What’s Next For Call of Duty?

Even after successfully stealing (more like violently yanking) the WW2 shooter heavyweight crown from the boys at EA with Call of Duty and Call of Duty 2, it looks like the guys at Infinity Ward are not going to be resting on their laurels any time soon. Down the pipeline they’ve got two titles currently being planned. The first is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and is being developed in house by Infinity Ward. This title sees the Call of Duty franchise, as the name implies, shifting to modern times. In Modern Warfare you’ll serve as part of the U.S. Army, the Marines and the British S.A.S as they attempt to battle terrorists being led by a pesky Middle-Eastern dictator bent on unleashing his arsenal of chemical weapons on the free world. This campaign will see you doing quite a bit of globe trotting, from fighting on vessels in the North Atlantic sea, to taking down terrorist cells in London, and battling it out on the streets of Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Modern Warfare will reportedly have something of a Splinter Cell/Rainbow Six-ish vibe to it, as the battles in streets and cities will be close quarters affairs in which you will have to rely heavily on advanced fighting gear and tactics such as flashbangs, tear gas, silenced weapons, various vision modes, rappelling down the sides of buildings and boarding up windows and doors. The environments will also be deformable and destructible, so you’ll be able to alter your surroundings by destroying walls, buildings and bridges to your tactical advantage. And if that doesn’t give you the leg up you’ll also have the ability to call in surgical air strikes to take out entrenched enemies, tanks and armored mobile vehicles.

And now for something completely different… well not really. The second Call of Duty title currently in the works (we don’t know the official name yet) will once again transport players to the now all too familiar time period of  World War 2, the summer of 1944 to be exact (great year for wine). This entry will be a truly international affair as you’ll see not just the Americans, Brits and Russians fighting for freedom, but also get a taste of Canadian heart, Polish steel and French sticks added to the mix. The objective? To drive the Nazis out of France once and for all in the Normandy Breakout Campaign.

There will be an emphasis on vehicular combat in both single player and multiplayer, with you and a buddy able to commandeer tanks, jeeps, sidecar motorcycles and the like. All this will be aided by an advanced new physics system and context sensitive battle chatter system. there will also be what’s being called an artillery avoidance system in place. Infinity Ward is not explicitly listed as the developer for this title, and since both games will be shipping for the PC, PS2, Xbox, PS3 and Xbox 360 within three months of each other it’s likely development duties will be handed out to Treyarch, developers of Call of Duty: Big Red One.

If you’re not too burnt out on WW2 shooters and first person shooters in general just yet, you probably will be before the year’s out. All said and done Infinity Ward blew everyone’s expectations away with Call of Duty 2, and we’re hoping they can do the same with these two new entries in the franchise, still perhaps they ought to shift gears and try something totally unexpected.

Even after successfully stealing (more like violently yanking) the WW2 shooter heavyweight crown from the boys at EA with Call of Duty and Call of Duty 2, it looks like the guys at Infinity Ward are not going to be resting on their laurels any time soon. Down the pipeline they’ve got two titles currently being planned. The first is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and is being developed in house by Infinity Ward. This title sees the Call of Duty franchise, as the name implies, shifting to modern times. In Modern Warfare you’ll serve as part of the U.S. Army, the Marines and the British S.A.S as they attempt to battle terrorists being led by a pesky Middle-Eastern dictator bent on unleashing his arsenal of chemical weapons on the free world. This campaign will see you doing quite a bit of globe trotting, from fighting on vessels in the North Atlantic sea, to taking down terrorist cells in London, and battling it out on the streets of Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Modern Warfare will reportedly have something of a Splinter Cell/Rainbow Six-ish vibe to it, as the battles in streets and cities will be close quarters affairs in which you will have to rely heavily on advanced fighting gear and tactics such as flashbangs, tear gas, silenced weapons, various vision modes, rappelling down the sides of buildings and boarding up windows and doors. The environments will also be deformable and destructible, so you’ll be able to alter your surroundings by destroying walls, buildings and bridges to your tactical advantage. And if that doesn’t give you the leg up you’ll also have the ability to call in surgical air strikes to take out entrenched enemies, tanks and armored mobile vehicles.

And now for something completely different… well not really. The second Call of Duty title currently in the works (we don’t know the official name yet) will once again transport players to the now all too familiar time period of  World War 2, the summer of 1944 to be exact (great year for wine). This entry will be a truly international affair as you’ll see not just the Americans, Brits and Russians fighting for freedom, but also get a taste of Canadian heart, Polish steel and French sticks added to the mix. The objective? To drive the Nazis out of France once and for all in the Normandy Breakout Campaign.

There will be an emphasis on vehicular combat in both single player and multiplayer, with you and a buddy able to commandeer tanks, jeeps, sidecar motorcycles and the like. All this will be aided by an advanced new physics system and context sensitive battle chatter system. there will also be what’s being called an artillery avoidance system in place. Infinity Ward is not explicitly listed as the developer for this title, and since both games will be shipping for the PC, PS2, Xbox, PS3 and Xbox 360 within three months of each other it’s likely development duties will be handed out to Treyarch, developers of Call of Duty: Big Red One.

If you’re not too burnt out on WW2 shooters and first person shooters in general just yet, you probably will be before the year’s out. All said and done Infinity Ward blew everyone’s expectations away with Call of Duty 2, and we’re hoping they can do the same with these two new entries in the franchise, still perhaps they ought to shift gears and try something totally unexpected.