A
s youswimthroughthesubmerged
BrooklynBatteryTunnelwithDelta
Force,theheadlampsofyoursubmersible
lightupthesideofa rustedgastanker.
Twofacesstareback,fromthelogoof
Schofield and CondreyConstructionLtd,a fictional
company that hasquiteliterallygoneunder.Butthere’s
no time to linger:a Russiansubmarineiswaitingtobe
commandeeredinNewYorkHarbor,andModern
Warfare 3 will instafailyouforfallingbehind.Most wouldn’t knowthatthetwofacesbelongtoGlen
Schofield and MichaelCondrey,thecofoundersof
Sledgehammer Games.Thisfleetingfanfarewasallthe
studio would getasit madeitsdebutattheheartofthe
biggest entertainmentpropertyintheworld– andexerted
huge influence overtheconcludingpartofModern
Warfare’s watercoolercampaigntrilogy.
It wasn’t thegameSledgehammerwassupposedto
make. Composed primarily from Dead Space veterans, the
studio was set up within Activision to work on a third-
person COD spin-off dubbed Fog of War. Set during
America’s notorious entanglement with Vietnam, it’s easy
to imagine how it might have applied the developer’s
experience with claustrophobic horror to the tight tunnels
of Cambodia. But just months into development, crisis hit
Activision. Infinity Ward’s Jason West and Vince
Zampella left the company in deeply acrimonious
circumstances to make Titanfall – and a huge chunk of
the Modern Warfare 2 team marched out with them.MODERN WORRY
Infinity Ward was left with a gaping hole on its flank, and
Sledgehammer filled the breach. As two acclaimed leadersand storytellers departed, two more walked in. Schofield
and Condrey picked up the baton with the aim of
tightening up a “sketchy” story. Modern Warfare 2’s
campaign had been stuffed with brilliant Bond moments- the snowmobile jump, the favela rooftop chase – but in
the pursuit of ever-bigger explosions, Infinity Ward
appeared to have concussed its screenwriters. The
Modern Warfare 3 team responded by paring back the
number of playable characters and tying up loose ends
with the elusive Russian ultranationalist, Makarov.
What they didn’t do was pare back the bombast.
Modern Warfare 3 treats Europe’s oldest cities as a big toy
set, toppling the Eiffel Tower and filling out the London
Underground exclusively with terrorists in order to get
away with a Tube crash that makes Skyfall’s equivalent
look tame. At timesthisleadstotonalugliness– it’shard
to grin through ablockbusterthattreatsa sentencelike
SISTER SLEDGE
How SLEDGEHAMMER stepped in to save Call of Duty
“All civilians at the Louvre are dead”
as background radio chatter. But the
best setpieces stick the landing,
because they’re paired with moments
of intimacy. You can’t help but laugh
in delight as a US serviceman pushes
his body right up against the wall of a
cargo plane, dodging the dinghy
you’re riding into the hold as enemy
ships explode all around.FISH IN A BARREL
Who else makes Call of Duty?
INFINITY WARD
It took years, but the original
COD studio has recovered
well from the Modern Warfare
3 debacle – bringing on
Naughty Dog talent that has
bolstered its storytelling.
RAVEN SOFTWARE
This ’90s survivor is riding
high as the lead studio on
Warzone – not to mention
Black Ops: Cold War’s
accomplished spy fiction
single-player.TREYARCH
Still beloved for its
expertise in tight and
frenetic multiplayer,
Treyarch appears to have
all but given up on making
story campaigns.BELOW: MW3’s
tinny, insubstantial
gunfeel plants it
firmly in its era.BOTTOM: (^) Troy
Baker takes
Advanced Warfare’s
starring role.
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