Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was pretty great. A masterclass in multiplayer while unfortunately tepid in exploration of the war on terror in its single-player campaign, the newest entry in the series blockbuster franchise is groundbreaking, to say the least.
But what's more interesting is the journey that it took to get there. Infinity Ward, the developer behind the original Medal of Honor and later the first Call of Duty, wanted to do a modern take on first person shooters ever since the success of the first Call of Duty.
But because of the proven success of the WWII subgenre, the developer was stuck with developing the sequel, and yet still managed to eke out a major success. All this and more is covered by Raycevick's latest game documentary about the title, covering the history before and behind its development, and everything therein and after.
Starting all the way back with Allied Assault, Raycevick covers how the developer was worried about working with EA, as even back in the 90s, the publisher had a track record of absorbing studios. Soon after Allied Assault released, the developer was meeting with Activision, pitching what would eventually become Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, but it took a long time to get there.
What I love most about this is the way Raycevick dissects the single-player campaign and expounds on how the original game has lived on. Starting with the developer's original titles, he explains how Modern Warfare reincorporates open-ended missions like in their original games, rather than pushing the player further and further to a breaking point, like Call of Duty 2. There are even parallels between the opening missions being practice sessions for the player to go through, while also revealing Captain Price.
The genius of the game further perpetuates by hopping the player between massive battles of the American campaign and the tighter, more secretive missions of the SAS, something that would be repeated in the reboot.
Other continuations include things like Promod, which is a hardcore recreation of the game's multiplayer that continues even to this day.
It's a great watch if you've got the time. At over an hour, it might as well be a feature length doc on TV. Well-researched and produced, it's a fantastic look at a great game.
