Support NeoGAF

[FMX]

I know it's cool to hate on COD but I think that the game's graphics are top notch.

 

[DaciaJC]

The series has more or less always boasted good graphics, going all the way back to the original on PC. I don't know that they're underrated so much as considered a given.

 

[Three]

I would say yeah, they somewhat are.

 

[IFireflyl]

I think they're just rated.

 

[Spokker]

Some of the recent ones, Modern Warfare, Cold War, Modern Warfare II, have some incredible lighting. And historically, they do it at 60 fps on console. I remember being blown away with the original Modern Warfares on Xbox 360, again, running at 60 fps.

I definitely think it's taken for granted like it's expected considering the game's budget, but the company is more than compensated for it with consistently high sales. So it's not exactly, oh, woe is them.

 

[Sushi_Combo]

It all comes down to gameplay and how it's tied to micro-transactions in the new era of cod.

 

[Arsic]

It all comes down to gameplay and how it's tied to micro-transactions in the new era of cod.

????

OP asks if graphics in the games are underrated and this is what you came to post?

 

[Sushi_Combo]

????

OP asks if graphics in the games are underrated and this is what you came to post?

Graphics are unimportant here. There's my answer.

 

[Killer8]

I do enjoy how good the COD games look nowadays, not just for the visuals but also because of the drama a few years ago when DICE (Battlefield) employees were shitting on COD's graphics.

Very unprofessional stuff and I'm happy COD had the last laugh as Battlefield hurtled into irrelevance.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Game needs a modern engine and it's beyond overdue.

 

[TexMex]

COD has looked pretty consistently great, every year, with very few exceptions. And always at 60fps for many years. Not sure how anyone could drag it from a purely technical perspective.

 

[demigod]

Some of the recent ones, Modern Warfare, Cold War, Modern Warfare II, have some incredible lighting. And historically, they do it at 60 fps on console. I remember being blown away with the original Modern Warfares on Xbox 360, again, running at 60 fps.

I definitely think it's taken for granted like it's expected considering the game's budget, but the company is more than compensated for it with consistently high sales. So it's not exactly, oh, woe is them.

Those graphics were so good it gave my launch 360 rrod.

 

[Gamerguy84]

COD has always looked good. It's not cool to hate on CODs anymore

 

[Danjin44]

I dont care about tech side of the graphics, I personally just find the aesthetics of COD series very dull and boring.

 

[skneogaf]

The graphics in the single player campaign on last year's modern warfare 2 are excellent on the pc version on absolute maximum at 4k with my 4090.

In a side not the dolby atmos audio is the best audio of any game, it's the perfect way to show off object based sound.

 

[brian0057]

I'm currently playing the Half-Life 25th Anniversary Update and I'd rather look at all of its blurry and pixelated glory than the most graphically impressive Call of Duty title.
Does that answer your question?

 

[adamsapple]

I think the campaigns have always looked pretty good for their respective time.

Blops 2 was one of the best looking games on the PS3/360 gen.

Infinite Warfare is top-tier in the PS4/XBO gen.

The new MW3 campaign, in its bespoke maps (not the ones where it uses chunks of Warzone's map) also looks great.

Series X pics:

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Call of Duty has always been praised for its graphics and it's always been a 60 fps franchise too

 

[Grildon Tundy]

The graphics haven't significantly improved since Advanced Warfare back in 2014. Other than when you get close-up on textures, it could trick a lot of people into believing it's the latest installment.

 

[chessy_08]

campaign graphics are good online is ok but they should be ashamed of there business practices

 

[Housh]

Activision programs solid PC games....too bad they milk the shit out of their players.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

The graphics in the single player campaign on last year's modern warfare 2 are excellent on the pc version on absolute maximum at 4k with my 4090.

In a side not the dolby atmos audio is the best audio of any game, it's the perfect way to show off object based sound.

I can agree with this.

 

[CGNoire]

Meh.

 

[M.W.]

Average at best.

 

[Kikorin]

It looks good, but one thing I've always criticized to CoD is the complete statistics environments and the zero interaction with anything, tied with a super linear and heavy scripted campaign. At least until I played the series, but I've stopped at the first Black Ops, so I don't know how is now.

 

[E-Cat]

The graphics are whelming

 

[Bloobs]

Does Call of Duty: Ghosts look "Wall Guy" bad?

EDIT: To clarify, I'm not asking if Ghosts looks as bad as Wall Guy literally. I'm asking if it is as unimpressive for next gen expectations as Wall Guy was in 2005 for next gen expectations. I think it is clear to everybody that Ghosts' presentation yesterday did not look next-gen at all...

www.neogaf.com

 

[Valt7786]

They're all very high-res and pretty to just look at but that comes at the cost of completely static environments outside of scripted events.
I'd love to see a quality CoD campaign where you can really just blow the shit out of the environments.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

They're all very high-res and pretty to just look at but that comes at the cost of completely static environments outside of scripted events.
I'd love to see a quality CoD campaign where you can really just blow the shit out of the environments.

Aye, there's not much under the hood. Which is why it's all so basic.

 

[kikkis]

The graphics haven't significantly improved since Advanced Warfare back in 2014. Other than when you get close-up on textures, it could trick a lot of people into believing it's the latest installment.

Triangle counts in levels went up significantly in mw2019, I dont remember the exact numbers but it was like 10x at least.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Yeah. The campaign portion at least. Haven’t played the new one but MW2 campaign looked crazy on a 4090. Multiplayer still looks nice but not nearly as good.

 

[Vblad88]

Graphics don’t not justify 200Gb install size that is for sure. Not jaw dropping by any means.

 

[Roberts]

I think they always looked great but the biggest leap happened around the time Infinite Warfare came out. That game still looks amazing.

 

[fatmarco]

What's really underrated at points is Modern Warfare 2's remaster.

This screenshot loses a lot without HDR, but it's also testament to what Call of Duty has lost as far as grandeur.

 

[TxKnight7]

From 2011

 

[SkylineRKR]

CoD has mostly looked good. They always targeted 60fps on console, unlike Battlefield in PS360 gen for example. I remember being impressed by CoD 2 on 360, and MW which came out at the same time as Halo 3 on 360. MW was fast and 60fps, I was impressed.

Infinite Warfare also looked pretty good on PS4 and MW 2019 too.

 

[Roufianos]

I agree, though it's often countered by maps looking like cheap Bollywood sets, as opposed to actual places.

 

[StueyDuck]

They have always had impressive visual tech.

There was a time where people felt "underwhelmed" because dice and EA gave a shit about the BF franchise which at the time was making the technically very impressive cod games look almost a gen behind.

Now however COD is a high visual bar to compete with. They did (since MW1 reboot I think) move to a very heavy use of photogrammatery, at the end of the day it will probably not be visually noticeable the new VFX being implemented on top of that process outside of lighting, GI and things of that nature.

Compare battlefront one to most modern shooters and it still holds up disgustingly well (maybe even better). It's also due to a heavy focus on photogrammatery.

 

[HoodWinked]

There was a big anti-COD sentiment that started to grow at the tail end of the 360/PS3 era. And one of the main things they would parrot is how the engine was dated.

Always that kind of thinking has been burned into some people's brains and still think it's still the case.

 

[64bitmodels]

There was a time where people felt "underwhelmed" because dice and EA gave a shit about the BF franchise which at the time was making the technically very impressive cod games look almost a gen behind.

lol yeah.

COD has always been a beautiful franchise but BF in terms of graphics (and gameplay) blows it outta the water. If it weren't for shite ass BF2042 at least.

Black ops 1 and WaW are still very good looking games over 10 years later.

 

[Krappadizzle]

Tech seems like it's always been solid. It's art direction per title varies in consistency and style that can make them each look more unique. They all ubiquitously have a generic "modern" military look and that's become boring, but it's not inherently bad. People only dunk on it because CoD has overstimulated them and now what should be unique and bad-ass set-pieces in all their games, has become rote, expected, and generic.

 

[FinalBossWithTheMostPower]

COD hit a plateau a longggg time ago.

Nice looking games, but they are so obviously cross-gen and there hasn't been one entry, yet, specifically built to take advantage of any next generation hardware.

 

[ManaByte]

 

[SimTourist]

They look good technically but artistically they're a bit bland and generic. It became apparent to me when I was playing through all the campaigns this year and intermixed them with games like Wolfenstein, Doom and Metro Exodus. All of those have much stronger and unique art direction. But it's not bad, just good enough.

 

[Ogbert]

Yes.

To be honest, CoD is flat out underrated across the board. The game has been milked to oblivion but the mechanics are polished to perfection.

 

[Diddy X]

Up until Battlefield 1 battlefield games would shit all over COD's graphics, nowadays they quit even trying and yeah last COD games look pretty good but nothing crazy.

 

[Hip Hop]

Yes.

To be honest, CoD is flat out underrated across the board. The game has been milked to oblivion but the mechanics are polished to perfection.

Yup. That they don't have to work on that any more to improve it.

What gets them every time is everything else not the gameplay.

You can have amazing gameplay but shit new maps will do you in.

 

[adamsapple]

What's really underrated at points is Modern Warfare 2's remaster.

This screenshot loses a lot without HDR, but it's also testament to what Call of Duty has lost as far as grandeur.

I would love to replay through all of them if/when they start going up on GP.

These campaigns are a riot and a blast to play over a single sitting or two.

 

[fatmarco]

I would love to replay through all of them if/when they start going up on GP.

These campaigns are a riot and a blast to play over a single sitting or two.

I was impatient so I just started buying the campaigns when they came up on sale hahah. Modern Warfare 2 really holds up as does Black Ops 1.

 

[Holammer]

Sure, they have budget most games could ever dream of and an army of artists working on them, so of course they look good. It's literally insane to claim otherwise.
COD is like a McDonalds burger, it's a bit bland but it's consistent and you know what you get. That's why they sell.