Killzone 2 > MW2

[Squilliam]

makingmusic476 said:

Call of Duty was still selling quite well prior to the release of 4.  Both Call of Duty and Call of Duty 2 were lighting up the charts on pc, with the latter finding great success on 360 as well.  Call of Duty 3 held the series back for a bit because it was a lesser game (Treyarch), which helped prevent the franchise from moving to the next level of success on the 360 and by then released ps3.  Call of Duty 4 exploded in sales for two primary reasons compared to Call of Duty 1/2 - it enjoyed a new, modern setting that resonates quite well with gamers, and it was released right when the 360 and ps3 were hitting their stride (late 2007, when both recieved their first price cut).  This combined with the quality of the title lead to incredible sales, establishing a brand that is above even Halo and Gran Turismo.

If anything, this shows that brand name heavily effects sales, because World at War, another Treyarch game (one with a low 80s average), managed to heavily outsell Call of Duty 1/2 despite returning to the World War II setting, and it sits firmly in place as the third best selling shooter this generation, behind only Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2. 

There has to be something in the game to turn a 1-2M selling series into a 7M LTD monster on the Xbox 360 and to turn around a nothing release on the PS3 into a 4M+ seller. To release after the best selling single platform shooter and still perform admirably is a pretty mean feat. My point that the game only took off once it was in players hands speaks for itself really. It wasn't about hype or advertising it was purely something in the game itself which let the series shoot into the stratosphere of sales. I don't think its a coincidence that the best selling first shooter titles have all got local play, have all got steady framerates and have all got low latency game engines, so am I wrong to say that Killzone 2 is flawed for lacking these features? Even the Treyarch World at War shares a lot of the same technical merit of the Infinity Ward Call of Duty 4. Theres something in Call of Duty 4 which is repeated in Call of Duty 5 and especially 6 which resonates with gamers.

You can easily argue about the name for titles after Call of Duty 4 but it like Halo 1 and Half-Life and Gears of War and Mario had to make their name from somewhere and they had to maintain their name as many other series have faltered after multiple iterations. Because the sales have maintained then it has still got it, and its not about being in the right place at the right time as many of these titles released very early into the generation for their respective systems.