SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - Slayer's thoughts on Megaman and Call of Duty

Joined: Feb 16 2010 Location: Texas Posts: 329

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" As a gamer, I try to give every game out there a chance, no matter how bad or good people say it is. I’ve played tons of them, ranging from the popular like Pokemon, Mario and The Elder Scroll Games to obscure games like Nightshade (the NES one), Infiltrator and Musashi No Bouken. Due to this extensive experience of video games, I feel confident in my abilities to critique them, compare them and overall rate them.

Now, I’m not saying this to gloat, I’m saying this to show that I’ve got a large relationship with them and I would say that I’m one of the proud that can have an unbiased and open opinion.

So, I guess in my course of my gaming, I’ve taken a notice on a two series that are bizarrely similar to each other. Why bizarre? Well, because one series was started in the 80’s and the second one was started in the 2000’s. Want to take a guess at these two games? Go on, I’ll wait a second. If you said Final Fantasy and Rapelay, well you could be right since Square-Enix (NOT FUCKING SQUEENIX) has a tendency to rape the player. If you said Megaman and Call of Duty, well you sir are a mind reader. SO GET OUT OF MY… aw fuck it, you’ll be horrified anyways.

Yes, there is an uncanny resemblance between the Megaman series and the Call of Duty Series, which isn’t that much of a stretch.

To begin with, the overall “stories” of both franchises are kind of a moot point. At any point in my time playing either series did I feel it was necessary to have any plot or intrigue? Did I really care why Doctor Wily was on the loose again or why I have to kill Russian guy number 368? Not really. I mean, let’s face it: the story is about as intriguing as a Bazooka Joe Comic, the main difference being that a Bazooka Joe Comic at least let’s you have a comic at the end and you feel like you are smarter because you read something. Any single one of these games has the counter effect of intelligence when it comes to a plotline, meaning I felt dumber by completing Megaman 2 and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3.

Another part of this similarity is the gameplay of both series are bland and repetitive. Take Megaman for example: every level has been done repeatedly and some of the newer games re-use levels from the older games. Even the enemies are exactly the same, or in some cases just palette swaps of each other. I mean I suppose keeping some enemies the same is an easy way and sort of creates an identifiable persona for the game. It’s like the goomba’s from Mario. However, when they start to recycle the bosses? Yeah, that’s annoying as hell. Call of Duty is essentially the same thing. You run, shoot, duck behind cover and repeat. Or the occasional “Follow Me” missions, which means you being stealth- actually the game gives you the cover you need over again. And besides… these stealth missions have been repeated in every current iteration of Call of Duty. It’s practically the same level, just replaced with snow, Russian missile base and Jungle Forest. Same route, same “Take the shot” and same “THEY SPOTTED US”. It’s the same thing wash, rinse, repeat.

Furthermore, the unidentifiable characters are ever present in both series. Can you identify yourself as blue, cybernetic man-child who goes around blasting robots? Likewise, can you picture yourself as a genecidal soldier, who’s only goal is killing every single person you come across just to kill one guy? Thinking about it, all of the main characters from both series are identical. Think about it, what’s Megaman’s profession? He’s going around killing “robots” to save the world for the humans. What’s Captain Price’s, Soap’s, Roach’s, Yuri’s, Reznov’s, Dimitri’s, Mason’s and every other character you play as profession? Going around and killing every single enemy soldier and terrorist out there. Therefore, Megaman is a genocidal maniac for killing every robot he could find, and those guy’s are just obvious maniacs. They all should be charged with war crimes.

The music for both is good. People cover the hell out of Megaman songs and apparently Video Games Live orchestra has played the Call of Duty… uh menu screens. I just thought that was an interesting tidbit to include.

Now to the part the hurts me the most: the insane, ribald fans. The fans for both series have an irrational love and insanity for it. Go into any forum, chat room, website or blog and disagree with anything that involves either one of these series and you will get more upset and most likely criticized for your own opinion. It’s really sad to see that clear divide in the gaming community. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that not everyone will agree on something but to simply hold a series for what is and not willing to accept that people won’t have a similar outlook on it is terrible.

While this is only a small observation of two series that have millions of fans, it’s uncanny how close these two seemingly unrelated series are very similar. I wouldn’t be surprised if out there, there is a mod for Call of Duty, which replaces everyone with Megaman characters. Reznov as Doctor Light would be interesting."

Slayer posted this on his facebook, and I thought it was interesting enough to share with you guys. Sorry I beat you to it, Slayer.

Posted: May 17 2012 01:35 am

That's certainly an interesting post. As someone who has not played all of Mega Man or Call of Duty games, I have to say that on a basic level that both series are similar in that their gameplay styles, through numerous sequels, have been well-established. If you get either, you should know by now what you're in for because the overall formula doesn't change.

I guess one could also consider the ongoing fascination with new weaponry as another similarity. In Mega Man, you acquire new weapons with various effects and strengths and flaws. In Call of Duty, you will likely use an assortment of guns, attachments and tools which again have strengths and flaws. You can obviously go through either with one weapon, but you wouldn't be making the most out of the game's environment.

Still, I would have to argue that they are distinct in that Call of Duty's campaign scenarios are secondary to their respective multiplayer setups, whereas Mega Man is a game wholly oriented towards single player. This is represented in how the games are played. While the player is attempting to improve their skill within either game, Mega Man feels more like something to be mastered with its own set up tips and tricks.

I had never fully completed Mega Man 2 before the group project, but at present date I can tell you that the Metal Blade is deliciously overpowered, that Leaf Shield can farm egg kills, that if you aim just right you can save one Crash Bomber at the end of the Buebeam boss by getting a twofer, and that if you're good enough you can jump on the outside pixels of the enemy platforms in Air Man's stage. I didn't know shit beforehand, but these and other things were all experienced by the time I ended the game.

I do not know anyone who purchases Call of Duty for the campaign alone. There weren't any moments where, beyond traditional explosive barrels and such, I pieced together some interesting tricks to help beat the game or make it more entertaining; it was simply an environment of using guns repetitively to get to the end of a level. I'm trying to avoid a subjective debate on the matter, but regarding Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's campaign, I will honestly say that I have not really learned anything that compares to the Mega Man 2 points mentioned previously. As such, anything that would have required some degree of a thought process was made blatantly obvious in Modern Warfare 2 whereas it's up to the player to figure things out in Mega Man 2.

Again, I'm trying to avoid fanboyism and declare that one game is better than the other; I didn't grow up with a NES, so I can't say that I have nostalgia glasses syndrome for Mega Man 2. I've had fun experiences with both within the last few years. However, Mega Man 2 made me feel like I was playing and mastering a game, while Modern Warfare 2's campaign made me feel like I was a spectator.

Also, while I honestly haven't looked into any Call of Duty fan-based content, anyone who's visited Not Sure's YouTube Channel may quickly find that the community's love for Mega Man has resulted in some very interesting stuff. Check out this ROMhack level that he played - the controls shenanigans and level design look difficult but incredibly fun, and I imagine my brain would be doing somersaults if I were to play that. I wish Call of Duty's campaign had something this cool to offer, whether it be made from the studio or the fans.

Also, Meek, Slayer hasn't posted since November 2011, so I doubt you've done any harm by posting this. I enjoyed reading his comments, but respectfully disagree based on my own experiences with the games.

Posted: May 17 2012 01:52 am

I hope he sees this thread so he can whine about the forums on his Facebook some more, even though he "left". Surprised

Posted: May 17 2012 04:01 am

Cameron wrote:

I hope he sees this thread so he can whine about the forums on his Facebook some more, even though he "left". Surprised

ditto

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

Preng wrote:

However, Mega Man 2 made me feel like I was playing and mastering a game, while Modern Warfare 2's campaign made me feel like I was a spectator.

This pretty much sums it up. This whole article seems to be written by someone who has never actually beaten a Mega Man game.