STACK #121 Nov 2015

“One of the first challenges we had to tackle with Advanced Warfare was defining a believable and relatable near future world. We were extraordinarily sensitive to being science, not science fiction. Everything in our game is put through the filter: Could this happen in 40 years? We feel that the difference, and what sets us apart from others, is the extreme lengths we’re willing to go to research our subject matter. Everything you see in Advanced Warfare is not only plausible, but we can point to the real world technology – in Research and Development or available now – that is the basis for our game’s technology. The research we’ve done and the access we’ve been given to R&D … let’s just say this stuff is a lot closer than you think.” We ask Michael Condrey how plausible is the tech used in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare ? studio recognised this quandary and has taken measures to improve the focus on integrating an engaging narrative within the gameplay itself. “We are making a huge effort to immerse you in AdvancedWarfare ’s story. First off, you’re following the story of a singular protagonist – private Jack Mitchell – who you’ll stay with throughout the ten-year journey from beginning to end. We want players to become emotionally attached to his journey, and the events that unfold along the way were crafted to really push that attachment.” Condrey continues: “We also recognised an opportunity to use the cinematic moments to drive the narrative, rather than just deliver mission objectives, so we introduced a new real-time information system, through the Advanced Soldier’s augment reality interface, to not only teach you what you’re doing, but why you’re doing it. Together, these steps have created a truly immersive and seamless experience for the player.”

“We wanted to tell an extremely rich story – one that could be compared with the best of the best in entertainment, so we looked at shows like Game of Thrones , with scenes like the RedWedding that tear at

“From a new engine and hardware cycle, new time period, new studio, and new ways to play, AdvancedWarfare is a different Call of Duty game.” Most of the story was penned in-house with the benefit of being able to consult (afforded by the popularity of the franchise) external advisors such as Delta Force and Navy SEAL Team 6 military operators, top technologists and futurists, and even Hollywood writers like Mark Boal, who wrote the screenplay for The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. The internal writers

your emotions, and thought about how to bring powerful moments like that into video games,” he claims. “With the addition of Kevin Spacey as our leading actor, we think the story mode is going to thrill fans, old and new. “A lot of the team worked on Dead Space before we established Sledgehammer Games; that was a single player only, a narrative-driven experience that left its impression on a lot of fans. We’re taking those learnings on a rich narrative in the campaign for AdvancedWarfare . In terms of narrative, there has always been a problem with the Call of Duty formula and how it tells its story. Extensive cutscenes serve to convey the plot in a dynamic and visually impressive fashion. However, once the player is immersed back into the thick of the action, these elaborate

took a lot of inspiration from film and long-formTV, and Condrey says there was an emphasis to deliver a compelling story in the campaign mode; something that was absent in Ghosts.

cutscenes are soon forgotten. The player becomes disengaged and the objective becomes simply a compass point on the map – and all the effort to communicate the mission brief is lost. Condrey says the

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is out November 4

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