History: A Glance at Call of Duty

[Ruone Delacroix]

Please note that this over covers the main series (1-4).

In early 2002, Electronic Arts released the sequel to their critically acclaimed Medal of Honor title. In turn, this release inspired developers to create their own vision on the historic World War II. After Medal of Honor: Allied Assault released, a few of the lead developers left EA and formed their own company known as Infinity Ward. The team wanted to create a historic World War II shooter that would beat out their previous titles with EA, so they then began working on what started the booming franchise of what is now Call of Duty.

On May 1st, 2003, the gamesite tycoon Gamepot.com was able to interview one of the developers from Infinity Ward about the first Call of Duty title, and here's a little bit from that interview.

Quote: GameSpot: What parts of World War II will be depicted in Call of Duty? How does the player's character fit into each of the three campaigns? Call of Duty will include three epic campaigns covering the US assault on Normandy, British commando raids, and the Soviet defense on the eastern front. Vince Zampella: The bulk of the US campaign will take place in Normandy, almost entirely on D-Day. The player's character is a "pathfinder" in the 101st Airborne Division, one of several paratroopers dropped early on D-Day to mark the main drop zones for the rest of the Airborne forces. St. Mère Eglise and Brecourt Manor are among the historical locations in this campaign. The British campaign starts the player off as a glider infantryman on D-Day, capturing and defending the bridge over the Caen Canal that is now known as Pegasus Bridge. From there, the campaign chronicles the exploits of a group of soldiers in 2 SAS (Special Air Service) who are tasked with highly difficult sabotage operations behind enemy lines. The battleship Tirpitz and the Eder Dam are also real parts of World War II that set the stage for several missions in the British campaign. The Russian campaign unfolds as the player--one of thousands of ill-equipped conscripts--is crossing the Volga into Stalingrad, just days after the German army begins its offensive on the city. Heavy urban combat in the ruins of Stalingrad is later followed by tank battles in Eastern Poland as the Red Army pushes onward to Berlin, where the taking of the Reichstag culminates in the fall of Nazi Germany and the end of the war in the eastern theater.

And here is a little bit abut Infinity Ward as of May 2003.

Quote: GS: Tell us a little about Infinity Ward's history with first-person action games. VZ: Infinity Ward has been around since January of 2002. The company includes 21 members of the team--including all the project leads--that developed Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. We have since added some new employees to help round out the team. GS: Give us the project's vital stats: How long has it been in development? How many people are on the team? VZ: We have been working on Call of Duty since April of last year. We are currently up to 27 employees. The entire studio is concentrating on making this game an experience that will enthrall players.

Both of these quotes and a lot more information can be found here. In the end, Gamespot gave Call of Duty high honors with a solid 9.0 when it was released on October 29th, 2003. It also received over 80 Game of the Year awards, and over 40 Editor’s Choice awards.

Soon after Call of Duty's release, Infinity Ward was hard at work trying to figure out how to develop a followup title with the same feel while adding a new experience for players. They then began working on Call of Duty 2 which was released on October 24th, 2005. This featured many improvements with the ambiance of battle. Infinity Ward recorded roughly 20,000 lines for a more full experience for combat. They wanted the player to rely more on their AI teammates such as enemy locations in the heat of battle as well as many other things. Call of Duty 2 received a generous 8.8 score from Gamespot.com.
With the relative success of Call of Duty 2, Activision negotiated a contract between Infinity Ward and Treyarch to switch off and alternate between Call of Duty titles. This would enable more development time with the games. And since infinity Ward had just completed Call of Duty 2, this would enable Treyarch to take their shot at developing the latest Call of Duty title.

Call of Duty 3 made some improvements over the previous games in which an example would be as follows

Quote: Though the core shooting is familiar, Treyarch's designers have instituted a number of new mechanics in this latest Call of Duty to keep the experience fresh. One of these came when the player had cleared an area of enemies and was creeping through a bombed-out building. Upon entering a doorway, the player was surprised by a hiding German soldier who seized his rifle and initiated a cinematic struggle that would occasionally require the player to hammer on the shoulder buttons to maintain the upper hand in the fight. The gameplay mechanic here wasn't particularly complex, but the struggle began so quickly that we could see players being surprised and caught up in such encounters due just to the thrill factor.

In the end, Call of Duty 3 was released on November of 2006, and scored differently throughout all the platforms it was released for. The Wii version got a 7.2, the PSP version received a 6.2, the PS3, PS2 and XBox versions all got an 8.2, and the Xbox 360 version got an 8.8. All of these ratings have been taken from Gamespot.com.

After the commercial success of Call of Duty 3, it was Infinity Ward’s turn to make another title in the hit franchise. However this time, they planned on something far different than any of the previous Call of Duty games. Call of Duty was developed with a modern day setting with modern day weapons and technology.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was one of the most successful games upon its release and still to this day. While under development, a team went out to a military training ground and base to interview soldiers, and researched the mechanics of weapons and such. All of these things were incorporated into the game. Infinity Ward made the game with few places to hide throughout the game. The graphics engine used in Call of Duty 4 was built originally and solely for itself. Since then, there have been game using the CoD4 graphics engine.

Call of Duty 4 was critically acclaimed for nearly everything about it. Gamespot.com gave the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC ports all 9.0, while giving the DS version a still nice 7.0 by its standards. It was released in North America on November 7th of last year.

Next up on the line up is Treyarch’s production Call of Duty: World at War. It is set to release in North America on November 11th, 2008. It is set back in the World War II era, fighting on both Europe and the Pacific fronts. While awaiting the released by the world itself, one of the developers at Infinity Ward was enraged by how World at War was nothing but compared to Modern Warfare, rather than promoted. That article can be found here, which was posted by our own King Zarthius.

Further information can found about the Wii version of World at War at this FAQ, which was posted by Fury.

[FrankForce77]

Great article Mike, I like this article so much I might do one for the Medal of Honor series

[Deidara1]

nice but i kind of dont get it.

[Ruone Delacroix]

Originally Posted by kimimaru86 nice but i kind of dont get it.

It was to help commemorate the release of Call of Duty: World At War.

[roots549]

I like it, great summary of the Call of Duty Series, exciting that it is now coming to the world of Wii Wifi.

Thanks for the effort!
roots

[Fury]

Why isn't this stickied?

[Crazy]

Wow nice article dude!

--Crazy--

[Marioman]

nice i like all the info i didn't evev know half of it and i had call of duty 2,3 and 4

[Hbkpuncher]

Nice Article Man. Great Summary Of The Call Of Duty Series.

[Milkybar kid]

Very nice article, well done.

[Goldnight]

Great article but the funny thing is that you were telling me in chat that you never play CoD

[Claus*]

Cool.

Nice.

Now I know what inspired them.