Call of Duty Interview

GamePro?s exclusive interview with developer Infinity Ward. Part 2 added 6/13!

One of the hottest PC games coming this Fall is the WWII first person shooter Call of Duty from developer Infinity Ward, published by Activision. Call of Duty is so hot, in fact, that it was given a GamePro?s 2003 E3 Showstopper award. We had a chance to chat with Designer Steve Fukuda and Chief Creative Officer Vince Zampella of Infinity Ward about their upcoming epic.

GamePro: What are you able to do in Call of Duty that you weren't able to do in Medal of Honor?

Steve Fukuda (Designer, Infinity Ward): Call of Duty has a great feature set, including "aiming down the sight" on all the weapons, which has turned out to be a lot of fun to use, and prone. We have created some missions that are entirely defensive actions ? the enemy attacks you from all sides of an area you are holding, rather than you following a path and seeking them out.

GamePro: Why keep Call of Duty in the WWII milieu when there have already been quite a few titles focusing on that period? Did you consider World War I, the Civil War, the Korean War, etc.?

SF: The general public?s familiarity with WWII is probably greater than with most other wars. WWII also had a stronger sense of good vs. evil that was not so confused by complex political agendas - no one questions who won WWII. From a game design perspective, WWII offers the widest possible range of locations, situations, weapons, and nationalities/organizations to work from as a starting point.

GP: The A.I. of the player's squad working together must be one of the big challenges. What are you striving for there, and what sort of challenges are you facing along the way?

SF: It has definitely been a challenge to incorporate and take into account friendly soldiers within a cinematic first-person action game without compromising the intensity of the player?s own experience. Our goal is to make the player feel as though he is surrounded by the war and that he is not going through it alone. We have put our efforts towards making the friendlies have a presence and feel effective in combat, without letting the game play itself on autopilot and have the player not be involved, particularly in the larger battles. Making them react to emergent combat conditions in a believable way and yet be supportive of the flow of a given level, with respect to more cinematic moments is something we have dealt with frequently and it really shows in Call of Duty.

GP: Are all the story elements from the grunt soldiers? point of view or will we see the player taking the role of officers or even those in high command?

Vince Zampella (Chief Creative Officer, Infinity Ward): Call of Duty is about the guys in the trenches all working together to make the difference in the war. Our focus is on portraying the fact that there wasn?t any one man who won it for everyone, but a combined show of force from the Allies was what it took for victory.

GP: Will the player be able to operate vehicles like tanks and planes? If so, can you tell us how that'll work? And if not, did you consider it and why did you decide not to include that sort of thing?

VZ: The player will be able to control tanks in Call of Duty, riding along with a group of Allied tanks. Very cool stuff. There are also vehicles that the player is a passenger in, allowing him to keep his gun handy on the ride. This is all a part of delivering the full scope and immersion that makes Call of Duty what it is.

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