Chris Judge seems to get the last laugh as God of War Ragnarok's free DLC is longer than the $70 MW3 campaign

God of War Ragnarok's recently released Valhalla DLC has been making headlines, not only due to its surprise reveal but also due to its quality, the quantity of content on offer, and all of this at a staggeringly low price of well, free. Despite being essentially a fully fleshed-out story DLC, Valhalla has been released to be free for all owners of the base game.

The DLC's release couldn't be timed any better, given the recent feud some Call of Duty developers had with Chris Judge (the voice of Kratos in the recent God of War games) over his snarky remark on Modern Warfare 3's campaign. Unlike Valhalla, Modern Warfare is a full-priced title that more or less feels like a DLC.

Although Call of Duty campaigns have been seeing a steep decline in quality, this year's release, i.e., Modern Warfare 3 was arguably the series' worst outing since 2013's Ghosts. While Chris Judge's remark on MW3's campaign was nothing more than an inoffensive joke, with the release of Valhalla, it seems that he ultimately got to have the last laugh.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the author's opinions.

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God of War Ragnarok's DLC is the perfect example of underselling and overdelivering, a stark contrast to most modern Call of Duty campaigns

The feud between Chris Judge and a few veteran Call of Duty developers was sparked by a small comment made by the God of War voice actor during The Game Awards 2023 event. For the most part, Chris Judge was making fun of himself for the lengthy speech that he gave during last year's TGA after winning Best Performance for God of War Ragnarok.

When Judge was once again called upon the podium to announce the winner of this year's Best Performance, he jokingly mentioned that his (TGA 2022) speech was "longer than this year's Call of Duty campaign." While the remark was made in a very lighthearted manner, some Call of Duty developers did not take it as lightly as others.

These disgruntled veteran Call of Duty developers ended up taking it to Twitter (now X), where they vented their frustration against Judge's remarks. However, in hindsight, it seems as though Chris Judge's snarky comment has some truth to it.

Despite being a free add-on for the base game, God of War Ragnarok's Valhalla DLC offers a more meatier campaign than this year's full-priced Call of Duty. While both games serve two entirely different player demographics, one cannot deny the fact that most modern Call of Duty campaigns have been seeing a massive decline in quality.

In the past, Call of Duty campaigns used to be revered by fans for the amount of depth, character, and emotions they brought to the table, apart from all the shooting and bombastic setpieces. However, following the annualization of the title, the single-player aspect of the game has deteriorated sharply.

Most modern Call of Duty campaigns feel rushed and soulless and are incredibly lacking in single-player modes. Said modes are nothing more than an obligation that Activision churns out just to give every new Call of Duty something to stand on. The single-player campaigns have stopped being the focus of Call of Duty for almost a decade now.

This fact is best exemplified by the most recent title in the series, Modern Warfare 3, which feels and plays more like a free content update than a full-priced AAA Call of Duty campaign. And to add insult to injury, God of War Ragnarok's Valhalla DLC offers more in terms of story than the entirety of Modern Warfare 3, despite the former being free.

I do enjoy Call of Duty the same way that I enjoy God of War or any other game. However, seeing Activision being hell-bent on butchering the core identity of its billion-dollar franchise makes me somewhat proud of having stuck with games from studios like Santa Monica, Insomniac, Remedy, FromSoftware, and the like.