Over the course of the past two decades, fan reception to each individual entry in the Call of Duty franchise has been quite unpredictable, to say the least. While some entries like Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare (2007) were received unanimously positive and are deeply beloved by the community- entries like 2016’s COD: Ghosts failed to meet audience expectations or rack up significantly positive sales.
Yet, one aspect of Call of Duty has been consistently brilliant – to the point where its almost scary how not a single COD single-player campaign hasn’t been “fun”. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the majority of the franchise’s appeal comes from its robust, fast and satisfying multiplayer mode – but the single-player campaign is more than just dressing.
Each campaign, despite not being masterpieces of storytelling and nuance – have always delivered on their promise of gigantic, Hollywood-style, blockbuster action. So, maybe its time to ask the question whether its time for the good people at Infinity Ward, Treyarch, or Sledgehammer Games, to provide Mobile with quality single-player campaigns as well?
Does COD Mobile need a single-player campaign?
For the most part, Mobile games are not the first thing gamers think of when they hear “single-player campaign” or “narrative-driven games”. For the most part, mobile has been the platform for gamers to crank out a couple of quick multiplayer games or goof around in arcade-y games.
However, it wouldn’t be fair to say that the mobile platform has a dearth of quality, story-based games as there are plenty of those for players to enjoy. However, for a franchise that has excelled with single-player campaigns to this extent not doing what they arguably do best on mobile seems like a missed opportunity.
Mobile hardware is the best it has ever been and countless PC and Console ports such as Max Payne or GTA have proven that it is quite possible to enjoy single-player, story-driven games on mobile. The hardware doesn’t seem to be the issue as it doesn’t seem like a stretch for COD to include a 4-5 hour campaign on Mobile and let players enjoy a fairly entertaining campaign should they need a respite from multiplayer and battle royale.
Co-op campaign could be the way forward
Playing through the campaign by yourself is quite enjoyable – but when you throw another player into the mix – it becomes all the more enjoyable. The appeal of mobile games somewhat also lies in the platform’s mobility as players can fire up a game just about anywhere without the need to set up a station and plug in HDMI and power cables.
Couch co-op literally becomes a possibility anywhere -without even the need for a couch as players can fire up the co-op mode with their friend whether they’re close by or in the comfort of their home. The Undead Siege mode, introduced in COD Mobile: Season 6 is a great example of how to do co-op mode on mobile and fans have responded quite positively to the mode.
The Undead Siege mode, or Zombies, on console and PC – is one of the most popular modes – especially for its lore and narrative. The Undead Siege could slowly start introducing a proper narrative that gets new episodes periodically – and that could be a great way to gauge whether a single-player campaign has enough appeal within the COD Mobile community.
