STACK #157 Nov 2017

GAMES FEATURE

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War

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A good campaign for me boils down to maximising player immersion and engagement David Stirling’s SAS had earned a reputation for its covert operations in the North African desert. Airfields, fuel and ammo dumps were the primary targets. The raids were so effective that the German and Italian forces increased the defences around these sites. Consequently, the SAS were no longer able to sneak onto airfields unnoticed. Undeterred, Stirling conceived a plan to simply drive onto the airfields in a convoy of jeeps. On July 26, 1942, that’s exactly what he did. After driving across the desert for days under the cover of darkness, two columns of jeeps drove onto the German airfield. Moving at no more than four miles an hour, the jeeps, armed with mounted machine guns, poured bullets into the berthed aircraft, even destroying a bomber coming in to land, before disappearing back into the desert. Eighteen aircraft were destroyed and a further dozen heavily damaged. Daring Raids of WWII Sidi Haneish airfield July 26, 1942 St Nazaire Raid March 28, 1942

the 20 th century, it’s World War II that continues to inspire filmmakers, authors and video game developers. The conflict is generally perceived to have overt moral clarity – a clear good versus bad – making it perfect material for a creative mind to meld into a video game narrative. Whitney explains that although poetic license was exercised in part to keep the action fluid in the game, the exploits of the 1 st Infantry Division, known as the Big Red One, remains consistent with the history books. The division was chosen for the game because “it boiled down to finding one unit whose journey could take us to all of the iconic battles and locations that we were most passionate about including in our game”. “While our story is fictional, it is heavily inspired by actual historical events – specifically the journey of the 1 st Infantry Division from June 6, 1944 (D-Day) through the Spring of 1945 when the war was drawing to a close,” outlines Whitney. “While we combined and condensed certain elements in order to tell a coherent story, we felt a strong sense of responsibility to be as authentic as possible in the details. “To this end, the team did an enormous amount of research – everything from poring over books, photos and documentaries, to visiting the real locations featured in our game.” While multiplayer remains the core focus for many Call of Duty players, Whitney acknowledges that many still line up eagerly for the single-player experience, and has his own opinions on what makes a good campaign level. “A good campaign for me boils down to maximising player immersion and engagement. “So much of what we do is geared towards allowing the player to simultaneously ‘lose themselves’ in the experience while also engaging with the story material on an emotional level. “Clearly, big cinematic spectacle is also a key component of our campaign – but there’s an understanding that

Eager to destroy the dry dock facilities at St. Nazaire in France and reduce the Germans’ ability to repair their shipping, a plan was conceived to attack the facility – by ramming it with a decommissioned Royal Navy destroyer! Adorned with commandos, and under intense fire, the destroyer burst through the dry dock gates at 1:30am. The commandos disembarked and a furious firefight erupted. Facing insurmountable odds, the commandos were either killed or captured, but the pièce de résistance was yet to come. At noon the following day, with German officers and soldiers swarming all over the destroyer, a delay fuse ignited hidden explosives, taking the ship – and the dry dock – with it. The dock facility remained out of operation for the rest of the war.

replaced elements like regenerating health with new mechanics such as squad abilities that incentivise the player to connect with and rely upon their squadmates for things like extra med kits, ammo, etc. “As a result of these adjustments, you really start to depend on your squad to help you make it through the campaign. This causes you to be more invested in their survival and feel their absence if they are not with your character at the time.” Coincidentally, the famous 1 st Infantry Division celebrates its centenary in 2017, having been initially raised during the First World War. It was also the subject of a film in 1980 directed by Sam Fuller and starring Lee Marvin, with Mark Hamill in a supporting role. Did Whitney turn to The Big Red One for inspiration during development? “I had watched The Big Red One many times growing up and, of course, revisited it when we started working on this project. “While we are telling our own original story, we were definitely inspired by the gritty and unsentimental take on the war that this film provided.”

significant changes to the way the team designed the campaign aspect of WWII. “We made a conscious choice to

showcase the experience of everyday soldiers in World War II,” notes Whitney. “During development, we would often talk about a ‘no superheroes rule’ in relation to the campaign. This led us to a number of design decisions that were focused

all of this action will hit so much harder for the player if they are invested with the content on a deeper level.” The implementation of these ideas resulted in some

• Call of Duty: World War II is out now

on making the characters feel more vulnerable, human, and relatable. For instance, we

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