The Call of Duty franchise has been hailed by gamers and reviewers alike for their attempt at realism. The graphics are not only the closest we have come before at recreating people and environments that actually mimic reality, but the sounds, atmosphere and death system also seek to be as close to reality as they can be. No longer do we have the days of Goldeneye where you simply take 30 bullets in your body and some explosive splash damage and are still alive to go scurry for body armor, but now you die with a few bullet hits, falling to the ground from too high of a distance or explosives.
These games are not perfect, and that is not what the article is about, but rather, how much from reality should be incorporated into the franchise and into gaming in general? We always talk about how realistic a game is, as if Mario was successful for looking like your neighbor, but yet realistic graphics and physics have become the trend for gaming lately as we seek to entertain ourselves with reality instead of something we cannot do in real life. Here are 3 examples of ideas for reality in gaming that would probably be taking it too far.
1. Soldiers Have to Eat: If you don’t have calories, you don’t have the energy to storm that hill and take it by force. You wouldn’t have the energy to carry those heavy battle packs. You would simply pass out or die. In the name of realism though, should the gamer be required to purchase some heater meals and stop every level or few check points to eat a full meal? Heater meals are essential for soldiers and for those out in the wilderness or rough terrain for a long time. Soldiers have to eat, so should your character have to stop and eat? Could they turn eating a heater meal into a fun experience if they did incorporate it into the game? Press X to lift fork. Press B to chew. Press A too soon and you choke and die. Sounds like a good time indeed.
2. Soldiers Hate the Sun: Skin cancer sucks. Sun block is a luxury and soldiers tend to just have to suck it up and deal with bad climate all of the time. If your character is in the sun too long, should he have to stop and seek shelter, water or treatment for sun poisoning? If he is in the rain should it be easier to trip and fall? If he is in the snow should he be forced to walk slower and carry more equipment that would be required for warmth? Maybe you should be forced to press a button to hold yourself to warm yourself up every 100 yards of walking to make it more realistic. Call of Duty 52: World is Cold.
3. Soldiers Need to Sleep Why do the playable characters always seem to be able to go for long hours without sleep? You can leave the game on for days and the character will never stop if you force him to keep going. Maybe you’re depriving yourself of sleep, but after all, you’re in air conditioning paradise and on a couch, he is out in a war zone with heavy packs. After taking every major zone, you should be forced to press A to lay down, then press L and R repeatedly until an optimal level of comfort is found, while pressing the joy stick in a circle to control the man on look out to make sure you don’t get shot in the sleep. Solid game play right there.
These 3 out of many ideas would make Call of Duty and other games much more realistic and obviously much more fun. Players should have to feed their character heater meals, adjust for the weather and take time to sleep. Maybe Nintendo is on to something with their innovative controllers, giving us more ways to incorporate realistic functions into games. Call of Duty for the Wii U is a must now. 😉
