a blast doing it then anyone can.

Given the short length of the SP, I'd recommend anyone playing the game to give veteran a go on their first time through, particularly if your best time in F.N.G. suggests that you do so.

Personally I am praying for more SP DLC; generally I am against DLC but for this game I'll make an exception :lol
 
I have to agree with everyone here, COD4's campaign is mediocre at best. And as far as cinematic goes, I think Episode 2 and Crysis are the most cinematic games I've played.
 
Mediocre guys? Really? Some of you have some pretty
stupidly
high standards.

Yes, Veteran was a bitch at times, but over all, it's an all around great experience with some pretty epic moments. To say its average is selling the game way short.
 
I sincerely hope someone doesn't read this thread and then decide not to get the game. They would be doing themselves a tremendous disservice.

If you have a 360 or PS3 then COD4 should be one of the first games you get.
 
heh, funny you should mention, i've been hearing people saying similar things that this thread points out, particularly crappy SP. I want to get this game, and b/c i enjoy sp much more than mp, i have been deterred.

why is there a polarized opinion, i wonder.
 
Linkzg said:
they could copy Killzone 2, so far that seems like it will have a good first person cover set up.
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Why copy a game not even released yet when the latest Medal of Honor already has a quite nice system in place? It's about the only thing I liked in that game though.
 
I thought the campaign was on veteran was pretty good except for a few spots. These parts probably provided so much universal frustration that a few words description would suffice.

1. The unlimited passager chopper over the wheat field.
2. The ferraris wheel. Not too bad if you learn to hide in the toll booth.
3. The three houses that you had to capture in the nighttime.
4. The 3:00 minute timed rush to the chopper.
5. The T-cross shaped hallway of death.
6. The last level. Although this being a bonus mission makes it forgiveable some what.
 
COD4 has an incredibly cinematic single player campaign and while some of the levels and set-pieces amplified that feeling, other sections and levels proved to be exercises in frustration and completely removed me from that immersive, cinematic experience. At those points COD4 stamps a big fucking footprint on my face that says "THIS IS A VIDEO GAME". Obviously it is a game and some people like that about COD but I find it really jarring and unnecessary.

I'm not saying it's shit or even mediocre though as it's still very good. I just think that those less than stellar areas of game design better be vastly improved for COD6 or I'll whine about it and still buy it. You have been uh...warned Infinity Ward! *shakes fist*
 
CoD4 is a good game, it deserves praise, just not half as much as it's been getting. You want a fantastic single player game on the hardest difficulty, look no further than Rainbow Six Vegas and Vegas 2. RSV has you rely on your wits and your tactical planning rather than just reflexes. When you die in Vegas, you always immediately know how you could have done better. "Maybe I should have sent my team out first and then flanked them from the side. Maybe I should have taken cover over there instead of over here." etc. There really isn't any of that in CoD, it's just mostly reflexes. Vegas is the FPS series for FPS junkies. CoD is the FPS series for graphic whores and online gamers.
 
VALIS said:
CoD4 is a good game, it deserves praise, just not half as much as it's been getting. You want a fantastic single player game on the hardest difficulty, look no further than Rainbow Six Vegas and Vegas 2. RSV has you rely on your wits and your tactical planning rather than just reflexes. When you die in Vegas, you always immediately know how you could have done better. "Maybe I should have sent my team out first and then flanked them from the side. Maybe I should have taken cover over there instead of over here." etc. There really isn't any of that in CoD, it's just mostly reflexes. Vegas is the FPS series for FPS junkies. CoD is the FPS series for graphic whores and online gamers.
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Whut.
 
I disagree with this thread. CoD4's campaign was one of the best I have played in quite a while. Storywise at least. The enemy respawn randomly thing is pretty much the only thing I could say needs fixing really.
 
SMZC said:
If you ask me, All Ghillied Up is one of the most amazing missions in the history of FPS games, and I know many people think the same thing. What exactly makes it so great? The atmosphere, the immersion... It's very simple from a gameplay standpoint, but the things I mention make it amazing.
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So true. That was easily the best level in the game. Makes me want to play a whole game based on that one level.
 
never played COD1
COD2 was epic (almost H:CE kind of epic)
played a little bit of COD3 but it bored me to tears
COD4 was very good (I really really really liked chernobyl, the last part with soap and the marines levels)

but like other said the game shinbe by its MP mode, I hope IW makes a COD MP-only game in the future
 
The clown car enemies are stupid, but the story and storytelling was amazing and probably helped push the gaming medium - at least from a storytelling standpoint.
I still think the level at the end of Act 1 was the best "moment" of 2007 and definitely proved that games are able to tell stories in a way that film, television, novels, comic books, heiroglyphics, etc, can't.

Maybe in a few years when we get more pretentious, it will be compared to the ending of MGS3.
 
The clown car enemies are stupid, but the story and storytelling was amazing and probably helped push the gaming medium - at least from a storytelling standpoint.
I still think the level at the end of Act 1 was the best "moment" of 2007 and definitely proved that games are able to tell stories in a way that film, television, novels, comic books, heiroglyphics, etc, can't.

Maybe in a few years when we get more pretentious, it will be compared to the ending of MGS3.
 
tedtropy said:
I enjoyed the campaign, but yes the whole "cross the magical line that makes all the enemies go bye-bye" mechanic is getting long in the tooth.
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I had fun with the SP Campaign...but yeah, this.

Sadly, I don't think it's going away anytime soon.
 
You sir are out of your mind. Call of Duty 4 is one of the best Single Player campaigns for a shooter I've played in years.

The game was handled masterfully.
 
Which do people prefer, CoD4's polished but ultimately very 'smoke and mirrors' approach to campaign, or Halo's more 'emergent' but perhaps less obviously stunning design? Or perhaps the middle ground vis a vis Half Life etc?
 
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