Black Ops 2 Is Like A Rich Jerk

[Waffle_Man]

Anyway, now I've read it this just shows that yahtzee doesn't LIKE playing multiplayer...

An opinion, something he is paid to express.

well I'm sorry that a small part of his job may involve doing something he doesn't like, but it's not like he has the worst job in the world. That is still not any sort of excuse for his poor journalism of reviewing Black Ops 2 as if it only consisted of the single-player campaign and drawing conclusions of the industry and playerbase from the success of the game on that assertion it was mainly singleplayer.

Yatzee isn't a journalist. He's a pundit, and one that is only obligated to be thoughtful in one of his two features. After all, when was the last time you saw him reporting news? Never, because that isn't his job. His job is to make cynical jokes in rapid fire fashion every week by wednesday, and deliver a frank discussion of what he thinks about something by tuesday. If you're looking for something more, you're not going to find it.

And Zombies as well. He skipped that as well even though it's such a major feature it can be a default launch option.

Would you be any happier if he had simply played zombies and said that it was boring? It wouldn't make his videos any funnier, nor would it make his columns any more thoughtful. Hell, it would become annoying by the third review. Going by what he has said, the reason he plays primarily single player games isn't because he thinks that there is anything wrong with competitive multiplayer, but because it simply doesn't interest him. I can give detailed critiques of all sorts of art, but I'd stare at someone blankly if I was asked about my opinion on fashion trends. It isn't because I think that the idea of fashion is worthless, but because I don't care about it enough to form an arguable opinion.

Yatzee can talk about single player and come up with criticisms because the single player is something he has a vested interest in. It would be interesting to see Yatzee play multiplayer and try to figure out why people like it (which he has done to some extent, but that really isn't his style and I don't think forcing him to do so would make him better at what people watch him for.

He says he doesn't want to be political, no I think he want to be political, he just doesn't want to deal with the consequences of being political. Kind of like wanting to eat a cake yet still have the cake after he's eaten it... so to speak.

So what? He didn't say that he doesn't like to think about politics, but that he doesn't like to talk about politics. I like to think about the future of computing and physics all the time, but won't I ever find myself saying my stupid opinion in a conference in front of people who know way more about it than me. I like to think about politics all of the time, but I'll be damned if I become the punching bag of an idiot spouting off rhetoric thought up by a think tank thousands of miles away that neither of us can verify first hand.

 

[Treblaine]

My background is largely in film, and I find setpieces tiring for that very reason. A lot of writing lately has moved from careful character development to be about moving characters from setpiece to setpiece without regard to motivation. Just go from A to B and let the explosions happen. It's entertaining in the moment, but it really loses a lot. In a game, you're subjected to many more hours of it. And it really just fatigues the eyes, and oversaturates the senses. You can't appreciate the quiet moments. Because there aren't any.

Wasn't there a whole jimquisition episode dedicated to reiterating the self-evident fact that games are NOT film, and if you try to treat games like film then they will ALWAYS be inferior to film.

It's a GAME first.

Now COD singleplayer mostly fails at being a game, but to damn it for it's narrative paints with a broad brush in damning so many other great games that have a spartan or contrived plot. But it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter, because games are games, a gameplay storyline can be profound in its gameplay progression.

COD's singleplayer CANNOT be fixed with either more plot or more carefully written plot, that is NOT the problem at all, the problem is akin to a film having hours of narration where they explain what is going on in the very film you are watching. No. No, god no. Show, don't tell for film, DO don't show for games. And quick time events is a "show", it's not agency in deciding the outcome, it's about as involved as having to turn the pages on a book.

COD gameplay fails because it's quite clear all the weapon balancing is done for multi-player.

 

[Treblaine]

Anyway, now I've read it this just shows that yahtzee doesn't LIKE playing multiplayer...

An opinion, something he is paid to express.

I just wish he'd express his opinion on the 2/3rds of the game that he did more than ignore, he acted like everyone else ignored it.

 

[jmesch04]

Only a few points. Firstly, well done article.

I don't understand all the people who want him to review multi-player. Has it changed in any way from CoD4? My brother and I have played all the games since CoD4 and he really enjoys them never touched single-player but they only reason we update is because everyone else does. They just re-skin it.

Third, Big Ben is a game critic, what would he be able to say about multiplayer? I hate people and this part of the game has finally been perfected after 5 iterations of the same game? Oh but I still hat multiplayer. Nothing anything he said would have no value.

Singleplayer is the realm where the game flourishes, it's the part of the game where the creator can make the game interact with you as they designed. CoD doesn't do that as a series anymore. They were innovate in CoD4 MWn and yatzee seemed intrigued by that game, but they haven't changed yet. Do you find Donald Trump to be classy? That's where CoD has landed.

 

[Waffle_Man]

Anyway, now I've read it this just shows that yahtzee doesn't LIKE playing multiplayer...

An opinion, something he is paid to express.

I just wish he'd express his opinion on the 2/3rds of the game that he did more than ignore, he acted like everyone else ignored it.

Would you be any happier if he had simply played zombies and said that it was boring? It wouldn't make his videos any funnier, nor would it make his columns any more thoughtful. Hell, it would become annoying by the third review. Going by what he has said, the reason he plays primarily single player games isn't because he thinks that there is anything wrong with competitive multiplayer, but because it simply doesn't interest him. I can give detailed critiques of all sorts of art, but I'd stare at someone blankly if I was asked about my opinion on fashion trends. It isn't because I think that the idea of fashion is worthless, but because I don't care about it enough to form an arguable opinion.

Yatzee can talk about single player and come up with criticisms because the single player is something he has a vested interest in. It would be interesting to see Yatzee play multiplayer and try to figure out why people like it (which he has done to some extent, but that really isn't his style and I don't think forcing him to do so would make him better at what people watch him for.

 

[The Funslinger]

I think this whole article is really his way of hinting at what clothing related item he wants for Christmas.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Well it's a war game, they have to fight someone. Just randomly selecting a country chances are they won't be fighting other Americans. Is it really fair to say an American game can only be about fighting Americans?

MW2 you spent the last act fighting and killing Americans where the main villain was a US general.

What more do you want? It's rather selective to look at "ooh, they just showing Russians as the bad guy" while ignoring how the main bad guy is an Actively Serving US Army General. MW series took the time to make clear that not all Russians were bad with Nicoli and again with Yuri and saving the Russian President as of paramount importance. Black Ops again had a Russian hero protagonist in Viktor Reznov and a heroic uprising by Russian political prisoners against their captors as well as re-living the life of a Russian soldier fighting the Nazis and show how he was betrayed by the SYSTEM not that "all Russians are bad".

COD single-player campaigns are poorly written and poorly placed but they aren't racist or xenophobic.

If they were, then why would they have all these elements that a xenophobe would be instantly turned off by.

The crime of COD is bad gameplay design and hackneyed storytelling.

While true in some cases, it doesnt hurt to try something new every once in a while, and COD did need something new. Thankfully, Blops 2 did try something new, in both MP and SP. Im loving it. I do hope that, since its already a fact MW4 is coming out, that they do the same in its campiagn (with multiple endings and branching paths) as Blops 2 did.

Modern Warfare? Trying something new?
Are we talking about the same Modern Warfare games? Because the MW games I know REFUSE to change. I think, TotalBiscuit described it best. "Infinity Wards have stuck to the rail so frigging hard you would think the rail was magnetised. And glued. And then glued again."
So, expect the biggest change to be a new name for the Nuke.

You both hit the nail on the head with what's wrong with CoD & the other spunkgargleweewee games. The lack of change to the core of CoD's SP mode has caused it to stagnate and take wildly insane directions and not care about narrative logic or allow the player to do much to drive the story, often snatching control away for a set-piece cutscene. A waste of resources is what it is! OK, that's the end of my old man rant.

...AKA 'I haven't played Black Ops 2 and am just complaining 'cause it's cool'. Which is basically what Yahtzee did, considering that he didn't mention the fact that the game does allow the player to change the conflict, among other things which are minor but nice touches regardless (Such as flying too close to burning wreckage in one level will cause Harper's face to be scarred for the rest of the game) and only passed over the Strike Force missions in passing. Which you can fail, and failing them will change the narrative.

 

[TAdamson]

Wait- he doesn't vote? In Australia? Isn't it mandatory?

Only if you're a citizen. Permanent residents don't.

 

[N-Vee]

Wasn't there a whole jimquisition episode dedicated to reiterating the self-evident fact that games are NOT film, and if you try to treat games like film then they will ALWAYS be inferior to film.

True of the moment (for the most part), but 'always'? Not necessarily. Telling a compelling story is not media dependent and can be done in a multitude of forms. What changes is the author's skill at using the medium to support the narrative, instead of fighting with their chosen medium. If it's a struggle, perhaps it's just the wrong way to tell that particular story.

 

[BarbaricGoose]

Yahtzee reviewing CoD is comical. Not because he's funny anymore, but because his reactions are so played out. You know, Yahtz (is it okay if I call you "Yahtz"?) you are a shitty critic if you refuse to play more than half the game. I'm sorry, but that's just the truth. You could be forgiven if the game was some 100 hour long JRPG and you hated everything about it from minute 1, but this ain't that. I get why you didn't finish the latest Final Fantasy--neither did I. But it's not exactly difficult to load up zombies or mutliplayer and play a few matches. It would've taken you all of 1 hour to do both of those things, and you didn't.

I didn't expect Yahtzee to like BOII, nor do I care that I couldn't have been more right, but it does bother me that with each video he seems to be getting progressively more lazy. And significantly less funny, I might add. Some of his reviews are pretty interchangeable. You could swap the audio on two of his videos and you probably wouldn't notice a difference unless he mentions the name of the game.

Oh well. No skin off my back.

 

[xptn40S]

I suppose that makes me the worst person in the world. Or maybe it was a relatable mistake.

A relatable mistake? For someone who's apparently been here for over four years with 8000+ posts, do you really expect me, or heck, anyone, to believe that?

Unless you've never read a column on the Escapist up to this point, this would without a doubt be willful ignorance.

But there were no buttons to click to read MY POST. Did you just get to the first sentence of mine, find an inconsistency and think "AH HA! I now can formulate a gotcha response and be snide about it rather than have a respectful discussion"? Well?

No, I saw your question "Why are critics of COD so afraid of considering COD's multiplayer?" and felt like giving you a link to one of his other columns that more or less explained his view on multiplayer in what I would consider a moderately friendly fashion.

I'd like to know WHY you have ignored all I've said since then, particularly this part that is very pertinent:

And even if was so adamant about not reviewing multiplayer games, then that is grounds for him NOT REVIEWING BLACK OPS 2 AT ALL! As he should recognise that's what Black Ops 2 mainly is.

So it all comes down to you wanting him to acknowledge the fact that the multiplayer is the biggest part of the CoD-series?
Y'know, I'm pretty sure he isn't completely oblivious to that fact just because he doesn't mention it, but seeing as there is a singleplayer-campaign in there, then like it or not, that's (usually) the one thing that he's going to review.
You wouldn't honestly believe that he judges the game's multiplayer by the game's singleplayer, would you?

Anyway, now I've read it this just shows that yahtzee doesn't LIKE playing multiplayer...

No no, it's competitive multiplayer that he doesn't like, he didn't outright say that he didn't like any multiplayer at all.

well I'm sorry that a small part of his job may involve doing something he doesn't like, but it's not like he has the worst job in the world.

So you're suggesting that he should be forced to review the multiplayer?

That is still not any sort of excuse for his poor journalism...

According to who?

...of reviewing Black Ops 2 as if it only consisted of the single-player campaign and drawing conclusions of the industry and playerbase from the success of the game on that assertion it was mainly singleplayer.

Again, you're jumping to the conclusion that he really is completely oblivious of the multiplayer.

And Zombies as well. He skipped that as well even though it's such a major feature it can be a default launch option.

...except that he sort of already did in his review of the original Black Ops.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/2486-Call-of-Duty-Black-Ops

And y'know what? He said that he found it fun back then, and seeing how he's said in the past that anything he doesn't mention is usually fine, so you can probably take that for what it's worth.

He says he doesn't want to be political, no I think he want to be political, he just doesn't want to deal with the consequences of being political. Kind of like wanting to eat a cake yet still have the cake after he's eaten it... so to speak.

Care to give an example of what might give away this "hidden will to be political"?


I'll need some sleep now.

 

[Xdeser2]

*Rolls Eyes*

The Priviliged whites?

You realize many First world and developed countires are more than white, Right?

But hey, Im American so what I say dosent matter right? I must be the source of all the worlds problems even though im still in high school...

OP: Damn, I liked Yahtzee more when he was a game critic, not using a strawman argument to accuse people of racism just because they played a game...

 

[Treblaine]

and the military tech porn isn't helping.

As a former/recovering military tech addict... no... COD is not military tech porn.

That's like calling Armageddon a film made for NASA fanboys, no, it's got space rockets in it but it's about spaceflight, but it anyone who knows anything about spaceflight cringes watching a film like Armageddon.

COD has a John Woo approach to guns, taking the superficial but utterly screwing with the stats and even chronological existence just to impress frat boys. A G11 assault rife in 1968?!?!? It wasn't even out of prototype in 1991!!! FAMAS and AUG? Not till 1980's.

Things like the heartbeat sensor of MW2 are just a slap in the face, it's just a pop culture rip-off from Aliens and anyone who follows military tech knows that's 100% fantasy, but to some frat guys it seems plausible enough... if they know nothing about military tech.

I mean it's about as profound to have something like a heartbeat sensor as having heat-seeking bullets that can bend around corners.

 

[Treblaine]

Anyway, now I've read it this just shows that yahtzee doesn't LIKE playing multiplayer...

An opinion, something he is paid to express.

I just wish he'd express his opinion on the 2/3rds of the game that he did more than ignore, he acted like everyone else ignored it.

Would you be any happier if he had simply played zombies and said that it was boring? It wouldn't make his videos any funnier, nor would it make his columns any more thoughtful. Hell, it would become annoying by the third review. Going by what he has said, the reason he plays primarily single player games isn't because he thinks that there is anything wrong with competitive multiplayer, but because it simply doesn't interest him. I can give detailed critiques of all sorts of art, but I'd stare at someone blankly if I was asked about my opinion on fashion trends. It isn't because I think that the idea of fashion is worthless, but because I don't care about it enough to form an arguable opinion.

Yatzee can talk about single player and come up with criticisms because the single player is something he has a vested interest in. It would be interesting to see Yatzee play multiplayer and try to figure out why people like it (which he has done to some extent, but that really isn't his style and I don't think forcing him to do so would make him better at what people watch him for.

He obviously has not, not to any extent.

He also did not touch on Zombies Segment, not to any extent.

You asked me a question and I answered it. Quoting what you've already said again back at me does not address my response, it's a dismissal of the allegations he makes in this review.

I can't fault his assessment of Black Ops 2's singleplayer, he thinks it's racist, that's insane but so what, it was somewhat whimsical in a painfully forced way. My problem is with him acting like this hackneyed single-player was the game's selling point and this was all that Black Ops 2 was when no COD game has even marginally stood on the merits of its single-player since 2007. He went from a "lol, unexpected racism" perspective that he used with his review of Uncharted, to "People who buy any COD game are bad people, because of its singleplayer".

I'm not forcing him to do anything. I am asking and expecting and saying he should not misrepresent the game and the people that buy it.

PS: How can he do critical reviews of games yet not be a games journalist? That is the industry definition of a games journalist.

 

[Treblaine]

I suppose that makes me the worst person in the world. Or maybe it was a relatable mistake.

A relatable mistake? For someone who's apparently been here for over four years with 8000+ posts, do you really expect me, or heck, anyone, to believe that?

Unless you've never read a column on the Escapist up to this point, this would without a doubt be willful ignorance.

Sight layout has changed in the past month, where I've not been using this site much.

It's precisely because of me being used to after 4 year the layout being a certain way that I would make such a mistake.

 

[kenu12345]

Dayum the COD fanboys are out in force today but anyway good article good points

 

[xptn40S]

I suppose that makes me the worst person in the world. Or maybe it was a relatable mistake.

A relatable mistake? For someone who's apparently been here for over four years with 8000+ posts, do you really expect me, or heck, anyone, to believe that?

Unless you've never read a column on the Escapist up to this point, this would without a doubt be willful ignorance.

Sight layout has changed in the past month, where I've not been using this site much.

It's precisely because of me being used to after 4 year the layout being a certain way that I would make such a mistake.

Yeah no, I'm not buying it, the "Next page" button is still down in the lower right corner of the columns.

But hey, I won't brood over this any longer.

(...okay, now I'll go to bed.)

 

[Treblaine]

So it all comes down to you wanting him to acknowledge the fact that the multiplayer is the biggest part of the CoD-series?
Y'know, I'm pretty sure he isn't completely oblivious to that fact just because he doesn't mention it, but seeing as there is a singleplayer-campaign in there, then like it or not, that's (usually) the one thing that he's going to review.
You wouldn't honestly believe that he judges the game's multiplayer by the game's singleplayer, would you?

I never said he was oblivious, I said he ignored it. Oblivious would be he couldn't find the multiplayer or zombies mode tough looking for it.

He DID ignore it from his review and his followup.

I don't think he judged the multiplayer at all, I think he completley ignored it and didn't factor the multiplayer at all in weighing the success of the game, concluding the content of the singleplayer was principal in the target audience's mind.

So you're suggesting that he should be forced to review the multiplayer?

No. I'm just saying he should.

...of reviewing Black Ops 2 as if it only consisted of the single-player campaign and drawing conclusions of the industry and playerbase from the success of the game on that assertion it was mainly singleplayer.

Again, you're jumping to the conclusion that he really is completely oblivious of the multiplayer.

No jumping to any conclusion. He REALLY DID not mention the multiplayer at all yet talked of the game's success in the context of the singleplayer as if that was the reason for it's success and that there was something perverse about the industry for buying a game for such a singleplayer.

That's misrepresentative.

Zombies Segment is different, he could give SOME mention of it, whether it is the same, better or worse or whether it's bad that it is the way it is. But he didn't say anything but to continue his political rant about singleplayer. It's all the more objectionable that he had the time for Zombies in his Black Ops review but not for Black Ops 2 where it was an even more significant role. He could have said something about its significance or its worth, but it was pushed aside in a rant about Black Ops 2 in the political context rather than how it stood on its own.

He says he doesn't want to be political, no I think he want to be political, he just doesn't want to deal with the consequences of being political. Kind of like wanting to eat a cake yet still have the cake after he's eaten it... so to speak.

Care to give an example of what might give away this "hidden will to be political"?

The bit where he rants about politics then backtracks from the backlash. It's not any hidden will, it's obvious, he just isn't being entirely honest when he says he doesn't want to be political. I mean instead of editing his text, he goes "oops, mustn't say that" as if he was live on the radio.

 

[Colt47]

I feel like Yahtzee deserves a commendation for just sitting through all these CoD games. My interest in the CoD Modern Warfare series died at entry number 2 and nothing I've seen in the recent years has managed to renew my interest. I'm kind of wondering who these 10 million people are that bought this game and if these people are just buying CoD because they need to get their moneys worth out of their XBox 360.

... you know, I just realized I still have an Xbox live subscription going and I haven't touched my white brick in two years. Crap, that beer goggled squirrel was right! It's nothing without Halo and Call of Duty! ~ ~

 

[BarbaricGoose]

I think he mentioned that internet assholes put him off, and I don't think that he ever pretended to be a real reviewer. The funniness factor has dwindled a bit, possibly because the recent games that have been coming out were not poorly crafted or anything, they were just boring or used an ancient formula. I know, I know, good comedian, phonebook, whatever.

I'm sorry if Yahtzee is getting his feelings hurt. I genuinely am. But I stand by what I said. He is very much a critic. Pretty much all definitions of the word fit what he does to the T, but I found this one to be particularly well suited: a person who tends too readily to make captious, trivial, or harsh judgments; faultfinder. If he wasn't a professional critic, I probably wouldn't give a shit if he only played 30-40% of each game before he lambasted it, but since he IS a professional, it very much bothers me. If his humor was still more than just sex pun after sex pun, I could forgive him for being lazy in that department, but... fuck. Anyone can make a sex joke, but very few can make good ones. They're traps!

Maybe his humor was ALWAYS 90% sex jokes, and I just got tired of it somewhere down the line. Maybe it's me. Anyway, thank GOD for Jim Sterling, or I'd have zero reason to visit this site.