Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2 Arrives Nov 10 2009
by GrathiusXR
©2009 Arthur Kotsopoulos
With Modern Warfare 2 being released on the 10th of November 2009, at the busy end of the year and competing with other big titles, it would seem that Infinity Ward are showing a dramatic intensity to grab our attention for their latest Call of Duty game.
But the latest E3 demo looked more like a film than a game…
During Microsofts Keynote yesterday Infinity Ward showed off what looked to be an awesome snow level in Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2 but whilst it looked great it heavily reminded me of too many other similar scenes.
I was left wondering if that was a good thing or a bad thing?
• Modern Warfare 2 FULL on-floor E3 Demo
Whilst the term “don’t fix what isn’t broken ” came to my mind, at the time I had to ponder the level of criticism Treyarch have had to endure with Call Of Duty: World At War. Mainly they have been complaints that it’s just another clone of their old games with the inclusion of zombies.
Yet because Infinity Ward are so highly regarded for Call of Duty 4 their reliance on recreating scenes from many classic films may be overlooked. They’ve gone all cinematic on us, so is this a new direction or a possible lack of imagination?
The first half of the demonstration had a Stallone Cliffhanger meets Vertical Limit vibe to it, where the protagonist climbed the peak with his hooks and made a Cliffhanger-esque leap across an icy chasm. Then there’s a hanger scene with jets that pans out exactly like Pierce Brosnan’s Die Another Day Bond film, as well as All Ghillied Up.
But wait there’s more.
The ending of the demonstration, which concluded with an awesome snowmobile chase scene, could easily have been mistaken for the alpine snow scene in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
So by my count that is four movies in the short demo.
Whilst the game will sell and I mean sell in the millions and most likely be Game Of The Year again for many major websites, I can’t help but wonder if the game will be cinematic focused and rely on blockbuster imitation, or if this was just a very cinematic trailer and the game proper will concentrate on new story and gameplay.
It’s a matter of where the fine line between gaming and movies has to be drawn.
Many other developers strive to have that movie vibe and feel to them, yet IW may have taken that concept a little to literally and relied to much on film references rather than their own creative storytelling abilities.
No doubt we will have to wait for more footage and gameplay of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 before judging any further but that is just a little something we’ll be looking out for later on in the year.
©2009 Arthur Kotsopoulous
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Filed under: Console gaming, E3 2009, Editorial, Events, Game Industry News, Industry News, New Game Information, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 3rd Party Games, Xbox 360 News Tagged: | "Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2", 360, All Ghillied Up, Bond, Call Of Duty, Call Of Duty World at War, Cliffhanger, Die Another Day, E3, Game Of The Year, Infinity Ward, Microsoft, Modern Warfare 2, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Pierce Brosnan, Stallone, Treyarch, Vertical Limit, Xbox 360
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The Call of Duty series has always been cinematic in nature, blurring the lines between interactive entertainment and film, but I don’t think it’s fair to criticise a game for vaguely referencing certain films.
Dead Space blatantly rips off some of this generation’s most popular action/sci-fi/horror movies, but that’s just part of its charm.
Gaming is the new cinematic experience. For all major movie releases, a video game has to be rushed out for it. Although these games are often rushed, underbudgeted and not worth playing, they do sell decently.
So having video games that are a more gripping cinematic experience (even if that means homaging the occasional few movies) isn’t really a bad thing.
Its about time for Hollywood to step out of the lime light. More games should be given hollywood treatment, big budgets, big star voice actors, big releases. The world would be a better (if not more out of shape) place.