Pat Kelly (Infinity Ward Studio Director), Jeff Negus (Narrative Director), Brian Bloom (Lead Writer), Zied Rieke (Gameplay Director), Jack O’Hara (Game Director), Mark Grigsby (Animation Director ), Geoff Smith and Joe Cecot (multiplayer designers) are unanimous: Modern Warfare II is their best game to date! It is obviously hard to imagine them saying the opposite, but this marketing statement was fortunately accompanied by a lot of information and several excerpts from the game. real and current military events. The most shocking and provocative sequences of the previous episode should thus give way to more heroic and human actions and situations. The storyline takes over from the previous Modern Warfare and takes place three years later. Bravo Team has since become Task Force 141, new faces have joined the old ones, and stars of the “old” Modern Warfare are back. Captain John Price, Sergeant Kyle “Gaz” Garrick and CIA Station Chief Kate Laswell return to service, while the iconic Lieutenant Simon “Ghost” Riley and Sergeant John “Soap” MacTavish join them. As for Colonel Alejandro Vargas and Corporal Philip Graves, they are completely new characters, the first being a member of the Mexican Special Forces, and the second of the private paramilitary group Shadow Company. This fine team will naturally have to fight against a terrorist threat and deploy in different countries. In essence, the campaign therefore promises to be both classic and effective, but everything leads us to believe that it will also be in very good shape. The extracts of the four missions that we were able to see indeed allowed us to observe more realistic graphics than ever, and some new small mechanics of gameplay.
ON ALL FRONTS
The first mission presented is called Nightwar and takes place in a fictional country in the Middle East. The objective is to secure three buildings and then defend a helicopter crash zone. Very action-oriented, this sequence still starts in night vision. This is an opportunity to admire a very beautiful technical and artistic work on the lights. The blue of the night, the green of the infrared vision and the yellow of the flames blend together elegantly, without ever altering the realism of the image. The credibility of the scene is also reinforced by the level of detail of the interiors (crockery, trinkets, tapestries…) and the range of movements (weapon that moves when walking, possibility of leaning on the sides, shooting through certain walls …). Following this appetizer, we were able to see gameplay from the Wet Work mission, which takes place in Amsterdam. Price and Gaz seek to dismantle an arms traffic taking place in the European port, in all discretion. If knives and silencers steal the show here from the noisiest firearms, it is above all the omnipresence of water that matters. It allows in particular to progress from boat to boat without being seen, and to catch the unfortunate soldiers present on the pontoons to drown them. And she dazzles us! The reflections and movements of the waves impress with their precision, so much so that we think we have before our eyes the most beautiful water ever seen in a video game.
The developers confirmed to us later that this wow effect was not due to chance, as we will explain to you later. But before going into the technical details, let’s continue our journey in a modern megalopolis thanks to the Tower mission. If the buildings as far as the eye can see and the nocturnal illuminations do not fail to seduce us, it is above all the possibility of abseiling that makes the interest of this sequence. The player progresses on the surface of the building, can decide whether or not to shoot the enemies located inside, and can especially choose the position in which he moves: feet down (in order to have the image in the common sense) or head first (in order to be less exposed and more reactive). Finally, the Convoy mission presented us with a chase in vehicles in an area of canyons. The innovation compared to the usual sequences of this type comes from the possibility of driving any vehicle present on the screen. It is even necessary to regularly switch from one to the other, before the transport of the moment blows itself up. This sequence also gives us the opportunity to observe two new gameplay features that apply to the entire game: the possibility of climbing on the roof of vehicles, and leaning out of the window to shoot.
MODERN TECHNICAL
Of all that was shown to us, it was unquestionably the beauty of the aquatic expanses that impressed us the most. This is explained by the desire of the developers to “redefine the quality of water”. And since we were amazed even before knowing that the emphasis had been particularly placed on this point, we can say that the mission is accomplished. The engine manages in real time the refraction of light, the loss of colors according to the depth, the reflection of the bottom on the underside of the water surface, and the reflections on the elements located above the surface , without the artists needing to intervene to artificially create these effects. In the Wet Work mission, you can even observe ripples created by the presence of the heroes, and dead leaves move with the movement of the water. This specialized water management concerns all game modes (solo, coop, multi) and is distributed both on the server side (calculation of waves so that they are identical for all players) and on the console or PC (calculation of all other effects). Beyond the aesthetic quality, we are also promised that water has an effect on the speed and power of the balls. Artificial intelligence has also progressed on its side, since the behavior of virtual soldiers now takes many parameters into account (survival instinct, awareness of surrounding obstacles, coordinated movements, bodily expressions modeled on reality, etc.). It’s hard to know what’s really going on under the hood, but we did observe soldiers checking around corners, ducking cautiously, and generally adopting believable and seemingly unscripted demeanor. Finally, when it comes to weapons, Modern Warfare II will offer more customization than ever. It will even be possible to customize each accessory independently according to multiple parameters, the developers qualifying this as a real “game within the game”.
THE EVOLVING MULTI
Now is the time to take a closer look at the multiplayer side of the next Call of Duty. For specific details on Warzone 2 we will have to wait, but there is already a lot of info to get your teeth into regarding the multiplayer of Modern Warfare II. Thus, water will be present on many maps in order to take advantage of the progress made in this area, to offer amphibious boats and vehicles, and to vary the behavior of certain equipment (flash grenades and other proximity mines). A new “diving” mechanic (nothing to do with water this time) will be available in order to quickly escape enemy fire, for example by passing through a window. A new mechanic will allow you to stand on ledges to sneak a peek, use a gun, or move from platform to platform. The behavior of the vehicles has been enriched and it will therefore be possible to lean out of the window, climb on the roof, smash the doors and burst the tires. As for equipment, the game will feature a tactical camera to place on walls to spy on and mark players passing by, a “drill charge” capable of digging into walls to launch a grenade through, and a device DDOS which provides information on surrounding electronic equipment and allows them to be deactivated. But it’s a safe bet that the accessory that will impress players the most will be the inflatable lure, which can be triggered at launch or like a proximity mine, and which makes a rubber soldier appear in a position to shot. Small detail that pleases: the soldier will take a break from swimming if you throw him in the water, and will appear crouched if you place him under an obstacle.
On the map side, the developers claim to have learned a lot with the development of Verdansk and to be able to offer very large maps. Examples cited were Sa’id and his “intense urban combat” as well as Sarrif Bay, a tourist fishing village surrounded by water. The “core maps” of more modest size and dedicated to the game in 6 against 6 have not been forgotten. Museum takes place in Spain and features modern architecture, Grand Prix organizes the fights around a night race still in progress, and Farm 18 houses a secret training facility. Let’s end this overview of the new features to come by mentioning two new game modes. Knockout revolves around a timer of only one minute, and declares the winner the last soldier to have in hand a package that can appear in three different places on the map. Obviously, an icon indicates to other players the position of the one who holds the precious package. Prisoner Rescue, as its name suggests, will ask for a prisoner to be freed (or prevent their extradition depending on our camp) and will thus bring break-in and siege mechanics to the multiplayer experience.