WORLDWAR2.
Thosefaultswerelargelycorrectedin Sledgehammer’s
CallofDuty:WWII.Insomesenses it was a step back –
conceptuallylessboldthanAdvanced Warfare, leaning
intothefamiliarimageryofD-Dayand French
countrysidefirefights.Butthiswasless a soft reboot of the
originalCODthan the very first Medal
ofHonor–embracing espionage with
acentrepieceinfiltration that requires
youtomemorise your papers.
Thefighting, too, recalls the classic
PlayStationshooter – granting
enemiesacatalogue of staggering
animationsthatmakes encounters feel
desperateandscrappy. Best of all,
Sledghammerfolds everything back
intothesquad–scrappinghealthregeneration and
pushingyoutolooktoyourAIteammates for health kits
andammo.Thatmechanicalinvestment leads, soon
enough,toemotionalinvestment.
Sincethen,SchofieldandCondrey have both left
Sledgehammer–theformernowworking on a spiritual
successortoDeadSpace,andthelatter setting up a new
studiofor2K.Dozensofdevelopers have followed them
outthedoor,andforthosewhoremember Infinity Ward’s
exodus,itfeelsasifhistorycouldbe repeating itself.
Thenagain:Sledgehammer’snew Call of Duty,
Vanguard,isapost-WWIIstoryabout the hunt for
Hitler’sfictionalsuccessor.Themessage seems clear:
whenhistorycomesaroundagain,it doesn’t have to
happenexactlythesameway.
Jeremy PeelUltimately, Sledgehammer can’t be blamed for Modern
Warfare 3’s inherited failings. Infinity Ward had already
escalated its ‘behind the headlines’ premise to world war,
and not even Captain Price could strongarm the genie
back into the bottle. Yet Sledgehammer had achieved a
miracle – stepping so nimbly into the shoes of the most
acclaimed developer in the FPS genre that nobody even
noticed the switch. Players wouldn’t truly feel West and
Zampella’s absence until Call of Duty: Ghosts.
CAREER ADVANCEMENT
While that disaster happened, Sledgehammer took the
opportunity it had earned and then some: the chance to
take ownership of a new Call of Duty sub-series. Naming
it Advanced Warfare was a statement of intent. This would
be the first COD in many years to have a clear purpose,
highlighting America’s increasing dependency on private
military companies. What if, it asked, creative differences
led a US-funded yet stateless army to launch a coup?
It’s unfortunate that
Sledgehammer chose Kevin Spacey to
embody the PMC threat – what was
once a prestige piece of casting is now
a black mark against the game. But
Advanced Warfare’s many
performance captured scenes anchor
its alluring premise, letting Schofield
and Condrey deliver on their dream of
a story-first COD – one in which
moments of spectacle are accentuated by the downtime
in-between. Moreover, these are places you want to spend
downtime in. One mission, set among the duck egg blue
domes of Santorini, is a striking reminder of the
blockbuster’s capacity to take you away to the world’s
most beautiful locations, even if just to hunt terrorists.
Advanced Warfare’s downfall lay in design. Even for
Call of Duty, a series so linear it’s best treated as
interactive theatre, this entry was notably restrictive – its
failstates quick and frustrating should you dare to poke
your rifle off your allotted path. Worse, the QTE that
ended Modern Warfare 3 turned out to be dark portent,
predicting sequences that resemble the command-
following game Bop It!. Only in the campaign’s closing
missions does Advanced Warfare’s exosuit begin to feel
like a tool for freedom and expression.
LEFT: (^) Noticed this
fella in Transformers
the other day. It’s a
small world of
blockbusters.
BELOW: (^) Eventually
devs will need to stop
aping Spielberg and
tell these stories in
new ways.
THOSE FAULTS WERE
LARGELY CORRECTED
IN SLEDGEHAMMER’S
CALL OF DUTY: WWII
NEWS | OPINION | DEVELOPMENT