Call of Duty has quickly become one of the industry’s premier gaming franchises. Any time a new installment of the beloved franchise is released, it is almost a guarantee that sales records will be broken and millions of gamers across the globe will be fragging away for hours on end. This year will be no different.
Since the moment it was announced, the gaming community has been buzzing about this year’s Call of Duty title, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,” talking about how the game will take the modern warfare experience to the next level.
“Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” introduced an all-new storyline focused around global conflict and brought the experience to the present day. In the wildly successful sequel, appropriately named “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” gamers were able to experience a war on American soil for the first time since the Civil War. In the series third title, the conflict will continue to grow and truly become global, as the game’s story will take you to locales all over the world including New York, London, Paris and Berlin.
I had a chance to observe two levels from the hotly-anticipated “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,” and there is no reason to think this shooter will be any less captivating or epic than it’s predecessors.
On hand for the demo was Sledgehammer Games’ founder Glen Schofield who stressed to me that the game’s developers wanted to recreate environments that people who play the game can easily recognize in both the world of Call of Duty and reality. This level of detail was pretty evident as I watched the game in action and saw the New York level in action.
The level began with the player navigating through a flooded Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, which Schofield said needed to be in the game to create a real “New York” feel. From the tiles and signage inside the tunnel to the deserted yellow taxis, it doesn’t take long to know you are fighting a war in the Big Apple. As the level progresses, the player will navigate through underwater minefields, take down a Russian sub and eradicate the enemies inside of it, all in typical “Modern Warfare” fashion.
The second level I saw, and this truly emphasized the global stage that the game is set in, was in London. As Robert Bowling, a Creative Strategist at Infinity Ward, explained during the demo, while the war is being fought on many different fronts, there are major differences in terms of the types of conflict in each different locale. Rather than have your cookie-cutter levels where you blow away anything in your path, “Modern Warfare 3” will put you in radically different scenarios depending on where you are fighting. While the gunplay may be more loose in New York, while fighting in London, the player will need to be aware of their surroundings and play more delicately as the rules of engagement are different.
Without spoiling too much, the London level, “Mind the Gap” was a lot more controlled and was quieter than it’s NY counterpart. The start of the mission has a spy plane give the player a quick layout of the map, and seeing as this is a stealth mission, it is best for the player to take note of their findings. As the level progresses, so does the action. Before long, enemies begin to flood the docks and the player takes control of an attack chopper to even up the score. The mission’s climactic moment comes when the fight heads to the subway system, and you chase down a speeding train filled with enemies. It seems as if the single-player campaign will be filled with these high intensity moments.
As far as multiplayer goes, I was able to snag some hands-on time with the game’s Survival Spec Ops mode. While the single-player and matchmaking are the two campaigns most closely associated with the Call of Duty franchise, Spec Ops will play a much bigger role in “Modern Warfare 3.”
Schofield said that while Spec Ops was present in previous titles, it didn’t play as big of a role as it will this time around. He likened the game to a “stool with three equal, sturdy legs, each one representing single-player, multiplayer and Spec Ops.”
I played alongside Bowling in Survival Spec Ops. The most basic way to explain how it works would be to liken it to Gears of Wars’ Horde mode. At it most basic, Survival Spec Ops will throw waves upon waves (there is no limit to them) of enemies your way and as you progress so does the game’s difficulty.
Gamers will start off with only their pistol and as they work their way through the never-ending waves, will be able to earn cash to buy different weapons, upgrades and perks. In between waves, there is a 30-second period where you and your partner can purchase the aforementioned weapons and upgrades and prepare for the upcoming onslaught.
In the level I played on, titled “Dome,” my partner and I were able to come up with a sound strategy and utilize gun turrets, riot squads and predator missiles help mow down the enemy AI. As we worked through 11 waves of enemies, we encountered “Kamikazes” (enemies and dogs with bombs strapped to themselves), helicopters and even the dreaded Juggernauts. All-in-all Survival Spec Ops looks to be an entertaining mode whether playing solo or with a teammate.
I’m sure there are still plenty of surprises to come before the November release of “Modern Warfare 3,” but as of right now it has to be on the short list for any gamer and a frontrunner for Game of the Year.
