[Very Detailed Discussion] Should I buy this game? Internal struggle with Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Modern Warfare Remastered

[electoblaze]

I am torn between resisting the urge to purchase the legacy pro edition (for both IW and MWR) or to just go for it. My internal dialogue has evolved since Infinite Warfare (and Battlefield 1, it's competitor) were announced in May 2016. I'll describe how my thinking has changed below - not only for discussion purposes but also because I think it's pretty interesting to hear.

 

Pre-May 2016:

- I've been an owner of BO3 since launch and the whole "future warfare" setting is getting really stale for me. I desire a return to modern warfare or even WWII.

- Wild speculation and uncertainty about this year's Call of Duty setting. Nobody knows if it's in the future or past.

 

May 2016:

- The bombshell falls: Activision announces Infinite Warfare (ultra-futuristic) while EA announced Battlefield 1 (return to World War.)

- At first, I'm not sure how I feel about Infinite Warfare. Is this a positive or negative thing? I mean BO3 sold a boatload of copies on launch and has easily been the most successful current-gen CoD so far (not to mention the most futuristic.) Would fans go for IW?

- Apparently NOT. (At least at first.) IW's reveal trailer slowly earns over 3 million dislikes and becomes the second most disliked video on YouTube ever, just below Justin Bieber. I fear that the CoD community will not transfer over to this game and there will be empty lobbies in less than 6 months.

- Plus, Activision announces that you need to pay $80, not $60, to get Modern Warfare Remastered. I can't help but feel cheated - as many of us do.

- Meanwhile, Battlefield 1 is praised as the greatest rebuttal ever. People wanted less futuristic and EA gave us just that. I start to think about buying BF1 instead of CoD this year. And it's only $60 for the standard edition.

 

June 2016-August 2016 (3 months):

- I refuse to watch any IW videos and try to digitally boycott the game. I feel that holding MW:R behind an $80 paywall is anti-consumer.

- Meanwhile, I watch a ton of Battlefield 1 videos and start practicing a ton of Battlefield 4 and Battlefield Hardline in preparation. My body is ready!

 

First week of September 2016 (The Plot Twist!):

- IMO, the Battlefield 1 open beta is a huge letdown. Although there are many reasons, some of the main reasons include imbalanced vehicle and horse gameplay, imbalanced classes, lack of healing and problems with map design. Tbh, I barely play any of the beta and end up deleting it off my hard drive before the beta ends. Simply, the BF1 beta wasn't fun for me.

- Meanwhile, I cave in and watch the first gameplay of Modern Warfare Remastered. It looks absolutely amazing. I start salivating at the thought of playing it. Also, while IW looks okay (I'm still very skeptical about it) I'm at least a little more open to finding out more about it (now that BF1 has failed me, IMO.)

 

September, moving towards October and November 2016:

- Overall, my expectations since May have been flipped. I am no longer hyped for BF1 and I am very interested in MW:R and curious about IW.

- In addition, the IW beta starts in October so that's my chance to try the game before buying it.

- I am still torn on the price though. I feel that it is anti-consumer (and therefore unethical) for Activision to charge us $80 for the game we actually want, while forcing us to buy their other game bundled together, especially since this can create a new precedent to permanently increase the price of CoD games. Will we be paying $80 a year for CoD, every year starting in 2016? This could have easily been more consumer-focused if they released MW:R separately and GIVE the power of CHOICE to the customer.

 

Current Internal Dialogue:

Q) Woah, hold on there. You were totally against IW and totally for BF1 in May. How can your opinions reverse? You wanted a World War game so badly. Meanwhile, I know you're tired of this futuristic crap.

A) Well, it all comes down to how much fun you get out of a game. I know for a fact now that I didn't enjoy the BF1 beta. And the game launches in about 6 weeks, so the beta is a pretty accurate sample of the actual gameplay for the final release. Meanwhile, MW:R looks exactly like the Modern Warfare game I've always wanted. In addition, IW looks similar to BO3, which I play for at least a few months before getting bored of. I shouldn't just buy BF1 because EA is giving us World War. Nor should I automatically reject IW and MW:R because of the setting. BO3's setting was kinda dumb IMO but I still got a few months of gameplay at a minimum.

 

Q) But that $80 price tag is anti-consumer!

A) Largely, yes, I still agree with that. However, let's examine this from a few different perspectives.

1. If, hypothetically, Activision eventually caves in and sells MW:R separately, what's the minimum price they would charge? I'm guessing at least $50 (since the PS3 and 360 versions of BO3, which were largely watered down versions of the actual game, sold for $50 last year.) So for the $80 you spend on the legacy pro edition, you are spending $50 towards MW:R. That's only $30 for IW!

2. Furthermore, I have (eventually) purchased every single Call of Duty game ever released since I turned 17 in 2011 - MW3. So eventually, my assumption is that I'll get mildly curious about IW and end up buying a used copy or something. Can you honestly say that you can get a copy of IW for less than $30? Seems unlikely, especially during the first year of release.

3. So, if you break it down like this: $50 for MW:R + $30 for IW = $80 for legacy pro edition, this doesn't feel like such a rip-off after all. Still $20 more expensive than a normal, standard edition but I am getting two CoD games this time around. And MW:R feels like a quality remaster. I was worried that it might be a watered down/half-assed port of CoD4, but it actually looks really good.

 

Q) But what if you want to buy the season pass? Then it would be $80+$50=$130! That's way too much! So maybe you should buy the $100 digital deluxe edition from the start?

A) NO! In short, I currently have no intention of buying the season pass ever, and here is why:

1. The season pass only applies to IW content. All MW:R content is (supposedly) being released for free in December.

2. I foresee that IW will suffer the same fate as Call of Duty Ghosts (Infinity Ward's previous game.) In Ghosts, player count drastically fell by the next summer after launch (less than a year later.) And those players never came back. Currently, Ghosts has a little less than 4000 players online at any given time (which is really bad) and would it scare you if I told you that Ghosts had about 4 times as many pre orders as Infinite Warfare does at this time of the year? (Source: VGchartz)

3. Also, I tend to lose interest in the current CoD game before the last DLC pack hits the stores. For BO3 (which is arguably the most successful current-gen CoD so far) I barely used DLC packs 3 and 4 because I was already tired of the game in like April or May and only play it casually now. Plus, BO3 has way more players than IW will ever have, so I'm definitely going to have matchmaking problems if I buy IW DLC. So, buying the season pass is still overpaying since I barely get any mileage out of the last 1-2 DLC packs.

4. In short, the season pass is definitely NOT worth it for IW content only. As of now, there is no proof that you'll need the season pass for MW:R (my main interest.) So actually, if I buy the $80 legacy pro edition, I will be saving $20 (since I bought the $100 BO3 bundle last year.)

 

Q) So when will you decide? What will you need to know before buying (or not buying) this?

A) I'll need to play the beta first. If IW is not fun at all/unplayable (like BF1) then I would not be able to justify buying the legacy pro edition, even if I want MW:R. If it is mildly fun to play, it might be worth it since, as mentioned, I'd only be paying $30 for IW.

 

Q) What if MW:R comes as a separate REDEEMABLE CODE that you can use without IW disc?

A) That is a great question and definitely a possibility! Right now, nobody knows if you'll need to insert the IW disc in order to start Modern Warfare Remastered OR if you can open the IW case, take the code out, use it, then sell IW. If you can sell IW while still being able to play MW:R, that is a very tempting offer. BEWARE however. It all depends on how much you can actually sell IW for. (I suspect not much.) First, I doubt there will be an active market on eBay for IW (since the general consensus is that the majority of gamers are only mildly interested/not very interested at all in IW and finding a buyer is possible but may take a while. Also, if you take it to GameStop, I predict you'll only be able to get $15-$25 cash for it (I don't shop at gamestop, so I don't want trade credit.) So maybe it's worth it just to hang onto IW. Be very careful about selling away your games because it can be more costly to buy them back.

[Parker]

Activision isn't forcing you to pay anything, if you feel two games (one that we already know is fantastic) are worth $80 then purchase the edition that includes Modern Warfare Remastered. Activision will be releasing MW Remastered eventually, if I recall correctly they did the same thing with CoD Classic, it was exclusive to a Hardened Edition of a prior CoD game but eventually was released on the PSN store. Activision are in business to make money, they'd be idiots (and their shareholders would be furious) if they didn't eventually release MW Remastered for everyone. So if the only thing you're interested in is CoD 4, just wait a few months and you'll be able to get it without paying $80.

 

 

Parker

[Ginklage]

Not gonna lie, too long didn't read. 

Just gonna say... CoD 4, 

CoD 4 pal.... 

 

A real man gets CoD 4 remastered. 

Also, you may as well just pay the extra $20 and get the season pass, just so you can get 100% of the trophies when the DLC comes out.