'Call of Duty: WW2' Announced--Initial Thoughts, or Is Shaun a Prophet?
Shaun Cordingley
A long, long time ago (September 2015, a long time on the internet for sure), I had written about how I had hoped that the FPS genre would return to the past, as it was getting pretty obvious that we were edging into the era of 'future war fatigue'. I mean, I enjoy a first-person shooter largely for the story as it is, never having been much of a multiplayer guy beyond a few hours here and there (or if I can actually get friends together to do it, as that is actually fun, as opposed to being screamed at by not-good-at-games children), so the prospect of jumping around, or even forward in history is...interesting....but does not hold the same appeal to me as history does. Case in point: I have not bought a Call of Duty game since World at War, as that is really more of my jam (though I did play some Black Ops, but borrowing those...)
In my old article, I said this:
A PS4/X1 quality version of the push from D-Day to Berlin? That now sounds completely fresh and original, and something that might get me interested in buying a Call of Duty game again.
Well...seems I'm not crazy...
Just this past Wednesday, Sledgehammer Games gave us our first look at Call of Duty: WW2...and frankly, I have not been this excited about a Call of Duty in a very, very long time:
From what few details we have available, it seems like this game is literally, exactly what I asked for. Single-player will have you (for the most part) taking on the role of a young Private "Red" Daniels as a part of the US Army 1st Infantry Division from D-Day through the European Theater of World War 2....not to mention a few changes of pace, like one reported mission which involves you being a woman operating as a part of the French Resistance.
That sentence there essentially reads "Hey Shaun, we made a WW2 FPS game for you" to me. I am so very excited that Call of Duty is heading back into World War 2, as it has been 10+ years since we have seen a game that tackles this story. Now, I understand that it is not a "new" story (other than the fact that it is, of course, different as it's Daniels' story), but frankly, it's going to feel fresh again, and there has never been a more important war when it comes to "modern" history, and the original WW2 games were always something special.
I think this also happens to be one of the best Call of Duty trailers we have seen in years, not just because you get a full sense of what is going on (thanks as well to it being a 'known' subject) but the use of music, and the cinematography is excellent.
We have a few details on the Multiplayer side of CoDWW2, as well, and despite my usual distaste, I am at least intrigued by what we know so far:
They have added a sort of multiplayer social space called the Headquarters (think the Tower in Destiny) which sounds intriguing, and they are hinting at a narrative-basis for some of the multiplayer modes; War mode (which....let's just accept that they're not going to nail everything) has Allied v. Axis "objective-based" missions, which sounds neat--I often get bored of "Deathmatch" and "Capture the Flag" variants, and it would be nice to see what they have come up with to give some of the maps an actual, narrative drive to them.
...and to see if that actually works.
As per usual with Call of Duty, they are also going to be sticking with "historical accuracy" and adding some sort of Nazi-Zombie co-op mode. Honestly, I don't mind the diversion, and it could end up being quite fun if it is executed right.
We will (apparently) be hearing more about the multiplayer and zombies mode at E3 in June.
Call of Duty WW2 is a game that I'm really, really looking forward to getting my hands on and playing, and is indeed the first Call of Duty game I have thought that about in a very long time. I don't necessarily need all of Call of Duty's three studios working on World War 2 iterations, but if we got, say, one every three years (so Sledgehammer sticks to the past), I would be very, very happy.
Now, I suppose I need to ask for something else, as my wish from two years ago has been fulfilled...and i can't think of anything off the top of my head better than this:
There's going to be a mission or two about being a woman fighting in the French Resistance? How about a full game of that? THAT sounds awesome.
What do you think of Call of Duty WW2? Let me know in the comments below, or (what you usually seem to do) hit me up on Twitter.
-S (@Shauncord)