Call of Duty: Black Ops is back, and how. Experimentation is the way to go, but the campaign takes some wild turns. The internet has relentlessly criticized moments like the Harper “Skibidi Toilet” boss, and reading the reactions is the most fun I’ve had with the campaign.
If you still haven’t, please feast your eyes on whatever this is:
In the story’s defense, the characters aren’t really fighting a guy overdosing on Mario’s shrooms. Still, Harper’s battle is a bizarre moment that feels and plays in an egregiously goofy manner. As redditor TheBrainrotteDrone complained, “Why the f*ck did they make the Black Ops 7 boss look like a Skibidi Toilet character? Are they stupid?” That’s exactly how an 8-year-old would put it, likely because that’s Skibidi Toilet’s main demographic, but it’s true.
On top of all the immersion-breaking goofiness, the fight just isn’t fun, so the Internet had to make it fun. Twitter user Suarez posted the image below, simply commenting, “Same vibe”.
And thus began an avalanche of visual comparisons that you just won’t be able to unsee when facing Harper.
There were also more serious complaints, like Twitter’s Neon Daybreak, who pointed out that “So the devs f*cking lied. ‘Black Ops 7 needs to feel authentic to Call of Duty‘ my ass. We got giant Harper and hallucinations.” A really fair assessment, considering how the Black Ops series should focus on the rawest and darkest aspects of warfare.
In Activision’s defense, ResetEra user SatMgMg said, “Reviewers and audience keeps pointing to games like Wolfenstein and Doom and kept saying “Why can’t COD campaigns be like that” when COD has their own identity of a huge Hollywood set pieces and one time gimmick flavor that really isn’t seen in any other FPSs at all. So they just put their hands up and made the campaigns a Warzone tutorial with like 2-3 setpieces within the whole game now.”
And that is absolutely a valid point, and a reason why developers should be allowed to bring their vision to life, uncompromised by the pressures put upon them by executives who claim they know what fans want.
Should Call of Duty have boss fights?
The Call of Duty series has never been about boss fights. It opted instead for a more realistic depiction of WWII warfare in its early titles, then for more dramatic and climactic confrontations ever since Modern Warfare.
Call of Duty can have bosses, but to warrant a reaction other than a fit of laughter, they probably should devise a type of boss that would suit the series. Either way, it absolutely doesn’t need them. Twitter user Mogumogu just commented, “I miss the old Call of Duty,” with a video of the epic conclusion to World at War.
And now we wait to see how Activision’s bosses will skibidi their way out of this one.
