CALL OF DUTY: WWII
PlayStation’s most ubiquitous shooter returns to history’s bloodiest war to create the definitive WW2 game. Ben Tyrer meets the development team behind Call Of Duty: WWII
COD is heading back to the Front, so we fall in to inspect the troops.
Between the PS2 and PS3, there was a never-ending stream of World War 2 first-person shooters to cover every second between 1939-1945. We battled our way through Europe in Call Of Duty 3 and Brothers In Arms. We fought through the Pacific conflict in Medal Of Honor: Rising Sun and World At War. And, after a while, they all started to blur into one. It took Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare to break that mould and usher in an era of shooters that looked increasingly further ahead in time. But, it’s been almost a decade since we stormed the beaches at Normandy and witnessed the heroism of the common soldier. The time feels right to return to where Call Of Duty began... OPM is at a behind-closed-doors gameplay reveal of Sledgehammer Games’ return to the franchise after the well-received Advanced Warfare. We’re seeing two levels from the campaign by co-founder and studio head Michael Condrey, who explains why the developer decided to go back to where Call Of Duty all started: “The more we researched, the more we spoke to veterans, the more we walked in the footsteps of people who were there, the more we realised that the people who sacrificed are no longer here to tell the story for themselves.”
“MEMBERS OF YOUR SQUAD HAVE CERTAIN ATTRIBUTES THAT CAN HELP YOU.”
That’s a worthy goal, but don’t mistake this for a dry documentary your grandad falls asleep in front of on a Sunday afternoon. What we see is a muscular COD that wants to make you as vulnerable and human as the young people who fought this war, rather than the nippy, all-conquering superman you’ve been in recent years.
INTO THE WOODS
First up is Hürtgen Forest, where a group of five soldiers – the 16th infantry regiment of the US Army’s 1st infantry division – are taking orders from Lt. Joseph Turner in the eerily quiet woods. “We’re going to split into two teams” he orders. “Pierson, you head north over the bridge to reach the hill. I’ll follow the river with the squad to guard your advance. Daniels, Zussman, you’re with me.” Splitting up into their assigned teams, we’re seeing this from the perspective of Roland ‘Red’ Daniels. He trudges down stream, the stillness unnerving as they prepare for the inevitable. They’re on the hunt for Nazi artillery and come across a large gathering of Axis soldiers after a clearing, on a ridge. Protected from sight by the trees that surround them, Daniels gets out a sniper rifle and starts to track a wandering Nazi. The shot rings out, causing gunfire to erupt in every direction. Daniels uses this to his advantage, stalking his way over to the right and flanking a few enemy troops who are preoccupied with Lt. Turner. It’s a pleasingly wide section which plays out a little more tactically than the ‘run, gun and hide behind cover’ gameplan you might expect. “It’s more strategic, more grounded and more meaningful how you engage,” Condrey says. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the cinematic ambitions are toned down. Far from it. After this skirmish, we cut to a dash through the forest. A flare goes up, alerting everyone in the area to our presence. Not ideal. But it quickly gets worse, as tree burst bombs go off, chips of bark pouring down on the sprinting US soldiers. It’s the sort of breathless, destructive chase that might seem exaggerated, but Condrey tells us about the research the developer did: “We went up to Hill 140, which overlooked the northern edge, looking down into the valley, and you can still see the destruction that the German artillery [did to] that field.” There’s a huge commitment to portraying the reality of the war, and that’s had an effect on the action. One of the ways the game grounds itself is by increasing the importance of your NPC squad mates. In one scene we see later on, an ally chucks an ammo clip at us, to ensure we’re not left firing dust. Condrey explains: “Certain members of your squad have certain attributes that can help you, and if you are in proximity to one of your squad members, and you need their help you can [get it].” Doing away with recharging health provides another dose of reality. Bulldozing through a wave of bullets isn’t the calculated risk it once was, it’s completely inadvisable. While Sledgehammer hasn’t confirmed what will replace the few-deep-breaths recovery, we think the smart money is on a medic being a very important part of the squad.
A GARAND OLD TIME
Your new team mates are more than mere systematic improvements, though. They’re a richer cast of characters who Sledgehammer wants you to fight for. While Turner and Pierson are your superiors out in the field, Daniels has a close bond with Pvt. Robert Zussman, a Jewish-American soldier who is known for answering back to his superiors. But how will the