The modern warfare thing was great to begin with, Call of Duty 4 was a masterpiece combining an epic story with the fantastic playability that had made the franchise renowned for its time.
But developers Activision, Infinity Ward and their associates kind of fell into a trench from there onwards, just using the same mechanics and template until we ended up with the simply horrific Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.
I mean come on, INFINITE warfare?! Which marketing genius thought that was a good idea?!
Somehow Call of Duty has managed to tap into some kind of elixir of gaming life that is usually reserved for Mario, FIFA and that damn blue hedgehog, who all manage to enjoy ridiculous sales figures even when they are having a bad day at the office.
It’s a tired old dinosaur living on past glories, sitting on the shelves of players like myself who remember storming the Normandy beaches in Call of Duty 2.
Add on top of these waning fortunes the fact that DICE’s Battlefield franchise managed to make the trench warfare of World War One something that was not only engaging, but somehow still poignant and thoughtful.
Ironically, Call of Duty was once the young upstart that effectively killed off the Medal of Honour franchise, and now it faces a young pretender of its very own.
So how does Activsion plan to invade Fortress DICE? By mimicking their great rival’s bold step into the past and taking their title back to its roots.
Call of Duty: WWII is primarily going to follow two soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division of the US Army during the latter stages of the Second World War (hence the title) as the Allies fight through Northern France, Belgium and over the Rhine into Germany.
It’s classic Call of Duty territory. They even released a Big Red One console exclusive spin-off back in 2005! Be warned Activision, we will know if you’re just remaking that game.
Gameplay-wise, WWII is the first title since the original Call of Duty to not feature health regeneration in the campaign. Instead, players must rely on their medic squad-mates to provide health packs, as well as other squad members to provide ammunition. In addition to the lack of resources in the campaign, all players are in “Hardcore Mode” automatically, eliminating the campaign’s difficulty settings.
That’s right, you’re fighting this thing on hard mode whether you like it or not!
AND we are getting a co-op mode that’s going to be separate from the main story and “Zombies” is back for like the 800th time. (They just won’t stay dead apparently…)
If Sledgehammer Games, the developer chosen to re-animate this corpse, can get rid of the scripted, pre-programmed action pieces and the ridiculous AI mechanics that make Call of Duty titles look so old, and yet paradoxically bring back the sense of epic, front line combat that made the first games so great, this could take the fight back to Battlefield and any other pretenders to the crown. Or it’s just going to be another chapter in the downfall of a giant. We shall see.
Call of Duty: WWII is set to be released worldwide on November 3.
