Call of Duty has become synonymous with energy drinks and uninspired gameplay. Over the past decade Call of Duty has been more or less been recreating past successes and rarely deviating from those winning qualities. This has left fans of the series buying the titles year after year but segregating the portion of the audience that wants more. While this iteration isn’t exactly reinventing first-person shooters, it has brought some notable additions that get us excited for the World War II setting.
No More Wall Running… Finally
Pushed more than any other feature, boots on the ground is back and stronger than ever. We are taken back to World War II, and as such we are without jet-packs or boosts. In a sea of tech-heavy shooters, it’s nice to be able to take it back to a time when robots and nukes weren’t the go-to.
While going back to boots on the ground gameplay isn’t exactly a groundbreaking idea. I am confident that Sledgehammer will do it right and give us real power behind the guns. I just hope too many liberties aren’t taken with the World War II firearms.
Shared Social Space with Headquarters
Playing shooters with friends has always been fun and are the reason these games are so widely played. Games like Destiny and WoW have major benefits from having a shared social space, where players can show off gear, talk to friends, or just waste time while waiting for the next match. Call of Duty isn’t exactly a “game as service,” but it does have interesting shared space features like shooting ranges, organizing squads, and yes, even watching other players open loot boxes. I know the loot box portion isn’t exactly the best feature, but it is something different.
Zombies, the occult, and Nazis
Zombies have been a staple of the series since World at War. It has been expected that each Call of Duty is going to have some form of zombie mode and that it will have some sort of celebrity as a playable character. Throughout the years the mode has become crazier and crazier, aiming for more humor than terror.
With the latest iteration, we are going back to Nazi Zombies and in an absolutely terrifying way. The mode seems filled with absolutely grotesque creatures, a change I am very excited about. In recent years the mode has sat on the backburner for me, becoming too flashy and over-the-top. Hopefully, this will be able to capture the same magic of the original Nazi Zombie and pick up where the latest games have failed.
War Mode
War Mode is a narrative-driven multiplayer experience with multiple objectives. Teams are split up into the Axis and Allies and set up with multiple objectives. Players will have to capture and defend a point, defend a tank, or destroy a base. While these objectives on their own aren’t exactly new ideas, the format in which they are laid out is intriguing, and it’s definitely new for a Call of Duty game. It might not draw in any new fans, but it’s enough of a deviation from the formula to get excited about.
A Band of Brothers Story to Care About
Sledgehammer is putting a lot of effort into the single-player for Call of Duty: WWII. Generally, the story in these games is just a write-off – or at least it has been in recent years. From what I’ve seen and what we’ve been told about the story, this is going to something special in Call of Duty universe. There seems to be real weight put behind the story; there’s nothing flashy or comical about the setting, and with the cast of actors including Josh Duhamel, we are set up for an epic and intense campaign. On top of that, regenerating health is completely removed from the single-player campaign and replaced with health packs.
Call of Duty: WWII is set to take us back to a day when futuristic robots, jetpacks, and wall-running weren’t the norm. With an intensely cinematic campaign, this seems to be one to be one for the books. I covered a preview of Call of Duty: WWII at E3 this year. So if you want a bit more details on these updates head over to that article.
What do you think about these changes? Is it enough to bring you back to the series? Let us know in the comments below!
