Playing Call of Duty when you are in mid fifties

I have been playing Call of Duty for the last 2 years and I am already passed my mid fifties. Most folks of similar age would think this is crazy as games like Call of Duty is more for the younger folks, who are pretty quick with their fingers and hands, and have loads of time to spare camping in front of the console or the gaming PC.

In this article, I like to share why playing the game is good for me, how I started playing, where am I in the game now, and recommendations for those who like to start playing the game. If you are planning for your retirement in the not so distant future, I think you should consider learning to play computer games. Pick a game that you really like, pick up the foundation skills and then you can have a regular activity to spend your valuable retirement time.

I started playing Call of Duty (COD) during the Covid years. I bought Call of Duty Cold War (running on a PS4 Pro) and I planned to play with both my sons, so that we could have some fun together during the Covid times and also have some father-son bonding time. We often sat together on the sofa and one of us plays the game while the other two just watch the screen. It was a period of great fun although it did not last very long (but more than six months), as my sons went on to focus on other games. But I kept going at it as I discovered playing the game actually helped me in several ways.

The first is night vision. In COD Cold War, I often play the Zombies game mode, and the location (map) is sometimes very dark (eg. Sanatorium). To shoot zombies in the dark, I need to see their glowing eyes, and after shooting thousands of zombies, my eyes have become very good at spotting any light in the dark. This improvement can be observed when I’m driving at night, where I can see street lights and car headlights much better now.

A scene from Sanatorium is shown below:

(the camera brighten up the above image quite a fair bit)

Next is hand eye co-ordination. Playing with the console game controller requires you to use both hands and two key fingers (thumb and index fingers). You also need to sequence the finger movement correctly and this need to be co-ordinated with what you see on the screen. For example, your left thumb adjust your viewing angle (up, down, left right) and your right thumb adjust your movement direction (forward, backward, leftwards and rightwards). And your left index finger press and hold the L1 button to set your weapon to aim while your right index finger press the R1 button to shoot. AS we age, our fingers tend to get stiffer and our brain tends to get “slower”. So, with frequent shooting in COD, I am sure we can upkeep our fingers and hand co-ordination with vision.

Playing game also helps with your cardio health. Some may think this causes unnecessary stress, but I think as we age, our physical ability deteriorates and to push our cardio rate to a moderate level without excessive stress on our fragile physical joints, gaming is one safe way. In COD, depending on the game mode chosen, you can play with little or no stress. Of course, there will be moments of excitement and high stress, which will increase your cardio rate as you fight many adversaries, but this would not last many minutes. And most of the time, you could be exploring various areas of the map or just camping to ambush on somebody (using a sniper). But of course, excessive gaming with no physical exercises is very bad for you.

Another reason for gaming is training your mental health. Gaming requires strategy to be successful. And this means that you have to remember a lot of game details (map, weapon type, objects, entrances/exits, locations, etc.) and have a plan with a great strategy to win in your game. I am not saying you must shoot so well to be the best in the game, but to feel good about how you play to meet your objectives. Do not set impossible objectives in your game. There will be others who shoot better than you (not necessarily because they are faster, but may be just that they are at the right moment or location), score higher points than you, run faster than you, throw bombs better than you, etc.. What matters most is whether you can meet your objectives so that you can get the satisfaction you are looking for (like levelling up a weapon, getting a certain camo — aka camouflage pattern, for your weapon). The mental exercises provided by gaming will help you train your thinking and planning capability, something you are likely to have less chance to do when you retire.

Another benefit for gaming is social interactions. You can choose to play alone, with a group of known folks, or with a group of unknown folks. Some of the COD game modes allow for groups of 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12 players. And you can join the game with known folks or simply with anyone. With known folks, you can play as a team. I had a few game sessions with my son, joining a game of four, with two of us just helping each other out, while joining the rest to fight to win for the group. With unknown folks, you will get to meet all kind of players (nice and evil), and you will see both the good and bad sides of people (eg. team mate that steals your kills, don't revive you when he still can, etc.). Just like in the real world.

In the image below, I’m with two other fellow gamers, just completed the black chest challenge. We fought together to kill hundreds of zombies and 3 flying balls of fire (called an orb). I revived two of the fellow gamers when they were down during this frenzy battle where there were a lot of zombies spawning close by.

Let’s talk about where I am with the game now. I started playing COD Cold War. This is probably one of the best edition of the COD series of games, with a very large selection of maps for Multi-Player and Zombies. After playing for about nine months, I move on to the next version of the game COD Vanguard. This was a great disappointment as the Zombies game mode was weak and the game seems to focus more on the Multi-Player mode. I would strongly discourage you from purchasing the COD Vanguard game if you are keen to try COD. I played COD Vanguard for almost a year (mostly in the Zombies mode), and I recently moved on to COD Modern Warfare II. This version does not have Zombies mode, so I have switched my focus to the Multi-Player game mode. And as of now, I have levelled up almost all the weapons to the maximum (except for the launchers) after just 4–5 months of play. Normally, I would try to achieve the daily challenge (every day) and spend about an hour gaming each day. My aim in the game is to level up all my weapons and I can then tune my weapon to best fit the style I like to play. For close range fighting, I would like to use the shot gun and battle rifle. For longer range fighting, I would like to use the sniper or marksman rifles. The game comes with various seasons, and each season bring in new maps and game modes. Season 2 is expected in 15 February 2023, and I am eagerly looking forward to it.

So, you may ask what does it cost to get started with playing COD. I’ll just share what equipment I use and you would need to figure it out for yourself. I started with a PS4 Pro (that was purchased earlier but was not used frequently), but now I’m using a PS5 (with extra M.2 SSD memory) with two controllers. You would also need a screen. This can be a large screen monitor (between 27 to 32 inches) or a large TV display (from 55 inches onwards) with 120Hz 4K display support. I am using a 55 inches Samsung QLED TV, hooked up with a home theatre system. But mostly, I play with a wireless headphones (Steel-series Artis 7P+ Wireless White) connected to the PS5. And of course you’ll have to pay for the COD game. The cost of the equipment might seem to be high. But if you are planning for your retirement, I think this money is well worth your investment.

Now how should you start? COD has essentially two styles of shooting play: either you shoot a lot of targets quickly or you shoot a target before it kills you. The former is essentially the Zombies game mode, while the latter is the Multi-Player game mode. For Zombies game mode, since the targets do not kill you very quickly, it is easier for you to have more practice in shooting. While in the Multi-Player game mode, you get shot (and die) if you are not good enough. So, for beginners, it is easier to get started in the Zombies mode. You’ll need to get comfortable with the controller sticks using both your thumbs. In Zombies mode, aiming your weapon aka looking through the scope of your weapon (known as Aim Down Sight or ADS in the game) is also easier as it automatically points to the zombie closest to you in your viewing perspective. In Multi-Player mode, there is a horizontal target point (that appears as a small circle) that represents your gaze in your viewing perspective. This target point would change as you move your operator (with the controller right stick) or your viewing angle (controller left stick) and is also where you would hit with your weapon when you use hip fire (firing your weapon without ADS). Aiming is to point the weapon at that target point and not a particular target. So, aiming and shooting accurately is actually tougher in the Multi-Player mode.

Alright, I hope I have given enough information to get you started. If you have questions, feel free to comment/feedback on this article. You can meet me in the game by my profile name Kingfisher138.