Highly Anticipated Shooter May Take after the Top WW2 Movie
Every developer has a bar they hope to set with their video games, Sledgehammer being no exception. Often, these standards may stand apart from the players’ expectations. But this time around, it may be that Sledgehammer and Call of Duty fans are hoping for the same thing out of Call of Duty WW2.
In an interview with Gamemaster, September issue 320, Sledgehammer co-founder Michael Condrey discussed the studio’s goals for COD WW2. They want to push the limits of the title’s power, using everything current technology can offer to make it an immersive and visually stunning homage to historical events. In so doing, Condrey hopes it will become the Saving Private Ryan of video games. Here are his exact words:
“We hope so. It’s a new generation of console games. A horsepower we hadn’t had access to when we were last in WWII. So we can do things to immerse players. It’s pretty exciting for players who haven’t played Call of Duty WWII games as their first experience. We absolutely hope this is that iconic reference point in their minds. In some ways, if it becomes to gamers what Saving Private Ryan was for me that would be an amazing accomplishment. That’s what we’re striving for.
“It’s a new lighting system, new audio system, new facial system, new destruction system. It’s been a really great push for us. Now we really squeeze every ounce of horsepower out of these platforms, so we’re really proud of how it looks.”
It’s no secret that Sledgehammer is trying to evoke the imagery of Steven Spielberg’s critically acclaimed film. COD WWII’s reveal trailer mimics the opening scene of the movie. Thus, many of us who’ve seen both automatically drew parallels. Time will tell if the actual game manages to recapture the visceral intensity of the movie, however. If it does, Condrey and crew may consider their goals reached.
In the same interview, co-founder Glenn Schoefield added:
“As far as video games go, I don’t know if anything could capture the epic scope and nature of these battles as well as PlayStation 4 and Xbox One right now. We couldn’t have done it about five years ago, the way we wanted to do it now, and it’s pretty damn amazing…
“The truth of the matter is that some of those bombs they were dropping were gigantic. So in just seeing the way we did it, it feels more modern.
“Since Saving Private Ryan and since Call of Duty: World at War, a lot of stuff has been declassified and we can go through a bunch of that information. Just the power alone allows us to get a lot more in. We have a lot of proprietary tools that we use. We use photogrammetry to help get realism in a lot of objects…all the latest techniques we can get.”
Devs are really pushing the graphical limits Call of Duty WWII, which could make it the best-looking game in the series. But can it live up to the developer’s goals? Let us know what you think and whether or not the game reminds you of Saving Private Ryan. You have until November 3rd to watch the movie, if you haven’t already. Until then,
Happy gaming.