Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

[00:00:10] Ladies and gentlemen welcome back to another episode of the Pre-Order Bonus Podcast. I'm one of your hosts Cameron Warren and I'm joined, as always and forever, by the pixel professor Jacob Price.

[00:00:23] Jake it's November 21st, 2024. We're back to talk about video games. Slow, a little bit slow right now in the gaming world I would say. Not really much news.

[00:00:34] We have had a few releases. This last week we had Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and Stalker 2. And you know what, Jake? Microsoft just continues to just never catch a break, do they? You know?

[00:00:51] I mean, it doesn't really matter anymore because they own Call of Duty. So everything is kind of like whatever at this point. But Microsoft Flight Simulator came out day one unplayable.

[00:01:02] Because like servers, right? You couldn't get into the game?

[00:01:06] You couldn't get into the game because you have to log in for... I think because...

[00:01:12] The... Because they use that world map in the game.

[00:01:16] Yeah.

[00:01:16] When you play the game, it streams the terrain from the world map using like Azure servers.

[00:01:25] Yeah.

[00:01:26] And so you have to be online and logged in or you can't play the game because it doesn't have like static terrain assets or whatever.

[00:01:33] It doesn't have... I swear Microsoft Flight Sim, the one before this, had an offline mode.

[00:01:40] But...

[00:01:41] This one definitely doesn't.

[00:01:42] Dang. Well, that sucks.

[00:01:43] Yes.

[00:01:44] And then...

[00:01:45] I actually did get in yesterday, finally, and actually played around a little bit.

[00:01:50] And yeah, it's... I mean, if you're... If you want to become a... If you're interested in flying stuff, like this is the game for you.

[00:01:56] Let me tell you.

[00:01:57] They do... What's interesting with that one is they have an actual like game game.

[00:02:03] I don't know if the last one had... I'll be honest.

[00:02:05] I didn't... I never played the last one, so this might be ignorant, but this one has a full blown career mode.

[00:02:11] Yes.

[00:02:12] Where you can like get trained up on a private plane, gain levels and like certifications, and then it allows you to go down different paths, which open up like different missions and different types of various pilot jobs.

[00:02:28] Right.

[00:02:29] And so that's kind of cool.

[00:02:30] So there's like an actual game there, which is pretty dope.

[00:02:33] And then Stalker 2 had... Came out and also just... I think the day one patch actually resolved quite a few of the performance issues.

[00:02:44] Because I think Jake, you played some and I also played a little bit.

[00:02:47] I really didn't have anything crazy.

[00:02:50] Kind of got dinged for that in the reviews, but Stalker 2 came out.

[00:02:54] Yeah, unfortunate.

[00:02:55] Like I think they had to wait on that embargo and got some backlash for the performance on that one, which is unfortunate.

[00:03:02] But I'm sure that game... That's one of those like diehard PC gamer games that will have a hardcore audience no matter what.

[00:03:12] Yeah.

[00:03:12] Yeah.

[00:03:13] I think in that respect, like it'll be fine, but...

[00:03:15] Stalker 2 will probably be fine.

[00:03:18] I mean, so I played it on controller on series X and I didn't really have performance issues.

[00:03:26] Like the game ran just fine, you know?

[00:03:29] Nothing that I noticed anyway.

[00:03:31] Maybe like a bit of pop in or something, but honestly kind of par for the course with I feel like a lot of major releases, right?

[00:03:38] Just nothing really stood out to me.

[00:03:40] And I have anything that impeded my progress.

[00:03:44] So I haven't played any of the Stalker games previously and then playing this one on normal mode.

[00:03:50] I was like, dude, this game is hard.

[00:03:52] This is...

[00:03:53] And this is coming off of having just finished Wolfenstein 2 where you become an absolute monster.

[00:04:00] Like you become so powerful in that game.

[00:04:03] Um, even though Wolfenstein 2 definitely has its, you know, checkpoint moments.

[00:04:08] Um, but coming off of that and then into the world of Stalker 2 where I was like, dude, it's really hard to see enemies.

[00:04:17] And enemies, if they see you, man, they don't miss their shots.

[00:04:20] Like they hit you, you know?

[00:04:21] Which I think it kind of made me laugh because I was like, dang, I'm kind of realizing how dumbed down some enemy AI is just so that the player experience is more fun, you know?

[00:04:34] Yeah.

[00:04:35] Um, and they really do not hold back.

[00:04:37] I feel like, which is cool.

[00:04:39] I think that's cool for a game to do that.

[00:04:42] And there are audiences and obviously Stalker is one that has an audience that really seeks that out.

[00:04:46] I think I'm going to play a little bit more of it.

[00:04:48] I try to get more into it because I do really like the world.

[00:04:51] I do not foresee myself actually finishing it though, because we're coming into the holidays and I don't really feel like plenty playing anything that's going to be super difficult right now.

[00:05:00] You know, I want to relax.

[00:05:03] I don't want to just lose over and over again.

[00:05:07] So the timing might kill my enthusiasm on it in the long run.

[00:05:12] Gaming mood is a real thing, Jake.

[00:05:14] Yeah.

[00:05:14] Like I'm, I'm kind of struggling with that right now.

[00:05:17] I want to play video games like really bad, but I'm just not in the mood for like anything.

[00:05:22] So I'm really, I'm like struggling to find the game that I want to just sit down and kind of play every night.

[00:05:30] Um, I'm actually like mightily struggling to figure out what that is.

[00:05:35] I either play something that's like, ah, this is too hard.

[00:05:37] Or like, I'm not in the mood for this.

[00:05:40] I don't really want to play anything competitive.

[00:05:42] The problem with like cozy farm games is that Stardew Valley exists.

[00:05:48] And so it's, it's, it's, uh, although I do have fields of mystery.

[00:05:53] I was just going to ask if you had given that one a try.

[00:05:56] Yeah.

[00:05:56] So I, I did buy it.

[00:05:57] Um, and it does have a major update.

[00:05:59] So, I mean, maybe that's the one, maybe I'll crack that open and that'll be the one.

[00:06:02] Um, but I also want something I can play them on like my ex on my consoles.

[00:06:06] Right.

[00:06:06] So I, cause I want to lay like, I want to sag on the couch with my neck cranked, like in

[00:06:14] a really poor direction.

[00:06:15] Posture gaming.

[00:06:16] I'm all for it, dude.

[00:06:18] Yes.

[00:06:18] Like super bad.

[00:06:19] I play them.

[00:06:19] I have a PC.

[00:06:20] It's like too formal.

[00:06:21] You know, I've been there for work all day and it's like, I don't want to sit down

[00:06:25] and play some hardcore strategy game.

[00:06:27] So I'm kind of struggling.

[00:06:27] I need to find the right juice, but what are you playing?

[00:06:31] What's like your main game right now?

[00:06:33] Well, I've got, of course, as, as I always do, I have a lot of games kind of going right

[00:06:37] now.

[00:06:38] I'm, I kind of, my brain is shifting away from podcast gaming to leisure gaming.

[00:06:45] Cause we're coming into holiday break.

[00:06:48] Um, so yeah, I don't know.

[00:06:50] I don't think I'm going to finish a whole lot of games that I've started, but, um, I'm

[00:06:56] really far into bloom town, a different story that when I will finish soon.

[00:07:00] Um, I've been playing a game called master key, which is on switch and on PC.

[00:07:07] It got really good reviews.

[00:07:09] I personally feeling a bit mixed on it.

[00:07:12] So maybe that's one that I ended up dropping.

[00:07:15] And then Octopath traveler too, has been a whole lot of fun.

[00:07:20] I've really been enjoying that one.

[00:07:22] That's probably my like favorite one to play right now, but I've got a few games kind of

[00:07:26] teed up for my backlog that I want to get through.

[00:07:29] So, uh, when I finished another game or two, I'm going to start final fantasy six.

[00:07:35] Um, that one's been sitting on my PlayStation for a long time.

[00:07:40] Maybe I finally need to crack open.

[00:07:43] Final fantasy.

[00:07:43] Is that the pixel remaster?

[00:07:45] I got the pixel remaster on PlayStation for that.

[00:07:49] So I'm ready to do that.

[00:07:51] Um, and of course those are always on sale now, dude.

[00:07:54] Right now the black Friday sales, dude, you guys need to stop.

[00:08:00] I have like 20, 20 something games.

[00:08:04] I think that are on sale right now on, and that's Xbox alone.

[00:08:07] And then I go to steam on your wish list.

[00:08:10] Yeah.

[00:08:10] And then on steam, it's even worse.

[00:08:12] It's so many games are on sale.

[00:08:14] Jake, what's on your wish list?

[00:08:16] Let me hear this.

[00:08:16] I want to know what's on your wish list.

[00:08:18] Well, let me warn everybody real quickly.

[00:08:20] On my steam wish list account.

[00:08:22] I have 179 items.

[00:08:25] And then on my Xbox wish list, I have 75.

[00:08:29] And then on PlayStation, I have like 20 or something.

[00:08:32] But keep in mind, I do want to clarify.

[00:08:34] Keep in mind.

[00:08:36] One of the best things you can do to support any games is to put them on wish list on steam in particular.

[00:08:41] So the majority of those games are unreleased games.

[00:08:46] Okay.

[00:08:47] Fair enough.

[00:08:48] Fair enough.

[00:08:49] Few games I'm waiting to go on sale.

[00:08:51] I'm waiting for a returnal to go on sale because our discord recently, several people in there have been singing its praises.

[00:08:58] And I know Cameron, you've played it and you enjoyed it.

[00:09:01] And Cameron recommended it to me a million years ago.

[00:09:03] But now I'm kind of like, I don't know, man.

[00:09:06] Do I give it a go?

[00:09:07] It's really good, but it's tough as nails.

[00:09:09] I didn't bounce off.

[00:09:12] I was broken on acts two.

[00:09:17] And I've tried to go back a couple of times and kind of like get my way through it.

[00:09:22] And it is like bone crunchingly difficult.

[00:09:24] And I just have never been able to muster up like the courage to go back, even though it is.

[00:09:29] It's very good.

[00:09:30] Yeah.

[00:09:31] Yeah.

[00:09:31] I don't know.

[00:09:32] I have Shogun Showdown also queued up to play.

[00:09:37] That's another one our discord has been talking quite a lot about.

[00:09:41] Very nice.

[00:09:42] I've got stuff in the work stuff to play, but I really want to finish Bloom town and then master key.

[00:09:50] And then I'll start kind of in the holiday backlog season of gaming.

[00:09:55] I think my next one I'm kind of looking forward to is a bow path of the teal lotus.

[00:10:03] No, nine souls.

[00:10:04] That's right.

[00:10:04] Those are two for two different games.

[00:10:06] Nine souls comes the game pass next week.

[00:10:08] That's right.

[00:10:09] Which I'm which I'm pretty excited for to give that a shot because I hear it's like Sekiro, which Sekiro is great.

[00:10:18] You know, one of the best games ever.

[00:10:21] Yeah, I'm struggling, Jake.

[00:10:23] It's I'm struggling to find that game like that one.

[00:10:26] I'll keep people informed of what I figure out.

[00:10:30] I do.

[00:10:30] I'll still want to try Shogun Showdown.

[00:10:33] I've got metaphor re Fantasio in my back pocket, but it's it's a big commitment and I got it for PC.

[00:10:39] Hmm.

[00:10:40] So but you know, it's just because I can play more on PC.

[00:10:44] It's easier.

[00:10:45] My kids are on the TV or whatever, and it's like a lazy day.

[00:10:48] I can just go sit on the PC.

[00:10:50] So that's it says it's such a big game.

[00:10:52] I was like, it's a higher chance I'll finish it if it's here.

[00:10:56] But I kind of want like something on console because I want to lounge anywhere.

[00:11:00] It's a whole thing.

[00:11:01] You know, we'll figure it out.

[00:11:02] I need help.

[00:11:03] I need it.

[00:11:04] I need an advisor someone to tell me what to play.

[00:11:06] I don't know man.

[00:11:07] Octopath 2 is doing it for me right now because I could go back to that.

[00:11:12] I've got like 10 hours there.

[00:11:14] I could.

[00:11:14] I could.

[00:11:14] That's another one.

[00:11:16] Octopath 2 is good.

[00:11:17] And then just so our listeners know, I guess because Cameron and I were talking about this.

[00:11:21] I think my goal with Octopath Traveler 2 is to finish Castie's full story arc.

[00:11:28] This is a person that I started with.

[00:11:30] I really like her as a character.

[00:11:31] I like her story.

[00:11:33] Yeah.

[00:11:33] My goal is to finish that and then kind of see where I'm at if I'm going to continue or not.

[00:11:38] I think I've kind of created my core party at this point and I'm just kind of leveling up and going around and doing her story.

[00:11:45] And if doing somebody else's story helps me level up and prepare for her story, that's how I'm doing it.

[00:11:51] I've kind of chosen her to be the main protagonist.

[00:11:53] And I actually am really enjoying that kind of way that I've decided to play the game the way that I've like specifically shaped the gameplay that way.

[00:12:02] And I don't know.

[00:12:03] I'm really enjoying it.

[00:12:03] Sometimes you need a strategy.

[00:12:05] You need a strategy for like you're going into a game.

[00:12:08] Here's what I'm going to do.

[00:12:09] I'm just going to do this one thing.

[00:12:10] And then that kind of that changes it.

[00:12:12] I think that's a good idea.

[00:12:13] That game is definitely built like in that way.

[00:12:18] Yeah, that's super cool.

[00:12:20] Yeah, a lot of flexibility.

[00:12:21] Well, ladies and gentlemen.

[00:12:22] Well, enough about that.

[00:12:24] Let's let's get into the main topic of today's show, which is Call of Duty Black Ops 6.

[00:12:32] Not some little, you know, weird indie game, you know, that we usually talk about.

[00:12:40] It's not not a walking simulator with a heartfelt story.

[00:12:47] No, this is Call of Duty.

[00:12:50] All right.

[00:12:50] So you got what you wanted masses.

[00:12:52] And that's what we're talking about.

[00:12:53] Jake, how are we going to block off six?

[00:12:56] We're going to talk about Call of Duty Black Ops 6.

[00:12:59] And folks, I saw and this I think a common way of referring to this game is BLOPS 6, which just that just tickles my brain because Call of Duty Black Ops 6.

[00:13:12] It sounds like super important and serious.

[00:13:14] And then you just see BLOPS in all caps.

[00:13:16] It's amazing.

[00:13:17] Did I say BLOPS all day?

[00:13:19] Yeah.

[00:13:20] We're talking BLOPS 6 today.

[00:13:23] And we're talking about it in our three major categories.

[00:13:25] The first one is narrative.

[00:13:27] We're talking about the story.

[00:13:28] What happens in the campaign?

[00:13:30] We're really talking the campaign, not so much the multiplayer today.

[00:13:33] Just FYI.

[00:13:34] Next up, mechanics.

[00:13:36] I mean, this is the shooter of all shooters in a lot of ways.

[00:13:39] And so we'll be talking about those mechanics.

[00:13:40] What makes the game feel good?

[00:13:42] What the game design is.

[00:13:43] And then finally, impact on the industry.

[00:13:46] It's kind of funny.

[00:13:47] It kind of goes without saying that this game is relatively important for the games industry.

[00:13:52] Right.

[00:13:52] Especially since Microsoft shelled out a pretty penny to acquire it.

[00:13:59] So that's how we're going to talk about the game.

[00:14:01] Folks, full disclosure.

[00:14:02] And this is, I think, going to be my main talking point as we're going through the narrative specifically, but all aspects of the game.

[00:14:10] I did not get very far into this campaign.

[00:14:13] And then I threw in the towel.

[00:14:14] Cameron has beat the campaign.

[00:14:16] And so this episode is going to be a little different in that you're going to get two pretty different opinions, I think, here on what the campaign is and what Call of Duty has come to mean after being around for like 20 years or whatever it is at this point.

[00:14:33] So a lot of the things I'm mostly going to be telling you why I didn't continue to play the game.

[00:14:38] And it's really not because out of the two of us, I'm known as like the guy who does indie games.

[00:14:45] So anyway, enough prefacing there.

[00:14:48] We'll get started talking about Blobs 6.

[00:14:53] Blobs 6.

[00:14:54] Well, believe it or not, Jake, this game actually has a narrative.

[00:14:57] Whoa!

[00:14:58] Yeah.

[00:14:59] No, it actually does.

[00:15:01] I'm, I've played most of the Call of Duty campaigns.

[00:15:04] Uh, I am, I would call myself a Call of Duty fan.

[00:15:09] It is not an annual purchase for me.

[00:15:10] I didn't play, uh, pretty much any of, I didn't play Modern Warfare 3 at all.

[00:15:18] Um, I played a little bit of Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer.

[00:15:22] I actually played a lot of Modern Warfare, which not to confuse people is the 2019 Modern Warfare, not the original Modern Warfare because they rebooted the same.

[00:15:36] They, they have Modern Warfare 1, 2 and 3, and then they did it again.

[00:15:41] So there's Modern Warfare 1, 2 and 3 and Modern Warfare 1, 2 and 3, not to confuse anybody.

[00:15:46] That's that's, you know what?

[00:15:48] It actually makes a lot of sense that Microsoft and Xbox would buy them because that is an awful naming convention, which we have seen with Xbox consoles.

[00:15:56] So next Xbox console is going to be the Xbox series blop seven machine or something.

[00:16:03] So, yeah, so the, the, uh, so the, if you don't know this franchise very well, which some of our listeners may not because they listen to us for different reasons.

[00:16:12] Cause we talk about sometimes obscure indie games.

[00:16:17] This obviously probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest game in the world, uh, aside from Fortnite, but you know, can't win them all.

[00:16:26] Uh, yeah.

[00:16:27] So the Modern Warfare series is more like, it's more like your traditional sort of military fantasy situation where it's, it's like you got the special ops ragtag crew that's going to take down the terrorist.

[00:16:47] And it's very kind of straightforward.

[00:16:49] And it's about like simulating these sort of fake real time geopolitical scenarios where Russia is hiring terrorists to, you know, put a nuke in New York city or something like that.

[00:17:04] Right.

[00:17:04] As an example, it's like Tom Clancy.

[00:17:06] Yeah.

[00:17:06] If you're familiar with like Tom Clancy at all, whereas black ops goes much harder on the psyops side of the coin.

[00:17:15] Where black ops is all about like CIA, hence the term black ops, like CIA undercover unsanctioned, torturing people to get information, weird stuff like a psychological trauma, like all that type of thing.

[00:17:33] And so the story of black ops six, not really that important.

[00:17:39] Uh, it's more about kind of like, it doesn't really matter what happens in the story.

[00:17:45] It's kind of, it's an eighties action flick in this case, a nineties action flick.

[00:17:50] It's like a pop horn action movie.

[00:17:53] And that's what it is.

[00:17:53] And there's a cast of characters.

[00:17:55] I think the only two are that are recognizable across all the games are Mason and Adler.

[00:18:01] I could be wrong about that.

[00:18:02] So if you're a hardcore call of duty fan, call me out, but Mason and Adler are like the two guys.

[00:18:08] They've been in the first game and they're all the way through this one.

[00:18:10] And there's a conspiracy with a paramilitary organization that has a super weapon and they're going to use it to like set up, set a chemical weapons attack in the United States.

[00:18:22] And that's basically like the plot.

[00:18:24] And you go around and you do stuff in the plot.

[00:18:29] Uh, and it's an action movie and it starts off like very vanilla.

[00:18:33] And Jake can tell you about this.

[00:18:34] It starts off like pretty much any call of duty campaign.

[00:18:37] You're doing like military style missions in Iraq.

[00:18:41] Cause this is the nineties during like operation desert storm.

[00:18:45] And it's pretty like basic stakes, but some crazy stuff happens.

[00:18:51] But Jake, let's hear your thoughts on like the vanilla piece, because I know full disclosure, Jake, you, I know you didn't get like to the crazy stuff, which we want to talk about that.

[00:19:00] So let's, let's start with that piece.

[00:19:01] Yeah.

[00:19:02] Okay.

[00:19:02] So a few things I'm going to talk about my experience and kind of why I fell off after the first few missions of the game.

[00:19:07] And this will be uncharacteristic, um, to many of our episodes in that we're going to go much further into the narrative, or at least Cameron is than we do typically.

[00:19:17] So typically when they talk about the first, like 25, 30% of a game of a game story here, we're going further than that.

[00:19:25] So this is kind of your warning right now.

[00:19:26] Most of the campaign, I would say up to like probably 80%, maybe all of it is up for discussion here.

[00:19:32] But yeah, so starting off this game, you start with like the tutorial mission is this flashback to some operation desert storm mission that goes awry.

[00:19:42] And then like Cameron saying, um, some stuff goes down that shouldn't go down.

[00:19:46] Right.

[00:19:47] Um, some people get killed that shouldn't be killed.

[00:19:50] And, um, I don't know.

[00:19:53] It was a good tutorial, but man, getting into this game.

[00:19:57] Um, a lot of it just felt like, all right, we got like just gruff dudes in a corner talking, you know, like, all right.

[00:20:06] Pull yourself up by your ball sack.

[00:20:08] We got to go do this mission, you know?

[00:20:11] And it's just like, frankly, to me, I mean, that, that is kind of what call of duty is like to be clear.

[00:20:17] So you're not, you know, there's nothing.

[00:20:20] Yeah.

[00:20:20] Sorry.

[00:20:20] I didn't mean to mention we're family friendly for the most part here.

[00:20:24] I am talking about male genitalia with, you know, so I apologize, but like, I don't know, dude, these characters for me, I was like, crap.

[00:20:35] Did I actually come into the sixth game of a series?

[00:20:39] Am I supposed to know who these people are?

[00:20:40] Am I supposed to have emotional attachment to what they've done previously?

[00:20:43] So from the get go, I felt pretty lost and unattached to what was going on.

[00:20:48] Caught wind really quick that, you know, we're trying to take down some corrupt people seemingly within the CIA that kind of go by this name Pantheon.

[00:20:57] Um, they're in cahoots with some of our, you know, enemies from the Cold War.

[00:21:02] So this is post cold war fallout and people are trying to, you know, you are the good ragtag team and your big boss is like, no, I'm not going to allow you to do this.

[00:21:13] This is heresy.

[00:21:14] And you're like, I'm going to do it anyway.

[00:21:16] So yeah, this story for me just like felt like I had seen it before in a movie a thousand times.

[00:21:25] And for whatever reason, nothing here really got me to be invested in the mission that we were performing.

[00:21:31] Um, so yeah, I mean, story wise it's, it felt really run in the mill, but I want to explain something that I was telling Cameron before we started recording.

[00:21:42] As I was going through it, like I haven't played a Call of Duty game since like 2009.

[00:21:46] Let me just put that out there.

[00:21:49] Um, and I don't know, like Call of Duty playing through it.

[00:21:54] The gunplay feels really good.

[00:21:56] The story was like kind of whatever.

[00:21:58] And I thought, kept thinking to myself, this feels really vanilla.

[00:22:01] It feels really just par for the course.

[00:22:04] And I think Call of Duty is the standard, right?

[00:22:08] When it comes to shooters.

[00:22:09] Ever since Call of Duty got popular, like all other shooters in some capacity have kind of been in its wake.

[00:22:16] And playing through what I did, I thought to myself, why hasn't this game actually given me something in the story or in the gameplay that is above the standard?

[00:22:27] And the big irony, of course, is Cameron and I talking about this episode.

[00:22:31] Cameron's like, oh, well, there is.

[00:22:32] You didn't just get to it.

[00:22:33] And so, so part of my question is like, if, if you have been making Call of Duty for a billion years with a billion campaigns, are you really designing those campaigns to bring in lapsed players?

[00:22:47] Or are you really just doing it to maintain a core group that's going to blitz through the campaign and then just do a ton of multiplayer?

[00:22:55] Because maybe the game and the campaign just simply is not for little old Jacob, you know?

[00:23:00] And so me playing this game and trying it out is kind of just like, I don't know, just not the target demographic.

[00:23:07] There was maybe nothing that they could have done or whatever they did that's interesting needed to happen in the front of the game.

[00:23:14] Like front load that into the campaign.

[00:23:19] I mean, I think the answer is because 99.9% of people who play this game like probably don't even play the campaign.

[00:23:33] That's true because I kept getting achievements for beating levels and it was like all under 7% of people had actually beaten the level.

[00:23:39] Yeah, I just think any difficulty.

[00:23:42] Totally.

[00:23:42] I think Call of Duty is just one of those games where like people play for the competitive multiplayer because the first person shooting mechanics are second to none, basically.

[00:23:52] And that's like what the game rides on, right?

[00:23:54] It's the military fantasy, like super quick, fast-paced shooter gameplay competitive multiplayer and war zone.

[00:24:08] And that's like what that's what that makes the game billions of dollars every year, right?

[00:24:15] And the campaigns, I think to your point, Jake, like I don't know, you know, I think they did.

[00:24:22] So I'll say and there's also like a later mission that does this even I think way better.

[00:24:27] They did some interesting kind of cool stuff for Call of Duty.

[00:24:30] A lot of other games do this better, like Dishonored is the one that comes to mind where they have these kind of semi-open levels with multiple ways to like complete an objective.

[00:24:43] And then you can go around and kind of like do the level and there's like a little bit of a stealth system and there's like some stuff there.

[00:24:49] That's pretty new.

[00:24:50] Usually Call of Duty is just like a on-rail shooter.

[00:24:54] So that's the one piece like on the vanilla side.

[00:24:57] But yeah, I don't know.

[00:24:58] I mean in terms of a campaign and like a narrative piece, I think all of the games have done something in this regard.

[00:25:05] It's been like kind of interesting or kind of cool.

[00:25:08] I think 2019's Modern Warfare was probably the best like most recent endeavor where it was just like a really well-executed action movie, right?

[00:25:17] You may not like the type of action movie it is, but it was just like a well-executed one.

[00:25:21] And in this one, I think they tried to do some stuff.

[00:25:24] But again, like people don't play just people just don't play the game.

[00:25:29] People just don't play the game for for the campaign.

[00:25:32] And so the stuff that I'll talk about in just a second having it stuffed later into the game was an interesting choice.

[00:25:42] And I think because it got I think it reviewed well because obviously the people reviewing the game are playing through everything and kind of exploring those nooks and kernies.

[00:25:50] And the campaign is not that long, right?

[00:25:53] But if you jump in to your point as a longtime lapsed Call of Duty player who maybe played one or two of them a long time ago and then you jump in and you're like, you know what?

[00:26:05] I'm going to ease into this by playing a campaign.

[00:26:07] And you basically get essentially what amounts to the same game that you played nine, eight years ago or however long.

[00:26:17] It's a bounce, right?

[00:26:19] Yeah.

[00:26:20] I mean, that was entirely my experience was just like, I'm not sure what I'm getting out of this game that is above standard that sets it apart for most shooters.

[00:26:29] Right.

[00:26:30] And I do also need to probably clarify that I'm playing this hot off the heels of finishing Wolfenstein 2 and Wolfenstein 2 is extremely forward and bold with what it wants to do with its narrative.

[00:26:44] It's also off the freaking rails.

[00:26:49] Just like, and it works for Wolfenstein 2 because it does lean into this kind of fantasy aspect of this alternate history of America.

[00:27:00] Because holy cow, there are many twists and turns in Wolfenstein 2 that I was simply not expecting.

[00:27:07] Right.

[00:27:08] Right.

[00:27:10] But to me, I mean, I loved Wolfenstein 2.

[00:27:13] I really had a great time with those mechanics.

[00:27:15] And I thought the story worked really well for what it was trying to accomplish and what its messaging was, which I thought, you know, punching Nazis is okay, is pretty much the moral of that story.

[00:27:27] Nazis are bad.

[00:27:28] But I actually think Wolfenstein 2 is more nuanced than the first one.

[00:27:31] But anyway, this isn't an episode about Wolfenstein 2.

[00:27:33] This is about Call of Duty Black Ops.

[00:27:35] And I just kind of blops.

[00:27:39] Excuse me, blops six.

[00:27:41] And a part of me is like, well, is a company in a franchise in an IP of this size, are they just too afraid to do something that would be narratively as forward as Wolfenstein 2?

[00:27:57] Are they too afraid that people will respond poorly?

[00:28:02] Are they too afraid that they're not going to sell as much for some whatever reason?

[00:28:08] Or are they just simply not interested?

[00:28:11] Right.

[00:28:11] Which I think is valid also.

[00:28:12] Like, maybe they don't want to make something that has, that's pushing like narrative limits.

[00:28:19] But the downside to that is if you're trying to get new people into your campaigns, which probably isn't a big goal for them.

[00:28:27] But if that is in any capacity a goal for them, playing it safe and sort of sticking to the status quo and maintaining the standard that you have established isn't going to do that.

[00:28:40] It's not going to get those people to start playing the game.

[00:28:46] Yeah, 100%.

[00:28:46] They need to do more earlier.

[00:28:48] So here's where I'll go into spoilers territory.

[00:28:49] So if you don't want to hear this, skip ahead like five minutes.

[00:28:55] I think they did do it, Jake.

[00:28:57] So if you make it to about halfway through the game, it starts to turn into something in some of the levels like more akin to like Dishonored.

[00:29:10] And where, and even so much as like it reminded me in the moments in Dishonored when, um, what's the, what's it Dishonored when you go into the, like the netherworld with, what is that called?

[00:29:29] You know what I'm talking about?

[00:29:30] Yeah.

[00:29:31] Like with some of your abilities.

[00:29:34] Shadow something maybe?

[00:29:35] It happens like in, it happens in cutscene moments when you're talking to the, is it the outsider?

[00:29:41] Like what's the guy?

[00:29:43] Jake, you might have to look this up.

[00:29:44] Okay.

[00:29:45] I will.

[00:29:45] So I'm just going to spoil it.

[00:29:47] So here's what happened.

[00:29:48] So you get to, so the story unravels and it turns out that there's this like chemical weapons research facility in Washington, D.C.

[00:29:58] And you've linked the paramilitary organization.

[00:30:00] This is massive spoilers, by the way.

[00:30:02] So if you haven't played, please skip ahead if you're still listening.

[00:30:05] Uh, so you find out that there's this chemical weapons research facility in D.C.

[00:30:12] That's linked to this weapon that it, it, you've tied it to this paramilitary group.

[00:30:17] And so you go to this facility and you go in there and you get exposed to this chemical.

[00:30:25] Okay.

[00:30:25] This happens like in the campaign.

[00:30:27] You fall down like into this facility, you get exposed to this chemical and then the game.

[00:30:33] So that level turns into a zombie level.

[00:30:36] Okay.

[00:30:37] Okay.

[00:30:38] So all of the enemies are zombies and then there's like boss zombies with puzzle mechanics for like how you need to take them down like in different rooms.

[00:30:47] Oh, okay.

[00:30:49] Okay.

[00:30:51] And so it actually kind of reminded me of also control, like that level around me of control, like a lot.

[00:30:57] Yeah.

[00:30:58] Cause it's that type of vibe.

[00:31:00] It's like the office, like the, the derelict office building.

[00:31:04] That's like very scary.

[00:31:06] Like the whitewashed office thing.

[00:31:09] Um, so that happens.

[00:31:11] And then it unravels like, Oh, so the guy that you're, that you're playing in the game, he was like born identity style brainwashed using this chemical.

[00:31:21] And when he got exposed to the chemical, it like reactivated the like control mechanism of like the government agency that did all this stuff.

[00:31:32] And so then it starts to become like, Oh, wait a second.

[00:31:35] So all this stuff happening in the main game is like tied to this chemical that's actually being controlled by this paramilitary organization.

[00:31:44] It's going to try and like blow up the U S and then it turns out that kind of keeps going.

[00:31:52] And the next kind of really interesting part that they do really cool stuff with is story goes on and you find out that the CIA lady,

[00:32:01] and I can't remember her name, but she's in the cut scenes and like the very beginning.

[00:32:05] And she does the first mission with you.

[00:32:07] Right.

[00:32:08] Harrow.

[00:32:08] Maybe what Harrow.

[00:32:11] Yes.

[00:32:11] I, I can't remember it.

[00:32:12] You guys know by now, if you listen to this, I don't remember people's name.

[00:32:15] I don't even be able to people's names in your life.

[00:32:16] Anyway.

[00:32:17] So it turns out that she's actually the one controlling all this stuff behind the scenes.

[00:32:26] And she's positioning this paramilitary organization so that she and them can take over the CIA from the inside and like pull the strings on like the country.

[00:32:39] And so what happens in the game is they give her this shot that where they put her into like a state of like subconsciousness.

[00:32:52] And then the game turns into there's this whole like episodic thing where you're going through her memories of this traumatic experience,

[00:33:04] like tied to the CIA and this like other world.

[00:33:07] And you're getting attacked by like zombies and ghosts and like crazies.

[00:33:11] It's, it's wild.

[00:33:12] It's actually like really wild.

[00:33:14] It explores like trauma and what emotional, how emotional trauma like damages you and like, you know, military conspiracy theories.

[00:33:26] And it actually does some like really cool stuff that that is definitely not been in any other call of duty.

[00:33:31] Dang, that actually does sound cool.

[00:33:35] So if you, if you can make it through and here's the thing, like the shooting in call of duty is second.

[00:33:41] Like the first person shooting in that game is pretty much second to none outside of maybe like apex legends or like Titanfall two,

[00:33:50] which, which is made by ex call of duty dev.

[00:33:52] So if you can have fun, just like shooting the guys, you can get through to that stuff.

[00:33:57] And it actually gets like really cool.

[00:33:59] But that is like the really interesting stuff that they did in this game that I actually think they,

[00:34:04] they pulled off and they executed like really well.

[00:34:08] Like it's, it was, uh, it was definitely fun to see.

[00:34:12] That I think is really interesting and it makes me wonder, right?

[00:34:16] I mean, they didn't front load that into the campaign, which makes me think that this was really a campaign made for call of duty players.

[00:34:23] Right.

[00:34:24] Um, yeah, you know, this is a campaign that's made for the folks that are most likely to actually play the campaign and get far enough into it to see the really cool stuff.

[00:34:33] I know that we're, we have categories for this episode.

[00:34:36] We're kind of, it's kind of all jumbled together at this point.

[00:34:38] So sorry, you'll just have to kind of deal with that.

[00:34:41] No, I think the game design is like, you guys know what the game design is.

[00:34:47] Like there's nothing that's changed.

[00:34:49] There's literally nothing that's changed.

[00:34:50] The only thing that we could even bring up in the design of this game,

[00:34:55] that's actually even interesting to talk about.

[00:34:58] Jake, you probably didn't even experience it, but it's Omni movement.

[00:35:02] Oh, they made a big deal out of that and their marketing.

[00:35:05] They made a big deal on the marketing because it impacts like the multiplayer so much.

[00:35:11] But anyway, sorry, if you had final thoughts on narrative, I'll let you.

[00:35:14] Oh no, I was just going to say like, it's a shame, right?

[00:35:19] That, I don't know.

[00:35:21] I just keep thinking about like Overwatch PVE and story missions that they were going to come out with.

[00:35:27] When you have these like really popular games for the competitive modes, for the online multiplayer,

[00:35:34] it's got to be the biggest uphill battle with the devs who are in charge of anything that isn't part of that sort of live service aspect of the game

[00:35:43] to actually get that into the game, right?

[00:35:46] And I almost wonder like to what point, like how hard did those devs have to fight to make,

[00:35:52] to not only have a cool part of the campaign, but to actually have a campaign altogether, right?

[00:35:59] Right.

[00:36:00] On Xbox, I know the game has only been out like a month, right?

[00:36:03] But on Xbox, just judging by those achievement percentages, less than 7% of the population on Xbox have made it like past the third mission or whatever it is.

[00:36:15] You know, the fourth mission of the game.

[00:36:17] And I know that this is just something that game devs kind of have to deal with regardless,

[00:36:23] is that they just know that when they ship a game that players will not see an experience,

[00:36:27] it's most players will not see an experience, all the content that the game has to offer.

[00:36:33] It just feels like, I think, especially, I don't know, poignant when you're talking about a game like Call of Duty,

[00:36:42] where, I don't know, it's so funny.

[00:36:45] I want that cool stuff that you're describing in the campaign to happen.

[00:36:50] That would get me more incentivized to play the campaign.

[00:36:53] But I'm not the person who's likely to play a Call of Duty game.

[00:36:56] And then you flip it around.

[00:36:58] The people who are likely to play a Call of Duty game probably don't give a single hoot that the campaign gets interesting at one point.

[00:37:04] Right?

[00:37:05] So it's like...

[00:37:05] They don't care.

[00:37:06] Yeah.

[00:37:06] It's like a catch-22 for them, right?

[00:37:08] For Treyarch.

[00:37:09] Like, what do you do?

[00:37:10] It's almost like a special gift for...

[00:37:13] It's like you said, Jake.

[00:37:14] It's a gift for the people who care about Call of Duty campaigns.

[00:37:16] It was like a prize for you.

[00:37:18] Like, if you...

[00:37:19] Hey, you played our campaign.

[00:37:21] You thought it was just going to be like all the other ones.

[00:37:23] And like, oh, actually, we actually did some crazy stuff here.

[00:37:27] Yeah.

[00:37:28] And we actually made...

[00:37:29] We actually had some interesting conversations in the game.

[00:37:31] And actually did like something that was like semi-interesting.

[00:37:37] So...

[00:37:37] Yeah.

[00:37:38] Dude, it actually like...

[00:37:40] It went so much to the point that I actually am genuinely curious.

[00:37:46] What could this 100-studio, 5,000-developer team...

[00:37:53] What kind of like open-world, first-person shooter thing, narrative thing could they create?

[00:37:59] I mean, it would be absolutely insane.

[00:38:02] But the problem is, is that you would lose, you know, 100 million players in the process.

[00:38:09] So, you can't do it.

[00:38:10] But, man, it would be freaking cool.

[00:38:12] It would be freaking cool.

[00:38:13] They're just pigeonholed into making Call of Duty stuff forever.

[00:38:16] Yeah, you just have...

[00:38:17] I mean, yeah.

[00:38:17] You can't.

[00:38:18] It's the biggest franchise in the world.

[00:38:21] It's the biggest video game franchise.

[00:38:22] Or one of the biggest.

[00:38:23] Top three or whatever.

[00:38:24] Right?

[00:38:24] Right.

[00:38:25] So, you can't touch it.

[00:38:27] You can't do anything with it.

[00:38:28] How long does that last?

[00:38:30] And maybe we'll talk about it in the third section.

[00:38:32] Let's just quickly talk about gameplay.

[00:38:34] It's nothing to see here, folks.

[00:38:35] It's Call of Duty.

[00:38:36] If you played anything, you know what the design is.

[00:38:39] Shoot, shoot, bang, bang.

[00:38:41] The only thing that they've added to this game that's different from the last ones is this thing called Omni Movement.

[00:38:46] Which, essentially, all that means is that you can move in any direction.

[00:38:52] Like, diagonally, sideways, backwards.

[00:38:56] And you can dive also in any direction.

[00:39:00] When you dive backwards, you remain facing forward.

[00:39:03] And so, you can do interesting things in combat.

[00:39:05] Where you can, like, do these Max Payne style diving through the air.

[00:39:11] Shoot guys while you're flying through the air.

[00:39:14] Diving type of thing.

[00:39:15] Like an action movie.

[00:39:16] Which is actually, like, a pretty cool mechanic.

[00:39:19] The problem is...

[00:39:20] The problem with the mechanic is that, A, you don't really need to use it to be good at the multiplayer.

[00:39:26] And, in fact, sometimes it can hurt you if you try and do it too much.

[00:39:31] But it's cool.

[00:39:32] And that's pretty much the only kind of new thing you need to know from a design standpoint.

[00:39:36] Everything else here is, like, the same.

[00:39:39] But this review is not...

[00:39:41] Doesn't really delve into...

[00:39:43] Honestly, this isn't...

[00:39:44] This review is not about the multiplayer or about zombies.

[00:39:47] And I know that zombies mode has, like, a lot of interesting stuff in it.

[00:39:50] But I haven't touched zombie modes at all in neither of us.

[00:39:53] Yeah.

[00:39:54] Neither have I.

[00:39:55] Yeah, I think...

[00:39:55] It was nice, I will say, going back to a Call of Duty game.

[00:40:00] And being like, ah, dude, this gunplay is very good.

[00:40:04] You know, like...

[00:40:05] Yeah, I mean, the gunplay is second to none.

[00:40:06] Yeah.

[00:40:06] And obviously, in a shooter, this is paramount, right?

[00:40:09] Your gunplay has to feel good.

[00:40:11] Otherwise, you know, combat encounters just really aren't that engaging.

[00:40:15] They're not that fun.

[00:40:16] And so, what I really like, too, is...

[00:40:18] I felt very much like Halo in this regard, where I kept running out of ammo.

[00:40:23] So, I kept picking up different guns.

[00:40:24] And I was getting used to different things.

[00:40:26] And I gotta say, the sights on the guns in this game, like, they're actually interesting

[00:40:34] and quite varied between weapons.

[00:40:36] Which, to me, like, this is maybe a minor detail.

[00:40:39] But this is just, like, I think one of those examples of, like...

[00:40:42] Treyarch, I've been making Call of Duty games forever at this point.

[00:40:46] And they have really fine-tuned a lot of the first-person shooting experience, right?

[00:40:53] Where different sites actually encourage me to use Zoom differently or to think differently

[00:40:59] about, like, how I was approaching different encounters.

[00:41:01] Just because when I would Zoom in, it might do something with my point of view or perspective.

[00:41:06] That is slightly different.

[00:41:08] And so, stuff like that, I did really appreciate.

[00:41:12] And then, I actually did appreciate...

[00:41:14] This will probably be another reason why...

[00:41:17] Or another example of how long it's been since I've played a Call of Duty game.

[00:41:21] Because, like, the remote control bombs and stuff, that's not new, right?

[00:41:25] I'm sure that's been around forever.

[00:41:27] Oh, no.

[00:41:28] No.

[00:41:28] Yeah, like, the...

[00:41:30] The throwing knife bomb, while undoubtedly cool, has, I think, been in the best couple Black

[00:41:35] Ops games.

[00:41:36] Yeah.

[00:41:36] I just think some of those special weapons were really smooth.

[00:41:40] Like, I just...

[00:41:41] I loved playing this game on controller in that regard.

[00:41:44] Everything felt smooth and intuitive.

[00:41:46] Oh, yeah.

[00:41:46] And just actually to clarify, I actually played this via cloud.

[00:41:50] So, I just played it on the cloud.

[00:41:52] Because I didn't want to download, like, a 250 gig package on my Xbox.

[00:41:57] And I still got buttery smooth gameplay and experience.

[00:42:02] Like, no stuttering.

[00:42:04] Resolution wasn't all that great.

[00:42:05] But, honestly, the gameplay still was able to shine.

[00:42:08] So, yeah, that's how I played it.

[00:42:10] And it played really well.

[00:42:12] I mean, that's actually a fantastic way if you want to go play this campaign.

[00:42:16] Which, if you're interested after hearing me describe it, it's so far there.

[00:42:20] Also, Bill Clinton is in it.

[00:42:21] Yeah, that part made me laugh.

[00:42:24] You get a close-up of his face there.

[00:42:26] I don't know why.

[00:42:26] Never mind.

[00:42:27] I was going to say something.

[00:42:28] And if you're, like, if you like any type of alternative military history or, like, military fiction type stuff.

[00:42:38] Like, Tom Clancy style stuff.

[00:42:40] Born Identity.

[00:42:41] This is going to be right up your alley.

[00:42:43] Which, I love that stuff.

[00:42:44] So, yeah.

[00:42:46] Let's go to Impact on the Industry.

[00:42:48] This is probably the most important part of the Call of Duty conversation.

[00:42:51] Especially in light of Xbox acquisition of Activision.

[00:42:54] This is an Xbox game.

[00:42:55] It was a premier Game Pass title.

[00:42:57] It still has, like, the masthead on the Xbox Game Pass screen.

[00:43:03] It has more players.

[00:43:04] So, we know from the data now that it has more players on Xbox than any other platform.

[00:43:09] Which, I think, is a first.

[00:43:11] Oh, wow.

[00:43:14] Sales-wise, it's still...

[00:43:16] I don't know the exact numbers.

[00:43:17] But it still did massive sales.

[00:43:19] Which, Xbox, obviously, is getting the vast majority of that.

[00:43:23] So, in terms of Call of Duty.

[00:43:25] I mean, Xbox.

[00:43:26] I think they accomplished their objective.

[00:43:28] And it also had a net boost to Game Pass.

[00:43:31] Now, we don't know all the exact numbers of any of this.

[00:43:33] But it sounds like, and the vibes out of Microsoft and, like, the numbers I've been seeing throwing around.

[00:43:39] Is that this did exactly what Microsoft thought it would do for Game Pass.

[00:43:43] Dang.

[00:43:44] I mean, good for them.

[00:43:46] That's a win that they've wanted, right?

[00:43:47] I think for a really long time.

[00:43:49] And, obviously, the whole legal process to get that acquisition through cost them a lot of money.

[00:43:57] It's interesting.

[00:43:58] I mean, if I had heard this news maybe a few years ago when I was really confident that Xbox was using their profits to fund all these super random projects.

[00:44:09] I would have been like, great.

[00:44:10] This means that Call of Duty is going to help sustain, like, a really cool model of getting a bunch of interesting, like, double-A games on Game Pass.

[00:44:18] And I think that still could be true, right?

[00:44:20] We're just kind of in this moment of financial crisis in the games industry.

[00:44:25] Then I'm hoping that because Xbox is getting what they want under this acquisition, that we'll not run into so many problems with what it is that they're doing in studios and people being laid off or whatever.

[00:44:40] Yeah.

[00:44:40] I mean, what you want is you want – this is why – this is the great thing about Call of Duty.

[00:44:44] Whether you like COD or not, if COD does insanely well, this pays for all the other dope Game Pass deals and games that you like.

[00:44:56] And the number is – we don't have an exact number, and I don't know if we will until probably next June when they – because they usually, like, drop the number, especially if it's good.

[00:45:09] They estimate it will boost Game Pass subscribers by between 2.5 and 4 million.

[00:45:14] Dang.

[00:45:15] I mean, maybe.

[00:45:16] Like you said, I saw the kind of vibe check that Xbox put out after, like, a few days of Call of Duty being out, and they were really pleased with what they saw.

[00:45:30] Yeah.

[00:45:30] I mean, I can only imagine feeling pretty good about having, like, the biggest game of the year on your platform.

[00:45:36] So, Call of Duty.

[00:45:39] Yeah.

[00:45:39] I think it's going to be interesting to see how this game evolves under the Xbox banner.

[00:45:45] If it works the way that I think they want, then this could be the thing that makes Game Pass, like, the success that I think they need it to be to continue to be, like, a viable product for Xbox and continue to make cool deals and do cool stuff.

[00:46:03] Especially because their major franchises, let's be honest, have kind of fizzled out, right?

[00:46:09] Like, if we're just being frankly honest, Halo's not doing anywhere close to what they need it to be at all.

[00:46:17] Yeah.

[00:46:17] Just not even close.

[00:46:20] There should be, like, three new Halo games by now, and we've gotten one that kind of tanked, right?

[00:46:27] And Gears of War, they've done some really cool stuff with it.

[00:46:31] Gears of War 5 is amazing.

[00:46:32] If you haven't played Gears of War 5, it's so good.

[00:46:34] I mean, it's a really, really great game.

[00:46:36] But it just doesn't, like, do the numbers like it used to, you know?

[00:46:40] So, they needed a game like this.

[00:46:43] They bought it for $70 billion.

[00:46:44] It seems to be doing, like, what they needed to be.

[00:46:47] It's, like, increasing stuff across the board.

[00:46:49] So, yeah.

[00:46:50] I hope that that's the impact.

[00:46:52] I don't know what the impact will be in terms of, like, the Call of Duty franchise.

[00:46:56] I don't imagine they go away from the annual cadence because they make too much money off that.

[00:47:04] So, I expect to continue to see, like, annual Call of Duty releases and make it a...

[00:47:09] It's going to be a premier Game Pass thing from here on out until Game Pass is either...

[00:47:14] Until Game Pass is no longer a thing.

[00:47:16] Because I think if this stops, that probably means Game Pass didn't work.

[00:47:22] I think...

[00:47:23] Yeah.

[00:47:23] I think you're right on that one.

[00:47:26] I guess just sort of my thoughts here.

[00:47:28] Yeah.

[00:47:28] I mean, this franchise is so big and so popular that I think it's really hard to see it becoming a negative for Xbox and for itself and for Game Pass.

[00:47:39] I don't know.

[00:47:41] I really hope that they keep doing interesting things with the campaign because I think your Game Pass subscribers, like me, are much more likely to dip their toes in Call of Duty if it's there.

[00:47:55] Right?

[00:47:56] Right.

[00:47:56] You know, kind of answering, I guess, my own question about who's the campaign for if diehard COD players aren't playing it and then people who might be interested in a short FPS campaign aren't playing COD.

[00:48:06] Right?

[00:48:07] Maybe Game Pass is that answer.

[00:48:09] Right?

[00:48:09] Maybe Game Pass is the thing that gets people who are not Call of Duty players to be like, oh, you know what?

[00:48:14] This is already in my subscription.

[00:48:16] Maybe I'll check out the campaign.

[00:48:17] At least I know the gunplay is going to be good.

[00:48:19] Right?

[00:48:21] So there might be some synergy that's kind of happening between Game Pass players and Call of Duty in that regard.

[00:48:29] But again, I'm kind of speculating here.

[00:48:32] Yeah.

[00:48:32] I don't know.

[00:48:33] Like, playing this after playing Wolfenstein 2 and then just starting Stalker 2 just kind of makes me wonder, like, what FPS game is up there with Call of Duty?

[00:48:47] Or does Call of Duty just kind of reign supreme when it comes to first-person shooters?

[00:48:54] I don't know.

[00:48:56] I don't know.

[00:48:57] I was just thinking about this.

[00:48:58] Because Stalker 2, my little experience with it was I liked it.

[00:49:02] The controller feels a little off.

[00:49:05] The dead zone, I guess I was looking this up, is off.

[00:49:08] Yeah.

[00:49:09] Right.

[00:49:10] Otherwise, Stalker 2 is the type of, or Wolfenstein 2, right?

[00:49:14] Those are the types of first-person shooters that I am really drawn towards.

[00:49:18] Same with, like, the Halo campaign.

[00:49:19] Halo Infinite campaign, I really, really liked.

[00:49:24] I love the Halo Infinite.

[00:49:26] It's great.

[00:49:26] But yeah, I mean, Xbox doesn't have that cadence anymore.

[00:49:30] I'm kind of getting back to the point that you just made where it's like, Xbox probably just really needs Call of Duty way more than Call of Duty needs Xbox.

[00:49:39] But hopefully, now that they're part of the Xbox family, we can see maybe some people from Treyarch.

[00:49:46] Not that the Halo Infinite camp or Halo team maybe needs it, but let's get a little, you know, I don't know, sharing of notes happening there with things like Halo and Gears of War.

[00:49:58] That doesn't seem like a bad thing to me.

[00:50:02] Yeah.

[00:50:03] I mean, hopefully that's the case, you know.

[00:50:09] I don't know.

[00:50:10] I don't know.

[00:50:12] I'm excited for E-Day.

[00:50:14] I think that was a super fun announcement.

[00:50:16] I mean, looking back in June, like, Xbox had one of the best game showcases that a publisher has had in a long, long time.

[00:50:26] Like, since the old days of E3, I mean, they really popped off at that show.

[00:50:30] So, lots of amazing things for Xbox on the horizon.

[00:50:34] I still think it's probably, I still think even with Call of Duty, it's a little slow right now for Xbox.

[00:50:44] But the thing is, it's also pretty slow for PlayStation, TLDR, which is my parent company and I cannot say anything bad about.

[00:50:52] But I can.

[00:50:54] I mean.

[00:50:54] But it's pretty slow.

[00:50:55] But it is admittedly pretty slow for, it's kind of slow for everybody.

[00:50:59] Xbox, I think all things considered, is actually putting out a lot of stuff, right?

[00:51:04] So, good for them because it's really slow for PlayStation.

[00:51:10] Yeah, I would say.

[00:51:11] And for all these other.

[00:51:12] I would just say between Call of Duty, Microsoft Sim 2024, Stalker 2, they're publishing.

[00:51:19] It's not a first party game from what I understand.

[00:51:21] And then Indiana Jones, right?

[00:51:22] I mean, that's a really busy end of the year.

[00:51:25] And then 2025, we've got, well, Avowed, South of Midnight, Clockwork Revolution, and maybe Fable.

[00:51:33] I've said it last episode.

[00:51:35] I'm saying it again.

[00:51:35] I do not think that game comes out in 2025.

[00:51:38] But hey, if it did, they could be doing some really interesting things.

[00:51:41] If we got Fable and Clockwork Revolution next year, that would be nuts.

[00:51:45] That would be nuts, right?

[00:51:48] That would be absolutely nuts.

[00:51:49] It's not happening.

[00:51:50] There's no way.

[00:51:51] Which there's no way.

[00:51:52] That means there's no way it can happen.

[00:51:53] And then Nintendo Ekinbai.

[00:51:55] I shouldn't say Ekinbai, excuse me.

[00:51:58] What am I trying to say?

[00:51:59] They're still squeezing out these random first party titles for a Switch that for the past, I don't know, four years,

[00:52:06] people have written off as old and ready for the next Switch.

[00:52:10] So, I don't know.

[00:52:12] Stuff is happening.

[00:52:15] But, yeah, it is slow.

[00:52:16] It is slow all around.

[00:52:18] Well, ladies and gentlemen, with that, that is our episode on Call of Duty Blobs 6.

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