https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSYUQDRTQ6s
At this point in time, the Call of Duty franchise is an institution. It’s a piece of entertainment that’s in just about every household. Gamers that grew up on the Medal of Honor series graduated to CoD on the PC in 2003, and since then, they’ve grown up with the ever-evolving series that’s had its massive share of ups, and lately, quite a few downs.
The last half-decade or so of CoD games have felt lifeless — just a product, rather than a massive experience gamers felt compelled to partake in. But with CoD: WW2, there’s a different vibe in the air. Sledgehammer Games seems like they’re going all-out to fight back against the immense popularity of Battlefield 1 and the crowded field of competition. Perhaps it’s because of the pushback against the space-faring CoD, or the overpriced remasters, but going back to the WW2 setting feels right. This whole lead up to CoD: WW2 feels like it’s for the fans. You can look no further than how they’re treating the innovations in the multiplayer, to everyone’s lumbering darling, Nazi Zombies mode.
Gamespot spoke with creative director Cameron Dayton and development director John Horsley about what fans can expect from the Nazi Zombies. So far, most details have been kept under wraps, and while this could be pre-release hype, knowing that they’re going all out, getting David Tennant (and adding some Doctor Who references) leads us to believe that this gory alt-history mode is being lovingly crafted. It’s worth getting excited over. That, and the horror.
“The gritty realism is that you’re in a world where you can see the texture of the wood and the nails and the brick and mortar around you; when something crawls out of the dirt right in front of you, then it’s a little more frightening.”
“The fans’ reactions are really positive, which has been really, really great to see and hear. In our efforts, the thing that’s going to be interesting and fresh–we’ve got a thematic change and its actually scary. It’s probably the scariest experience we’ve ever provided in Call of Duty. At least I hope so. And we didn’t really talk at length about in the trailer, we got more to release later on but we’ve done things to make it more cooperative. We’ve done things to make it more rewarding.”
“There are these fun elements that we are jazzed about for our game, and it just kept coming back to the one thing–we believe we have built the scariest zombie mode that has ever been created. I mean, we know they are testing the game upstairs because we’ll hear these shouts and screams and somebody is yelling bad swears upstairs and whereas there are those who know where all those scare moments are, who know what’s about to happen, still get scared playing that and while, yes, there’s certainly a lot of crafting and building towards that, and a some very sober thought in that direction, we think we hit that magic target where there’s some fantastically terrifying moments in this game that are going to surprise everybody.”
Knowing that teamwork is going to have a bigger emphasis in how you survive the waves of zombies is absolutely welcome. Nazi Zombies was/is fun, but having the underlying aspect of helping your teammates survive by handing off gear and gathering equipment in a more realistic manner seems like it’s taking a page from Fortnite. Will there be more crafting than just blocking doors and windows?
And how long will the story last?
Read the rest of the lengthy interview at Gamespot. It’s worth it.