Activision “excited” about Black Ops: Declassified for the Vita

By: Musa Afridi

  |   August 23rd, 2012   |  

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The publisher of the Call of Duty series is optimistic that the series’ debut on the PlayStation Vita will strengthen the franchise and allow them to connect to a new audience.

If anything, the PlayStation Vita is in desperate need of games. To be more specific, the second generation handheld console needs both first-party and third-party triple-A titles.

Sony has already done what it can to provide quality experiences on their own with titles such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss, WipEout 2048 and Resistance: Burning Skies but has struggled with third-part support apart from a handful of titles such as Mortal Kombat.

Gamescom also showed off a number of first-party Vita titles as well with Killzone: Mercenary and Tearaway both looking like titles that could change the console’s fortunes around.

At the same time third-party titles such as Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation and Activision’s very own, Black Ops: Declassified, are integral to expanding the Vita’s presence in the market.

Many developers seem hesitant developing for the console, which has not sold as well as was expected, but games such as Declassified could change all of that.

However, there may be many wondering whether the move is just a half-hearted effort at squeezing out a few extra sales. For those consumers there are two pieces of information that may help make up their mind.

The first is the trailer for the game, which was released during Gamescom recently and the second is the statement by Michael Sportouch, Activision’s European vice-president as well as the General Manager of the Santa Monica business Unit.

He said, “You can really expect us to deliver a true Call of Duty experience.” Before continuing on to hype up their first entry on Sony’s second-generation portable gaming console, “We are really excited about the opportunities that the Vita could offer us in terms of connecting with a new audience.”

The two Black Ops titles have a lot to live up to with consumers slowly growing tired of being sold the same game every year however, the World at War and Black Ops games have been known to innovate and experiment more than their Infinity Ward cousins.

The Vita version will come with “both Special Ops Story mode and Multiplayer combat tailored for the PS Vita”, at least, that is according to what Walmart had to say about the title in its promotion for the game.

It will be interesting to see how both Black Ops 2 and Black Ops Declassified do on both the sales front as well as the review front and whether or not the change in the multiplayer component of the game will renew the same vivid level of interest in the series or whether the Call of Duty franchise is heading into its decline stage.