Everyone Was Thinking It: Cod Of Duty

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.