Better than All Stars magazine - who was featured in Call of Duty? Heroes and villains. The most interesting characters in the Call of Duty series and the newest Infinite Warfare
The game has been tested onPlayStation 4
The audience initially greeted the new Call of Duty with hostility—the announcement trailer ended up in second place on the list of videos with the most “dislikes” on YouTube. The developers failed to take the crown from Justin Bieber, but they still got the silver medal in this dubious marathon. Then one of the story missions was shown at E3 2016, and then many wondered if they had rushed to conclusions. As the release showed, they were in a hurry. We were in a big hurry.
⇡ Forward to the futureEvery fall, Activision offers us a new part of the famous series, once dedicated to the events of the Second World War. But in recent years we have seen double jumps, wall running, exoskeletons and other futurism in Call of Duty. That’s why everyone was so happy about the announcement of Battlefield 1: trenches, trenches, horses, shovels, ancient weapons - in a word, DICE’s game of contrast was an excellent success. There was also a problem in the development studio - after the terrible Ghosts, Infinity Ward's credibility was practically exhausted.
As it turned out in the end, there was no point in writing off Infinite Warfare in advance. Infinity Ward took into account the mistakes (both their own and those of their colleagues) and offered one of the best story campaigns among all Call of Duty games in recent years. This is not the incoherent ramblings of a madman, which was the story of Black Ops 3, but a simple-as-three-penny plot about how earthlings went to look for resources on other planets, but were eventually attacked by an evil corporation headquartered on Mars. Due to circumstances, the main character is appointed captain, but he does not intend to sit and give orders - he himself goes with his partners on all missions and strives to defeat all the bad guys in the Galaxy.
One of the biggest advantages of this campaign were the characters. We all remember Captain Price and Soap from Modern Warfare, and we will probably not soon forget Ethan and Salter from Infinite Warfare. For once, the Call of Duty developers managed to write the characters in such a way that they don’t look like just another typical warrior - they are interesting people with their own stories, sense of humor and emotions. You worry about them, you are ready to go into battle with them. Compared to them, the main villain played by Kit Harington looks pale - as if he was deliberately made into a caricatured upstart who can only make pretentious speeches. Moreover, the character’s screen time is several times less than that of the anti-hero Kevin Spacey from Advanced Warfare. Instead of the Game of Thrones star, they could have taken any other actor, and nothing would have changed.
The story campaign, which traditionally takes a couple of evenings, produces exciting episodes one after another. Since the war in the game has reached cosmic proportions, the matter is not limited to just skirmishes on the ground (although it would be more correct to write “on Earth”). From time to time, the main character takes the helm of a space fighter and goes on a journey to other planets and their satellites, where new opponents will certainly await him. Captain Reyes is no slouch - he is trained in anti-missile maneuvers, and if necessary, he is always ready to get involved in a zero-gravity firefight.
Controlling the fighter is incredibly simple - the left stick of the gamepad is responsible for movement and acceleration, and the right one works with the camera. One button is for firing a machine gun, another is for releasing missiles, and the third throws out anti-missile traps. By pressing L2, you can focus your attention on a specific enemy ship, so that after a couple of seconds you can turn on automatic aiming and leave him no chance. There are explosions and shooting everywhere, the player dodges asteroids, watches for traps, calls a drone to replenish ammunition and is not bored for a second. If the space battles in No Man's Sky were even a little similar to those here, she would be forgiven for a lot.
Shooting in zero gravity is not much different from fighting in narrow corridors - yes, there is much more space, but the essence remains the same. It’s just that it’s not easy to hide from enemy attacks—it’s impossible to sit in cover when you’re flying in space. Because of this, sniper rifles at high difficulty levels turn out to be a much more appropriate type of weapon than rapid-fire machine guns or pistols. But if the enemy still gets close, you can pull him towards you with a hook and break the suit so that it is discouraging.
In Infinite Warfare, the developers decided to change not only the environment, but also the structure of the campaign. After a couple of story missions, the player can walk around the ship and gain access to a map in the manner of the original Mass Effect. Of course, it didn’t come to the point of having affairs with colleagues, but choosing the next task - side or plot - is allowed. The levels themselves still remain corridors, where there is always one goal, and you cannot turn off the path. But there is nothing stopping you from choosing the next step and deciding whether to board enemy ships or spend time destroying destroyers. This is far from a new word in the genre, but this decision changes the Call of Duty formula for the better. And the side missions are no worse than the main ones - they are varied and sometimes even offer original and unexpected tasks.
⇡ Continuation of the banquetUnfortunately, along with an excellent and memorable story campaign (which I really want to go through again, but at a higher difficulty level), it comes with a very mediocre multiplayer. If in the “single” Infinity Ward was not afraid to offer something new and came up with many impressive episodes, then the online component is almost identical to the multiplayer of Black Ops 3. This is neither good nor bad - it just seems like an attempt not to spoil something that already works well. However, fans of the annual transition to the new Call of Duty will find themselves in a strange position, since they will have to play the same thing as before.
There are still some differences - for example, you can unlock new weapons and exoskeletons (here they replace characters with different skills from Black Ops 3) without using tokens. If previously you had to carefully think through what to spend the token you earned in long battles (and sometimes regret the decision after a couple of matches), here everything immediately becomes available upon reaching certain levels.
Additionally, it now makes sense to finish matches even if defeat is inevitable. In Destiny, for example, there has never been such a problem - even if your team was destroyed in a couple of minutes, everyone can receive legendary rewards. Here the idea is somewhat different - military organizations give the player tasks, the completion of which increases the level of the corresponding faction. And for this, in turn, you can get weapons or other items exclusive to this faction. The conditions are very simple - kill 10 opponents, then take one headshot. As soon as a task is completed, a more complicated version appears, for which completion a small bonus is awarded.
There is also a kind of crafting in multiplayer - by collecting enough parts, you can create an improved version of an existing weapon. Spare parts are obtained by leveling up factions and opening crates, and they are also sometimes given out as a daily bonus when the game starts. There are also microtransactions, which not everyone will like. But what's more annoying is the lag compensation system, which gives players with a poor connection a significant advantage. If in multiplayer you are killed in half a second, and you don’t have time to react with the same weapon, it’s not your fault - it’s just that the network part is designed so that the “lagging” opponent sees you earlier. This controversial decision raises many more questions than micropayments.
But in the zombie mode there are no significant miscalculations - this is exciting entertainment, made in the style of the eighties. Shooting the living dead under “Relax” and “Let It Whip” is fun even with random players, and there are much fewer difficulties than in last year’s Black Ops 3. There, players were literally thrown onto the map without any explanation, but here landmarks constantly appear or hints, as well as useful tips. And death is not at all upsetting, because after death the user finds himself in a game room, where he must play ancient arcade games and earn points, after which the fighter is returned to the amusement park safe and sound.
Many joked about the fact that a re-release of Modern Warfare is coming out this year, and Infinite Warfare is included as a gift. However, the new game turned out to be excellent entertainment, which is why many will not immediately get to the remaster. A spectacular story campaign with memorable characters and many impressive episodes, an exciting zombie mode and good, albeit uninspired multiplayer - a package worthy of attention. It’s a pity that you can’t fly online in space, but this is probably temporary. We'll fly in three years or so.
In just a couple of days, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, a new installment of the action series that needs no introduction, will hit store shelves. In honor of the high-profile event, Life remembered the celebrities who at some point agreed to lend their voices to the heroes of the world's most popular action movie. Who wasn’t there!
Christopher Kit Harington - Admiral Salen Kotch (Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare)The star of the main series of our time and the favorite of millions - it’s scary to think that Kit Harington’s film career began just 4 years ago, with the terrifying (in a bad way) horror film “Silent Hill 2”. But what difference does it make that the young actor’s filmography doesn’t have many notable roles - Jon Snow from Game of Thrones alone ensured his place in the history of the industry.
In Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Harington took on the role of Salen Kotch, the main villain. Little is known about the character, but he looks menacing - unlike the charming, good-natured Snow from the HBO series.
Kevin Spacey - Jonathan Irons (Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare)
When creating the eleventh Call of Duty, Sledgehammer Games drew inspiration from two sources - the Deus Ex series and the TV show House of Cards. From the first came mechanical prosthetics and a cyberpunk setting, and the representative of the second was Kevin Spacey in the mask of an unprincipled tycoon with claims to world domination.
Even though the Oscar-winner’s character was ridiculously flat, and there’s no need to talk about any complex acting with such a script, Spacey still easily “stole” the sci-fi action movie. You can't waste talent.
Jason Statham - Sergeant Waters (Call of Duty)
Some will say that the stars came to the series only recently. But no - celebrities snuck into the cast right away. Did you know that one of the heroes of the original Call of Duty was accompanied by Jason Statham himself - a carrier, defender, mechanic, adrenaline and just a good guy? The role is not so noticeable, but still important, because the sergeant saves the player’s skin more than once or twice along the way.
Interesting fact: the character's name (Waters) can be regarded as a kind of reference to Statham's sports career. Before gaining the status of a “cool British bonebreaker,” the actor was fond of diving and even participated in major competitions. Without much success, it's true, but a hobby is a hobby.
Sam Warrington - Alex Mason (Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Black Ops II)
Once upon a time, Call of Duty protagonists were not known for their talkative nature, preferring to keep their mouths shut and talk with guns at the most crucial moments. In 2010, everything changed: the ambitious Black Ops hit store shelves. Suddenly, a voice erupted from the hands with the machine gun, and it belonged to Sam Warrington, the star of the blockbuster "Avatar" and the deservedly forgotten action movie "Terminator: Let the Savior Come."
Much water has passed under the bridge since then: the budding actor managed to fade into oblivion after a number of unsuccessful projects; Jai Courtney has been eyeing the vacant position for a couple of years now, but Call of Duty fans still remember Warrington and his Mason. Of course, he went crazy on screen so believably and mentored Noob so well in the game trailers.
Kiefer Sutherland - Sergeant Roebuck/commentator (Call of Duty: World at War)
Anyone can yell, but to growl so hard that your blood runs cold is talent. It is not surprising that Treyarch studio chose Kiefer Sutherland - Jack Bauer from the television series "24" - to play the militant sergeant from the American World at War campaign.
As befits a soldier, Sutherland is always in a raised voice and sounds so believable that he was even assigned to commentate on multiplayer matches for the Americans.
Despite his distinctive voice and enviable enthusiasm, Kiefer is rarely called upon to voice over video games. But aptly - last year the actor tried on the Snake suit in the latest Metal Gear Solid, replacing the regular leading man. Hardened fans initially took the castling with hostility, but changed their anger to mercy after hearing his performance.
Gary Oldman - Sergeant Viktor Reznov / commentator (Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty: Black Ops)
Famous actors have been in Call of Duty from the very beginning, but Jason Statham is one thing, and maestro Gary Oldman is something else entirely. The star of Leon, The Fifth Element and Nolan's Batman took the series to a new level and proved that celebrity involvement is not just a big name in the credits and press releases.
Oldman filled the image of Sergeant Reznov with life - a brave patriot of his homeland, a tragic and memorable character. It’s not for nothing that when it comes to World at War, people remember him first, because the hero is so ingrained in the memory.
Idris Elba - Truck (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3)
Even if the final part of the Modern Warfare trilogy disappointed some, you can’t argue with one thing: Activision assembled a high-quality acting ensemble. It was headed by Idris Elba, who literally in the 5 years after the release of the shooter has noticeably increased in popularity - no one will be invited to play the role of the Shooter in the film adaptation of The Dark Tower.
Unfortunately, the artist doesn’t have much to work with - the image of an American soldier without any distinctive features doesn’t allow much to roam around. Together with him, Timothy Olyphant (Die Hard 4.0, the first Hitman) and William Fichtner (The Dark Knight, Armageddon) work a little on autopilot - and in the finale, all three sacrifice themselves, saving the President of the United States. We barely knew you!
Katie Seckhoff - Sarah Hall (Call of Duty: Black Ops III)
But what about the fair sex? Alas, the Call of Duty cast didn’t work well with famous actresses until the release of Black Ops III. There, one of the roles was taken by Katie Seckhoff - Officer Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica in 2004. A breakthrough? Probably not: her character is quickly disposed of as the plot progresses.
Nevertheless, Seckhoff took the job seriously and not only voiced Miss Hall, but also played her using motion capture technology. Did you think that authors have some special attitude towards women?
Michael Keaton - Jason Hudson (Call of Duty: Black Ops II)
Call of Duty usually has a permanent cast, but there are exceptions. For some reason, Ed Harris ("The Rock", "Apollo 13") decided not to return to the role of Special Agent Hudson, so in Black Ops II the seasoned security guard in sunglasses was voiced by Michael Keaton. Yes, that same Batman!
It is worth recalling that Keaton’s career was recently going through hard times - after the films about Gotham Knight, he starred in mediocre films for two decades, so the chance to have a hand in one of the best-selling game series came in very handy. And there it’s already not far from “Birdman”.
Michael Rooker - Mike Harper / as Himself (Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies Mode)
There are recognized actors, and there are simply favorite ones - they won’t see an Oscar in the category, but what the hell does it matter.” completely different guises.
In Black Ops, he played himself - together with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Danny Trajo and Robert Englund (classic Freddy Krueger), Michael confronted hordes of zombies in the mode of the same name.
But in Black Ops II, the actor appeared as Harper, David Mason’s partner in the story campaign. If you want, you can put a bullet in his temple - but who would commit such a crime?
John Malkovich - Oz (Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Exo Zombies)
Have you watched “Being John Malkovich” and realized that you always wanted to feel like you were in the shoes of your favorite actor? Well, Exo Zombies, an additional mode of Advanced Warfare, gives you such a unique opportunity! What could be better than shooting the undead in the company of Bill Paxton (Terminator, Aliens, Predator 2), Rose McGowan (Planet Terror) and Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead, Daredevil)?
Alas, at some point, happiness comes to an end - as the plot progresses, the militant cleaner Oz turns into a mutant and becomes an extremely tenacious boss. Luckily, the survivors have a secret weapon, and its name is...
Bruce Campbell - Lennox (Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Exo Zombies)
Everyone's favorite Ash from Evil Dead returns to round out the Exo Zombies quartet of heroes after Oz's untimely death. Even if there is no chainsaw on his hand, and the Necronomicon remains in other pants, the walking corpses (and Malkovich) will still be in trouble.
Campbell is a frequent visitor to the gaming industry. He has a very distinctive voice and a great sense of humor, so developers regularly turn to Bruce for help. But he doesn’t mind - they give him money for it.
David Hasselhoff - DJ (Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Zombies)
Especially for fans of “Knight Rider” and “Baywatch,” Infinity Ward invited David Hasselhoff to play one of the roles in the newest version of Call of Duty’s zombie mode.
Why Hasselhoff? Because the 80s: colorful outfits, crazy hairstyles, stereotypes and political incorrectness - the list would be incomplete without the participation of the controversial actor and singer popular in Germany. True, gamers will not be allowed to play for him - the DJ will simply comment on what is happening on the screen and play retro music during action scenes.
Jeff Goldbloom - Nero Blackstone (Call of Duty: Black Ops III Zombies)
What do The Fly, Jurassic Park and the Independence Day duology have in common? Charming Jeff Goldbloom, who fits absolutely everywhere, be it a comedy, horror or adventure thriller. He also came in handy in the bonus mode of Black Ops III, where for once he was given a machine gun and put on a par with Ron Perlman (Alien: Resurrection, Pacific Rim) and Heather Graham (Austin Powers: Spy. who seduced me").
By the way, Goldbloom is no stranger to voicing video games: in the 90s, he had a hand in the interactive adaptations of “The Day” and “The Park,” and also gave his voice to Count Dracula in Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland, a short adventure based on “Horror Movies” by R. L. Stein.
Evgeny Lazarev - Imran Zakhaev (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare)
The final chord is the People's Artist of the RSFSR in one of the main roles of the original Modern Warfare. If you thought that just anyone was assigned to play Zakhaev, you were mistaken: Infinity Ward and Activision picked up the venerable artist and made him up to look like a one-armed terrorist.
The choice was due to the fact that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Lazarev moved to the United States and starred a lot in political and action series ("Alias", "The West Wing", "24 Hours"), as well as Hollywood blockbusters, albeit in supporting roles. Although Imran has few lines and scenes, and the antagonists of “Rocky IV” would envy his cranberry-ness, thanks to Evgeniy Nikolaevich he at least has an authentic voice.
Set outside of Earth, players find themselves in the middle of a war that spans the entire solar system. The main character of the game, Captain Reyes, unexpectedly takes command of the Retribution, one of the remaining combat spaceships of the Earth's fleet.
We sat down with Taylor Kurosaki, Narrative Director at Infinity Ward, to chat about the epic story and development process of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.
Let's start from the beginning. How did you get into the game development industry?Taylor Kurosaki: The first game I played was Crash Bandicoot. I was the second employee at Naughty Dog, and most of the game was made by a team of five people, including two of the company's founders. As far as I remember, there were eight of us at the time of release. After working on Crash Bandicoot, I decided to take a little break from video games. I already had experience working in the TV and film industry, so I returned to the world of television. Some time later, at the end of 2003, Naughty Dog called me and asked: “Hey, can you help us with some cutscenes and dialogue?” So I returned to Naughty Dog. By this point there were already 35 or 40. I worked on Jak 3 and for about ten years on all four parts of the Uncharted series, until I moved to Infinity Ward in 2014.
Tell us about how you literally pulled Jacob Minkoff, your ex-Naughty Dog colleague, out of the jungle to join you on Infinite Warfare?Taylor Kurosaki: Jacob Minkoff and I have been through a lot and worked together at Naughty Dog for many years. But one day he just decided to take a break from business, sold his house and truck, gave his dog to someone, got rid of a bunch of other things and moved in with me before he left for the jungle, waiting for all the deals to be completed.
While he was living in my house, I started talking to Infinity Ward about the possibility of working with them, and Jacob and I started watching old war movies, playing Call of Duty, and exchanging ideas about what we could do for Call of Duty together . I said, “Listen, I would really like to work with you on this project. I don't want you to go into the jungle." And he replied: “Yes, it would be fun, but maybe some other time.”
He flew away, and I continued my communication with Infinity Ward. When they made me an offer, I emailed Jacob and received an auto-reply that he had moved upriver and would be completely unavailable. After about a month, he reached the nearest town and was able to check his mail. I sent him a message and simply wrote, “I would really like you to work with me, but I know it’s not meant to be. I hope when you receive this message in a couple of weeks, you will know that my offer is still valid.”
I received a response from Jacob the very next day. He was still in town and wrote, "Oh, most of the people in my camp are down with malaria, and I don't want that, so I'm in." And he just flew out of the jungle to Infinity Ward, and we soon began working together on Infinite Warfare.
Taylor Kurosaki: The team at Infinity Ward had some really interesting ideas about what they could do in the next Call of Duty. For example, the continuous gameplay approach was ideal for Jacob and me. No loading screens. Just imagine: you pick up a gamepad and nothing else distracts you. We were very inspired by this.
They also had some ideas about being able to select side missions, which again was something new for the Call of Duty series. This was a really interesting challenge since all of our previous games were quite linear in structure.
After watching many films and reading books about the war, we noticed two patterns. There are stories told from the perspective of an ordinary soldier, an infantryman, and there are stories from the perspective of a commander. We thought that since you have a choice of side quests, then of course you are a leader. You decide what to do next.
So we started there and never stopped. We decided to tell the story from the leader's point of view, and as you can see for yourself, the leader's goal is not to fight alongside his friends and bring everyone home. A leader's goal is to complete the task, and the task must come first.
In Saving Private Ryan, Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) learns that the main thing is not to return home to his wife, not to deliver all his subordinates to their relatives, the main thing is to save Private Ryan. We wanted to tell a story that follows these same principles, and so we have Captain Reyes, who in a very short time has to realize that he is no longer just a squad leader who has to bring all his guys home, but a real leader, and most importantly for him - completing the task.
Sacrifice for a cause is an important part of the Infinite Warfare story. Why is this issue so important to you?Taylor Kurosaki: We wanted to tell a realistic story. If you want to talk about the burdens of leadership, you have to authentically show what it's like to send people into the fire and live with the consequences. And there are always consequences. We don't want to tell stories where you are a member of a superhero squad and all the missions are calm and safe. We want to honor the service of real soldiers and talk about it without embellishment.
Taylor Kurosaki: When we start developing the characters, we don't stick to gender or race. We draw diagrams and discuss. We knew we needed a main character. We knew he would need a best friend and a right-hand man, but we also knew that someone else had to join them. And as a result, this “other” became “completely different.” By car.
Then no. Ethan was not originally intended to be a machine, just as Salter was not originally intended to be a woman. The whole point was to reveal their characters, to find the “trick”. We wouldn't have made Ethan a robot if we realized his character wouldn't work that way. From the very beginning, we promised ourselves that we would not make him a robot if we felt that such a hero would not fit into the Call of Duty universe.
There are robot heroes in many games, TV shows, and movies. We said to ourselves, “What's special about our guy? Why does he have to be a robot? – and almost at the same moment we realized that we wanted to create a universal soldier. Such a soldier must not only be the best on the battlefield, but also an ideal support for his squad.
This means that if you look at war from a soldier's perspective, you will see that the main thing for him is to protect his comrade. The main thing is to make sure everyone returns home. Therefore, Ethan's most important goal is to always protect his comrades, and in some cases, Reyes, his commander. This is his way of thinking.
How do soldiers in the midst of combat support each other? In most cases, humor helps them. It's strange, but jokes help you get through all these troubles. In war there is a lot of routine and boredom, there are many extremely dangerous, tense situations, and very few moments between these extremes.
To get through it all, to survive dangerous situations and tense moments, soldiers use humor to distract each other from the fact that death may be just around the corner. Ethan is able to joke - and this part of his personality gives him the opportunity to fit into a squad consisting of living fighters.
He is very different from them. He doesn't look like anyone else. It became extremely important to give him the opportunity to become related to other fighters in battle. With people like Omar. Omar is a true fighter who believes in the power of weapons and face-to-face combat without resorting to technical gadgets - and that is why he is skeptical of Ethan. But Omar is not a fool. He gradually recognizes Ethan as a valuable member of the team and eventually accepts him as one of his own.
Taylor Kurosaki: In terms of war stories, we looked at a huge amount of material - from Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire, which is about the Spartan soldiers at Thermopylae, to Black Hawk Down and Saving Private Ryan.
If we talk about sources of inspiration among science fiction, we can especially mention the industrial design in the films of James Cameron - he always skillfully combined recognizable elements with unfamiliar ones. If you mix them correctly, your fictional universe will become more down-to-earth and more like the real one.
The Call of Duty series is always set in a universe without monsters, aliens, or giant blue humanoids. In Infinite Warfare, we tell a story about conflict between people in a realistic future setting. When we venture into unfamiliar worlds, we take familiar elements with us - just like David Cameron. Glass cockpits on aircraft, heavy valves on the doors, helmets as if straight from the Vietnam War.
We carefully studied the aesthetics of the modern fleet and carefully transferred into the game the elements that make up real warships. We reproduced colors, materials, aesthetics - and then combined this with the design that NASA follows - because our ships do not ply the seas, but the expanses of space.
By combining all these elements, we created the Retribution, a ship that looks real because it's made up of so many real pieces of Navy and NASA hardware. Many of the players have probably never been on a real warship, but I'm almost 100% sure that none of them have ever been to Titan or Europa, or to the surface of Mars. When you go to fantastic places, you take something familiar with you, a piece of home - this is exactly what we tried to achieve in the design of the game.
The story campaign is full of various game situations - classic shootouts, space horror, fighter duels and much more. It is very difficult to combine all this and make it work within one game. Tell us about the most difficult challenges you faced during development?Taylor Kurosaki: We always ask ourselves, “Does this feel like part of Call of Duty?” – can we add certain elements without fundamentally changing the concept of the game? Call of Duty, Call of Duty 2, Modern Warfare are games that have had a huge impact on us. Our goal during the creation of the game was to honor the roots of the legendary game series, but at the same time qualitatively develop its components.
Imagine an abandoned mining colony located on a rapidly rotating asteroid near the Sun. What happened here? Where have the miners gone? Secret. The next question is, can we tell this kind of story in Call of Duty? Will it feel like Call of Duty? At some moments we said to ourselves: “Yes, this can really be done!” - and we did it. When we felt we were deviating from the canon, we said, “Stop!” and started working on the next concept.
Taylor Kurosaki: Yes, we were heavily inspired by science fiction, such as Robert Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Of course, we are very familiar with other popular works and their versions of space, planets and moons.
The point is that Europa has a lot of water. This is a place that you will definitely want to appropriate - it is a source of resources, and in war, the possession of resources is a key factor in victory. If this or that resource runs out on Earth, and at the same time it is rarely found in the vastness of the solar system, conflict between those who want it cannot be avoided.
This idea was a great starting point - being fans of science fiction and war stories, we built the narrative around them as inspiration. You can see the fruits of our labor in Infinite Warfare.
Additional information about Call of Duty is available on the official Russian-language Call of Duty Facebook page, as well as in the @CallofDuty accounts and @InfinityWard V
In the “Choose the best shooter of the fall” show, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare was the last to perform, but the number turned out to be ambiguous. Three years later, Infinity Ward returned to the big leagues, immediately stepped on the old rake, got hit in the forehead and saw the stars in the sky - as a result, the series naturally flew into space for the first time...
Infinity Ward has always relied on dynamic Hollywood storytelling. Neither logic, nor common sense, nor any disclosure of characters are important in it, but in the first place - pathos, drama and entertainment, which nail the viewer to the chair, squeeze out a tear and make you forget about the existence of the same logic and common sense... Here and this time they did not betray themselves.
The main character of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, soldier and pilot Nick Reyers, is somewhat reminiscent of Captain Shepard.Reyers controls the huge flagship ship Retribution, flies on it from planet to planet, carries out various missions, and communicates with crew members. He even has a personal account with a personal computer on which you can view the personal files of his subordinates or get some kind of intelligence report. And the goals are similar - to protect the Earth from the invasion staged by former colonists from Mars, who have now created the Colonial Defense Front.
Side missions are needed in order to get some useful perk or unlock an upgrade for the “Jackal” - Reyers’ personal fighter, which he periodically flies and fights on. Yes, in Infinite Warfare, as promised, elements of a space simulator have appeared, although infantry missions with assault and hip shooting have not gone away.
Of course, in terms of character development, Nick Reirs is as far from Captain Shepard as the Earth is from Mars. This is a hero without fear or reproach, who is always eager to fight and is ready to sacrifice himself to complete the task. The level of pathos and unmotivated heroism in Infinite Warfare is off the charts, and the writers clearly hit below the belt: they introduce many characters surrounding Reyers, only for almost all of them to die before our eyes, squeezing tears out of the viewer.
The approach is simple and predictable, as in all Hollywood dramas. If someone says "It was an honor to fight with you!" - know that in five minutes he will die! If the wounded man in your arms assures that he will soon return to duty, then he will die! If someone says that a captain should prioritize the task and not the lives of his subordinates, know that in five minutes he will die, having shown by personal example how this should be done!
Here are all the crutches and cliches familiar to Infinity Ward, and indeed to the entire series. Here you are bursting into a room full of enemies and shooting at enemies in slow motion, here a colleague extends his hand at the last moment, preventing you from falling into the abyss, here you are surviving in situations where it seemed impossible to survive - for example, after the fall of a downed fighter.
If in the latest releases of the series and, in particular, in Black Ops 3, the writers tried to take the plot to a new level and raise some more complex moral questions, then in Infinite Warfare everything returned to the level of a straightforward Hollywood action movie with heroes without fear or reproach .
In fact, some characters, such as the robot Ethan and our permanent partner Nora Salters, are written very well. At some point, it even seems that a romantic spark is about to shoot between Nick and Salters, and when in the very finale, on the verge of death, they, throwing away all conventions, begin to call each other by name, it’s natural goes to the throat. But the writers leave all these personal emotions behind the scenes, focusing on heroic pathos.
And yet all these old, hackneyed tricks still work today. Yes, this is a straightforward, but very emotional and dramatic Hollywood action film that simply cannot leave you indifferent.
And how can you not be hooked by a story that in the first 20 minutes makes you experience the death of the characters you played for, shows a large-scale invasion of Earth and sends you from the streets of Geneva, where fierce firefights take place, straight into the stratosphere to fly on a starship and commit hyperjumps on a huge spaceship?
Then there will be scenes in outer space, clearly seen in the film “Gravity” - only for them the game can be forgiven a lot. And in the finale, which is made according to the principle “Everyone will die, but I will stay. And then I’ll die too!”, tears still treacherously well up in your eyes - no matter how skeptic you are and no matter how mentally you understand that all this is cheap, predictable and has already been seen and re-seen so many times...
The level of directing, as always from Infinity Ward, is impeccable, in addition, the authors competently maintain the rhythm, alternate different situations and game mechanics, forcing us to shoot from behind cover, fly on a starship, or fight in outer space using a grappling hook "
And even the side missions here, unlike Black Ops 2, where there were also optional tasks, are staged almost like story ones - with cutscenes, drama and special, invariably interesting conditions. Somewhere we levitate in outer space, penetrate an enemy destroyer and steal some important piece of equipment, somewhere we rescue hostages, carefully knocking out enemies one by one, and somewhere we fight on the surface of a hot asteroid, watching not only the enemies, but also to avoid being exposed to the deadly rays of the sun...
There is a certain regression in multiplayer. It would be more accurate to say that Infinity Ward has returned, by and large, to the familiar and long-established mechanics of Modern Warfare.
Multi-level maps are a thing of the past, and all these acrobatic exercises with long jumps and flights and running along walls no longer play such a role as, for example, in Advanced Warfare. The battles take place mainly on the ground, and these are very fast, dagger fights - the fast pace typical for the series has increased even more here, and even on slightly more extensive maps there is no need to talk about conducting any kind of positional combat.
Against this background, the multiplayer battles of Battlefield 1 and Totanfall 2 look more interesting, complex and varied.
On the other hand, those who like it hot and fast, longtime fans of Modern Warfare and the dagger-like multiplayer style inherent in this subseries should be pleased. Moreover, all the cards are well thought out and designed from a design point of view, and each one has to be carefully studied so as not to remain a stranger at this celebration of life. In the same way, you need to study the features of using different weapons, “attachments” for them, perks and classes. Yes, Infinite Warfare has a more distinct class system, the role of which is played by exoskeletons. There are six of them in total: however, three of them are initially available, and the rest will open as you gain levels.
Each of the exoskeletons is tailored for a specific fighting style and gives its owner unique active and passive skills. True, you won’t be able to use all your skills at the same time - you’ll have to think and choose.
By participating in various game modes (“Team Battle”, “Superiority”, “Team Defense”, where you need to capture radio modules for your team, and others), you not only increase the overall level of your character, but also upgrade the weapons you use. And this opens up new body kits and upgrades for each gun, allowing, for example, to reduce recoil, install an optical sight, or increase ammunition. Thus, Infinite Warfare opens up simply enormous opportunities for fine-tuning your character.
It must be remembered that many still consider Modern Warfare to be the pinnacle of the series' development. Therefore, such a “regression” for them would seem like a balm for the soul. But then it’s all the more strange that Infinite Warfare not only doesn’t break sales records, but sells even worse than Black Ops 3. There are two options. Or people are still tired of the futuristic setting, and they don’t even like space - especially since battles on fighter planes are implemented quite primitively, at the level of an arcade space shooting gallery. Or, on the contrary, he was not ready for such sudden movements, which in some amazing way are combined with old, in some ways even archaic, mechanics and principles of plot presentation. In any case, we are happy with the fact that Infinity Ward is back - even if it’s with an armful of old rakes!
What hero do players remember first when it comes to Call of Duty? That's right - the mustachioed and forever young John Price. But the British captain is far from the only bright character in the popular series. Fans will probably name a dozen more “legendary” names.
Starting with Call of Duty: World at War, the authors have involved A-list stars in the development, and also use images of real historical figures in the games. And the authors now take scripts much more seriously. So in the new game, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, we will meet with Kit Harington (Game of Thrones), who for the first time in his career will play a villain who unleashes a war of cosmic proportions.
Read about other notable characters from Call of Duty in our material!
Victor Reznov (Call of Duty: World at War)One of the first truly interesting heroes was Viktor Reznov, who appeared in Call of Duty: World at War. Last but not least, he was remembered by the players thanks to Gary Oldman (The Fifth Element, Dracula), who gave the soldier his voice.
In some ways, Reznov is similar to Price. The Soviet commander also appeared in several games in the series: he defended Stalingrad and took Berlin in World at War, led the uprising in Vorkuta in Black Ops, and helped Alex Mason in Black Ops 2 (although the latter case, apparently, was only Mason’s hallucination).
Reznov is perhaps the most tragic hero of Call of Duty. During the siege of Stalingrad, he lost friends and family, and after World War II he ended up in the Gulag. According to the official version, a Soviet soldier died trying to escape from the camp, but confirmation of this was never found.
Alexey Voronin (Call of Duty)Although the creators of Call of Duty did not immediately begin to take their characters seriously, we simply could not ignore the very first part of the series. Alexey Voronin is the main character of the Soviet campaign in Call of Duty. It was he who made his way through Stalingrad under gunfire in 1942, and three years later he installed the Victory Banner on the roof of the Reichstag.
Little is known about the hero himself. At the beginning of the war, he was an ordinary Red Army soldier, and reached Berlin as a lieutenant of the 150th Infantry Division of the Red Army. Maybe Alexey Voronin is not the most important character of the original (in the first part we played as two more heroes), but for Russian players he is certainly another reason to play through the same Call of Duty of 2003 again.
John "Soap" McTavish (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare)John "Soap" McTavish is the central character of the Modern Warfare trilogy. And if in the first game he was a recruit with a “stupid name,” then by Modern Warfare 2 he had risen to the rank of captain and became Price’s closest friend.
Soap participated in all the key events of the trilogy: he prevented the US bombing, eliminated the nationalist Imran Zakhaev, pulled Price out of a guarded prison and tracked down the terrorist Vladimir Makarov, who carried out a massacre at the airport.
At the same time, Soap was seriously injured in every game. In Modern Warfare 2, for example, he had to pull out a rather large knife from his own chest and throw it at the main villain. The third wound that McTavish received in Prague was the last - John did not live to see the hospital.
Simon "Ghost" Riley (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2)Here's another character from Modern Warfare. The taciturn Simon Riley first appeared in the second part of the trilogy and was remembered for the fact that he spent the entire game wearing a mask with an image of a human skull. Ghost helped the main characters during special operations and never came to the fore.
Perhaps Riley would have remained just another extra if not for the very “spectacular” death of the hero. Ghost was shot, and his body was doused with gasoline and burned. And it would be fine if the character died at the hands of the enemy, but he was killed by US Army General Shepard, who turned out to be a traitor.
The developers rightly judged that in Modern Warfare 2 Ghost was given little attention, and after the game’s release they released a comic book series, Modern Warfare 2: Ghost, dedicated to Riley.
When Shepard killed Ghost, many players were also sad because the scene shown in this screenshot was preceded by a long and very difficult mission. And all for what?
Faithful dog
The idea of a special “Ghosts” unit, which would include the most experienced operatives, has been in the air for a long time and, as a result, found its embodiment in Call of Duty: Ghosts. The game itself turned out to be an acquired taste, but there was one “hero” that you can’t forget about.
We are talking about a German shepherd nicknamed Riley (in honor of Ghost, of course), which became a symbol of the release. During some tasks, the dog can be given orders. At such moments, Riley turns into a real killing machine: he becomes invulnerable and single-handedly tears apart entire squads of enemies with his teeth. And sometimes you can take control of the dog yourself, sneak through the bushes into the enemy camp and sink your teeth into... the enemy’s carcass.
Even before the release of Call of Duty: Ghosts, employees of the Infinity Ward studio presented Riley as one of the main features of the game. This approach did not go unnoticed: thanks to the players, the dog quickly became a meme.
Raul Menendez (Call of Duty: Black Ops 2)The Call of Duty series knows not only brave heroes, but also crazy villains. The latter, without a doubt, includes Raul Menendez, a politician from Nicaragua, revolutionary and founder of the Cordis Die organization, whose goal is to destroy the capitalist superpowers.
Menendez is one of the most colorful characters in Call of Duty. He does not seek to kill as many civilians as possible (such sacrifices, in his opinion, are just costs), but wants to take revenge on those who are responsible for the death of his younger sister.
The appearance of such a character in Call of Duty is not an accident. The script for Black Ops 2 was written by David Goyer (Blade, The Dark Knight), and he should be thanked for the character of the hero.
Jonathan Irons (Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare)Gary Oldman is not the only actor involved in the creation of Call of Duty. Thus, in Advanced Warfare the main villain was played by Kevin Spacey (“LA Confidential”, “House of Cards”). And, I must admit, he played excellently. True, this time the creators did without Goyer’s help, so the story lost its presentation and gained several “unexpected” twists.
This, however, does not make Jonathan Irons himself a less interesting character. He is the head of the private military corporation Atlas, one of the most powerful in the world. At first, Irons even tries to help the main character: he takes him to work after a serious injury, gives him access to the most modern weapons and implants (by this time the series had finally moved to the future).
However, the desire for unlimited power is a trait most often inherent in villains. This is what Irons becomes, but he does not have time to realize his dream of world domination, perishing as the most typical villain.
Salen Kotch (Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare)But Salen Kotch does not waste his time on such trifles as world domination. His goal is a space war, the capture of the Earth, other planets and the destruction of all dissenters.
The commander of the villainous organization Settlement Defense Front in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is played by Kit Harington (Game of Thrones, Silent Hill 2). Little is known about Admiral Kotch's motives, but judging by the name of the SDF, Salen was not satisfied with Earth's policy regarding the colonies. Because of what “Jon Snow” actually went over to the dark side of the Force and decided to unleash an intergalactic massacre, we will find out on November 4th.
By the way, narrative director Taylor Kurosaki is involved in the development of the new game (in other words, he is responsible for the script), who previously worked at Naughty Dog on the Uncharted series. Given this fact, it's easy to believe that Infinite Warfare's heroes and villains will surprise us... in a good way.
THIS IS INTERESTING: as for famous personalities, in the case of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, the Infinity Ward studio attracted at least two more “stars” to create the game - mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor and a British race car driver. The former will play assistant Kotch, and the latter will play an engineer aboard the space cruiser Retribution, which survived the SDF attack on the United Nations Space Alliance fleet.
* * *There are many characters in Call of Duty. While developing the series and creating new games, the developers do not forget about their heroes. There are already many famous names - who knows how many there will be in the future.
What other characters would you classify as Call of Duty legends? Write in the comments!
