By Nathan Grayson on February 2nd, 2013 at 10:00 am.
Call of Duty: Black Ops. CODBLOPS. BLOPS. COD. Cod. Heh, that’s a fish.
This is the exact process every human brain goes through upon trying to create an acronym for Activision’s record-obliterating mega-blockbuster, so it’s only natural that someone would eventually convert that lush, meaningful imagery back into a game. Thus, I bring you Cod of Duty. The basic premise? Evil fish terrorists are planning… something. It involves guns. And barrels. And being in barrels. Yes, this is a game in which you literally shoot fish in a barrel. The commentary, it is palpable. CODPALPS. Or something. I don’t know. Join me for some crunchy, lightly fish-flavored discussion after the break.
Cod of Duty is only about 15 minutes long, and – as its creator points out – that’s just about the perfect length for what’s essentially one long punch line. It’s not super “fun” in the traditional videogame sense, either, but it’s quite entertaining for its short duration. Basically, you shoot fish. Upon being so much as gently, gingerly grazed by a bullet, they erupt into a scalemist of blood and high-powered assault weaponry. Then you laugh, collect your pinata-esque prizes, and repeat the process.
Eventually, non-barreled, gun-toting fish join the fray, but more for absurdism’s sake than challenge. And then there’s the final battle, which is just majestic. I’m not going to spoil that for you, though. I mean, it’s only 15 minutes long. Go see for yourself. I’ll wait.
Silly, right? But so is Call of Duty, frankly, and this parody’s pretty apt – if not exactly subtle. Cod of Duty’s not masterpiece, but it’s good for a laugh. And when a series quite abjectly refuses to laugh at itself, this kind of thing’s much appreciated.
02/02/2013 at 10:05 philbot says:
The graphics look a bit scaley to me. I might throw it a line if I can find some spare time though.
02/02/2013 at 10:06 mrmalodor says:
I wonder how long it would take to FINish this game.
02/02/2013 at 10:16 NachoPiggy says:
Yeah, I can’t CATCH a break anymore in these busy times to play some FRESH new games.
02/02/2013 at 10:32 Low Life says:
The game really had me hooked from the very first seconds. I suspect this will be floating around for quite a while.
02/02/2013 at 10:46 brulleks says:
I bet it didn’t take long to find the right angle for this story.
02/02/2013 at 10:56 randomgamer342 says:
The AI is pretty fishy, though.
02/02/2013 at 11:00 Morlock says:
I found the level of violence to be quite sharking.
02/02/2013 at 11:04 trinka00 says:
i ain’t takin the bait for this one. i’ve been gutted once too many times by this website.
02/02/2013 at 11:05 trout says:
at least this game doesn’t have constant respawning
02/02/2013 at 11:21 SuperNashwanPower says:
…If you’ll pardon the ex-poisson
02/02/2013 at 11:24 mrmalodor says:
Eggzactly.
02/02/2013 at 11:11 trinka00 says:
i dunno, maybe it seems like i’m always just swimming against the tide, but holy mackerel, don’t u think this has gone too far…?
02/02/2013 at 11:23 mrmalodor says:
If they could sell this game on Steam, they would be roeling in dough.
02/02/2013 at 11:36 JademusSreg says:
Ide wonder what sucker codlet those crappie fish get the betta of them. It’s so easy to killifish, especially when they’re just perched there floating like scat, even a morwong like me can do it, and I misfire all over the plaice.
02/02/2013 at 11:37 Text_Fish says:
It’s a reel barrel of laughs. I codn’t believe it. The soundtrack could have used some more memorable tunas though. Fish.
02/02/2013 at 12:28 onegear says:
I’ve been herring about this one all over the plaice, looks like a whale of a time! Guess I’ll just have to stop being so koi about it, skate on over and have a look.
02/02/2013 at 20:23 pigchicken says:
winner
02/02/2013 at 12:52 Syra says:
Cod always looked a bit carp to me
02/02/2013 at 17:21 One Pigeon says:
I’ve just about haddock with these pun threads.
02/02/2013 at 21:57 The Random One says:
Yeah, I fish puns are pretty much the bottom of the barrel.
04/02/2013 at 05:13 Bob says:
Yeah, the pun threads have me full to the Bream too.
05/02/2013 at 16:05 solidsquid says:
Salmon,some of them are pretty good
02/02/2013 at 10:05 NailBombed says:
CODFACE *slip slap slip slap slip slap slip slap*
02/02/2013 at 12:13 LennyLeonardo says:
Put that away.
02/02/2013 at 10:05 SuperNashwanPower says:
Ahhh the Grayson, back on fine Graysonian form.
Also what happened to that chap who wrote the Ural Steel Tankfest diaries? He made my saturday mornings a white-painted-tree smorgasbord of chuckles / coveting a russian hat (called a ushanka, you know)
02/02/2013 at 10:06 DrAmateurScience says:
Well, it’s better than a slap in the face with a wet fish.
02/02/2013 at 16:24 Rikard Peterson says:
Talking about fish and slapping, reminds me of this game: Slap That Fish!
02/02/2013 at 10:09 Risingson says:
Somehow I can’t help to remember Monty Python and “fishy,,,fishy….fishy…fish!”
02/02/2013 at 10:27 SuperNashwanPower says:
This has clearly backfired, because now I actually want to play call of duty. I never want to play call of duty.
02/02/2013 at 12:30 Xzi says:
You’d be disappointed. This game is better.
02/02/2013 at 10:35 RedViv says:
I want Cod of War, in which I brutally rip apart smaller fish.
02/02/2013 at 10:42 TechnicalBen says:
Been done before… http://youtu.be/Pd-MpXCMcIs
02/02/2013 at 11:29 SooSiaal says:
That is one realistic looking game!
02/02/2013 at 10:49 MichaelPalin says:
Yep!, definitely the medium has been democratized, anyone can create a game now.
02/02/2013 at 12:16 Jackablade says:
Lousy democrats.
02/02/2013 at 10:50 Phantoon says:
It’s not CODBLOPS.
It’s CODBO, clearly.
02/02/2013 at 11:00 Low Life says:
And a person who plays the game is naturally a CODBRO.
02/02/2013 at 13:55 kyrieee says:
Day one perch
02/02/2013 at 17:23 SuperNashwanPower says:
Ace!
See what I did there? :)
02/02/2013 at 18:59 Phantoon says:
You win this one.
02/02/2013 at 15:07 DrScuttles says:
I felt like a hero today. Dirty damn fish trying to take away our freedom.
On a serious note, it does annoy me when I can’t find a way to swap the vertical axis on the mouse in games like this.
02/02/2013 at 17:57 rje says:
Hey, game developer here — I’ve seen some requests for inverting the y-axis, so I’ve added an option to the pause menu.
Any time during regular play press the esc key to bring up the menu, and then there should be an option to toggle.
Thanks everyone for playing, absolutely blown away by the positive response.
02/02/2013 at 19:00 Phantoon says:
Pun intended, I hope.
This is RPS, after all.
02/02/2013 at 19:49 rje says:
bullseye :)
02/02/2013 at 21:33 SuperNashwanPower says:
The fish are really cute. Love them.
Ohhh make FISH PLUSHIES
Cuddly Cod
Huggable Haddock
Snuggable squid
YOU WILL MAKE MIRRION OF DORRAR
02/02/2013 at 19:18 jorygriffis says:
Great stuff. I love that the player character inevitably dies a scripted death at the end of each mission.
02/02/2013 at 19:31 Dervish says:
Still not an un-game.
02/02/2013 at 19:57 ZephaniahGrey says:
Their tails are going the wrong way. Fish tails are vertical. Sorry, it’s bugging me.
02/02/2013 at 21:23 Yoshis95 says:
when i looked at this i instantly thought “Myst!” lol
03/02/2013 at 07:05 RakeShark says:
WARFISH?
03/02/2013 at 13:03 Roxton says:
Nice touches throughout:
Because there is no player body, as such, the shadows show you only as a floating, disembodied gun.
Scripted deaths at the end of each mission.
The invisible walls on the last level.
03/02/2013 at 13:09 Ciber says:
I couldn’t see the wood barrels for all the trees!
04/02/2013 at 01:11 furikaju says:
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03/02/2013 at 04:50 jorygriffis says:
whoa Nathan it knows your name