By Jim Rossignol on November 9th, 2008 at 3:31 pm.
VG247 posted this video of the first five minutes of Treyarch’s Call of Duty 5, which is out next week. Pat notes that the intro sequences includes actual footage of people being executed. Not game engine killing, or rendered in a cutscene, but the actual death of someone in the war. Of course we see this kind of footage all the time in documentaries about the era, or simulated and mocked up in World War II movies, so I guess it’s nothing to worry about…
09/11/2008 at 15:34 Dan says:
Someone’s been influenced by The Kingdom. It’s a nifty way of educating though.
09/11/2008 at 15:48 Mythrilfan says:
That looked really well done (not the execution – the video!). Do not forget to watch it in HQ in Youtube though.
09/11/2008 at 15:54 Roritharr says:
That looked really well done (not the video – the execution!).
09/11/2008 at 16:02 Smee says:
Ooh, lovely. I do like that sort of graphic work. Reminds me very much of War Corporatism and Big Brother State.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=t5GcFl_oQi4
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jJTLL1UjvfU
Slightly better than the hard rock trailer that was just released?
09/11/2008 at 16:03 A-Scale says:
The guy actually playing was total shit.
As far as the brutality goes; that’s what the Japs actually did. I suppose if you want to piss people off enough to want to kill their computerized counterparts, showing the horrid actions they actually performed is a pretty good way to go about it.
09/11/2008 at 16:06 Another one says:
It’s still just another WW2 shooter.
09/11/2008 at 16:10 Gundato says:
Decent game, but it looks like the devs didn’t really agree on what kind of atmosphere they were going for. You have the historical footage (which kind of hurts immersion, but is still nice) to try to portray the horrors of war, then you have borderline “over the top” gore.
Yeah, war is horrifying, but CoD5 feels a bit more like Soldier of Fortune 2 than Saving Private Ryan in its depiction of the horror.
I dunno, it just seems like they go from “War is hell” to “Yay, gibs!” on a level by level basis.
09/11/2008 at 16:18 fulis says:
They try to play up the seriousness of war, but then they add zombies to the game
Way to go
Also, the intro was really inspired by this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK24qS1mPFo
09/11/2008 at 16:25 MeesterCat says:
WWII, brought to you by ESPN.
(Up to 2:10 at least).
09/11/2008 at 16:28 Dracko says:
Where was the over the top gore, pray tell?
09/11/2008 at 16:37 Dinger says:
Yay. Well, at least it’s more realistic than CoD4, right Mr. Producer? In CoD5, your soldier can take a dozen bullets, random grenade shrapnel and several timpanum-shredding explosions before croaking.
Seriously, what’s with the “realism” claims? You’re providing a canned narrative. “Realistic” war sucks for those (seriously, “snuck through the jungle for 12 hours, did not make contact with the enemy” only has a _chance_ at being fun as a Coop game), so the story is as realistic as Rambo. So, if you want “realism”, you can only do it by ditching the canned narrative (those twelve hours only work because of the possibility of turning a corner and finding a huge enemy camp, and, of course, if those twelve hours are actually two). Otherwise, you’ve got a playable comic book, and there’s nothing wrong with that – but who buys comics for their realist vision?
oh, and yeah, the cool, newsreel/propaganda style introduction suffers from the inclusion of genuine footage. Mass graves and executions? For a game where your purpose is to slaughter thousands?
09/11/2008 at 16:39 terry says:
the first 40 seconds are like a fairlight demo, but i feel a little edgy about the execution thing. i’m not all that sure i’d welcome cel shaded lemonparty or sobbing vietcong execution battler 2000 for that matter.
on the other hand, the inclusion of the word “treyarch” offends me infinitely more. the scars will never heal :(
09/11/2008 at 16:44 Vollgassen says:
It’s like a big budget WWII exploitation film. Hard to know how to take it.
09/11/2008 at 16:58 Aaron says:
Impressive demo.
It struck me in a bad way though.
The portrayal of very realistic and horrific violence “torn from history” as an emotional tie in to the story seems disingenuous when combined with the rambo like action.
09/11/2008 at 17:07 Nayon says:
Was that voiced by Kiefer Sutherland? I mean the Makin Atoll Island briefing?
09/11/2008 at 17:14 darthpugwash says:
The footage is somewhat in bad taste due to the context it’s in IMHO. In a documentary the aim is to educate, whereas games are supposed to be entertainment first and foremost.
But anyway the game looks decent, but I can’t say I’m terribly interested in it. I’m more interested in hearing about Infinity Ward’s next game to be honest.
09/11/2008 at 17:26 Kieron Gillen says:
Yeah, Kiefer is the narrator.
KG
09/11/2008 at 17:36 Thirith says:
It’s a shame that they seem to be using cheap shock tactics to make this a hard-hitting, gritty game. Call of Duty 4 was much cleverer in this respect, I think; it subverted the “you’re a hero doing heroic things” storyline quite effectively from the go, where your first engagement with the enemy has you shooting sleeping men in their bunks, and scenes such as the president’s execution or the post-nuke sequence where you’re shown just how little control you have over the situation. Sure, CoD4 was a big-budget on-rails shooter, but it did a couple of fairly subversive things in how it positioned the player. CoD5 seems to be going for nothing other than “They’re evil, you’re good – kill the fuckers!”
09/11/2008 at 17:37 Nimdok says:
It’s a game. They’re hoping for shock value and publicity from enraged Japanese-American groups. The actual Japanese have a great sense of humor about the whole thing and a rather good concept of “it happened it the past, so why dwell on it now?”
As it stands, I’m a little annoyed that they’ve jumped back to WWII after CoD4. I LIKED finally getting to play a shooter that didn’t involve bolt-action rifles and Thompsons. I LIKED the near-future setting, the fictional storyline. I’m starting to HATE semi-historical games that try to milk a gods-damned war for all it’s worth.
09/11/2008 at 17:42 qrter says:
I think you hit the nail on the head – there’s a huge difference, contextually.
It’s a bit like saying “look how horrible all of this was (in a showy, flashy way).. now let’s have some fun with it!”.
09/11/2008 at 17:54 Funky Badger says:
Thirith: the Death from Above level in CoD4 as well. Unsettling.
09/11/2008 at 17:55 A-Scale says:
Har har we massacred millions!
I’m certain it’s a lot easier for the Japanese to be light hearted about their genocide than it is for their victims. From what I’ve seen/heard the Japanese are actually quite coy about their guilt in the war, and while at pearl harbor I overheard a Japanese tourist say to his child “WE lost people here too, you know!”. Seems like a convenient way to forget their crimes.
09/11/2008 at 18:01 Thirith says:
Funky Badger: Absolutely. I’m surprised how few people mention just how subversive some of CoD4 is.
09/11/2008 at 18:07 Sum0 says:
I completely agree with Thirith and Funky Badger – that was one of the things I liked most about CoD4, the intelligent way it made a subtle comment without going too far over the top. It was almost – dare I say it? – approaching art. I was blown away (pun intended) by the Death from Above level when I realised “Hang on, is this level making a comment on how war is like a video game these days?”
09/11/2008 at 18:10 Tom says:
This is another series that really need to be put to sleep imo.
Got old a long time a go. Can’t stand how on-the-rails CoD’s are. Even Half Life’s complete linearity feels more open to exploration than a CoD game. Still, different strokes for different folks I guess. CoD4 was insanely popular. Can’t see why myself.
09/11/2008 at 18:19 Heliocentric says:
If you are going to make a derivitive cash in game on the hope people think its a real sequel the least you can do is choose an original setting.
Japan is better than the hedge rows of germany though.
09/11/2008 at 18:25 The_B says:
Holy shit. I now cannot wait for the inevitable nuclear bomb Hiroshima level. NARRATED BY JACK FUCKING BAUER!
09/11/2008 at 18:35 Thirith says:
Tom: The games’ linearity allows them to do things that a non-linear shooter (say, STALKER) can’t do, and vice versa. The two are distinctly different experiences.
09/11/2008 at 18:56 Kieron Gillen says:
To be fair, the bits of CoD5 I have played – which isn’t much at all – does involve you executing men who’ve surrendered in the Russian missions.
KG
09/11/2008 at 19:15 Thirith says:
Hmm. It’ll be interesting to see whether they do anything interesting and worthwhile with the moral ambiguity. The first five minutes shown in the video suggest that they may not have the deft touch needed to handle such tricky material.
Also, it’s easy enough to show that the Russians aren’t the shiny heroes. Making the Americans and Brits look decidedly less heroic? That’s an entirely different thing.
09/11/2008 at 19:19 Kieron Gillen says:
If you’re dealing with Berlin specifically, it’s really hard to not show the Russians as open bastards.
KG
09/11/2008 at 19:31 qrter says:
Yeah, I think Thirith is right – ‘sandbox’ and ‘linear’ seem to be buzzwords these days, as if all games should have such an experience, instead of looking what the designer wants to achieve.
Duncan Fyfe wrote an interesting piece about this on his Hit Self-Destruct blog: Decide Now
09/11/2008 at 19:33 sdff says:
this is an outrage, they shouldnt show executions they should at least replace the blood with fluffy rainbows, and pixies… after all its not as if the game is rated 3+
09/11/2008 at 20:37 Dracko says:
I’m with Kieron on this one: The Russian invasion of Berlin was pretty damn fucking bleak on all fronts.
Though I somehow doubt this game will feature rape of German citizens in the Berlin underground or the like.
09/11/2008 at 21:03 Funky Badger says:
KG: you’re not really selling this to me… ;-)
09/11/2008 at 21:31 caramelcarrot says:
They really need to drop that graphical style, it’s getting bloody overplayed
09/11/2008 at 22:47 Calabi says:
When are developers going to stick to making a game instead of some cinematic movie bollocks.
09/11/2008 at 23:13 Mil says:
Having footage of real human beings losing their lives might seem pretty bad taste…
… but at least it’s nothing as morally reprehensible as The Witcher’s sex cards.
(Sorry, I just couldn’t resist).
09/11/2008 at 23:14 changeling says:
Actually, that execution footage is from WWI. Don’t hate me for my knowledge – did it last week in school.
Don’t hate me for my age, either
09/11/2008 at 23:18 changeling says:
oh tits. My bad, no it isn’t. I’m awfully sorry old beans
10/11/2008 at 01:00 Erlam says:
“Mass graves and executions? For a game where your purpose is to slaughter thousands?”
Not to mention, do they show the internment camps in the US? Or how about what happened to Japanese P.O.W.’s?
Sorry, but don’t even try to push this propaganda on me.
10/11/2008 at 01:39 araczynski says:
THE best Call of Duty i’ve ever played, and THE best ww2 shooter i’ve ever played.
10/11/2008 at 01:55 Alctel says:
I got an extremely strong anti-war vibe from CoD4, which was one of the reasons I liked it so much, not to mention the less than favoritable light it showed the Western forces in which is extremely unusual nowadays.
10/11/2008 at 08:21 Dusk says:
I played through this game on co-op on the 360 on Saturday, at the COD:WaW Launch Party in Melbourne, Aus. The game was fine, the best WWII game I have played, although I preferred the action of COD4 more. Also the graphics of split screen Xbox 360 suck when compared to the graphics that single player PC has.
This game makes you feel dirty. You use flamethrowers to burn the flesh off the Japanese in their bunkers, and as a Russian invading berlin you watch as your allies break into a room full of surrendering German soldiers, and execute them.
The real war footage adds to this “War is horrbile, now we want you to feel bad while you play” feeling that the game gives you.
Without spoiling it, at one point your actions will determine whether Kiefer Sutherland lives or dies, and in the aftermath the vibe that the game gives off is incredibly anti-war, but regardless soldiers have no choice in the matter and so push onwards.
Also included is real war news footage of the Hiroshima bombing, but there are no levels set in japan.
10/11/2008 at 08:35 Thirith says:
Dusk: Thanks for that update. I’m sure there’ll be players thinking “Huh-huh, cool… Executing German soldiers! Huh-huh…,” but it’s interesting that the game obviously allows for a more ambivalent reaction.
I find this a very interesting topic: ethics and video games. It’s a shame that most of the discussions about it boil down to “Killing people in games is evil! Gamers are evil!” or “It’s just a game and I can tell the difference between games and reality, so nyah nyah!” As far as I’m concerned, while fiction is clearly fiction it’s still not that easy – just as you can get genuinely angry at fictional characters (Nurse Ratched, I’m looking at you!) or cry about the death of a fictional character, there’s definitely the potential there to make players think about their actions. Think Shadow of the Colossus, for instance. It’s tricky to do it well, though; games are primarily supposed to be fun, so inserting some “War is hell” message can easily become hypocritical.
10/11/2008 at 09:48 megaman says:
Funny that I just played and finished CoD4 yesterday. Didn’t really think this would be interesting, and I ended loving it. I don’t want to go back to WW II though. Are there any MODs/Expansions for COD4?
10/11/2008 at 10:18 Jim Rossignol says:
That was exactly my experience with COD4, and I think the experience of 90% of people who played it. It was far better than it had any right to be.
10/11/2008 at 10:24 Thirith says:
Far better, far more interesting and far more intelligent, I’d even say.
10/11/2008 at 11:45 Bobsy says:
To be honest, I’m all for highlighting the ugly, nasty side of war. I’m just not up for more World War Twoing. I was done with that at the end of CoD1.
Actually, that’s a lie. I’m done with soldiering in WW2. Give me a video-game equal to Downfall, or a decent French Resistance game instead.
10/11/2008 at 12:49 Bozzley says:
Bobsy – try Medal of Honour Underground for the PS1 (although it’s not very good).
10/11/2008 at 14:11 ETPC says:
My favorite part of the “Death From Above” level is just how monotone the crew is. Like they don’t see it as much more then some blobs on the ground that might talk.
A example:
*You blow up a building*
“Ka-Boom.”
I love it. They just don’t care. It’s like their office job.
10/11/2008 at 15:23 Gilzor says:
I keep hearing a lot about the Russians invading Berlin, and how horrific it was… what the jiff happened? I’m clueless on that entire period.
10/11/2008 at 15:27 Maximum Fish says:
Whether it was the introduction to The Kingdom or those “military industrial complex” conspiracy theory shows, this game is ripping one or both off, and pretty shamelessly. Then again, maybe it’s the same guy, the artist. Maybe it’s his/her style or whatever…
Also, i’m pretty sure COD4 wasn’t substantially “anti-war” or anything. I think some people may be reading too much in, or ‘projecting’ a little bit. There’s not much that’s really ‘pro-war’, because it’s sort of hard to be unless you’re completely insane, but i’m pretty sure COD4 didn’t have a “message” or anything.
Lastly, this documentary-game mashup isn’t new or anything. Way back in the Dynamix days, Aces of the Deep had interviews Band of Brothers style with U-boat aces and other veterans between missions. I don’t know, maybe that’s okay or whatever because the game was so stale, but it’s pretty much the same thing. Yeah, this game is all about (trying to be) entertaining, but so is watching Black Hawk Down or Saving Private Ryan. Shit, the latter launched the WWII shooter genre into prominence to begin with, because people watched it, and band of brothers, and said “i want to do that in a videogame!” Which is why every level in COD1 was ripped straight out of a scene from either the movie or the show. Moderately warped? Yes, but then again violence as entertainment is hardly a novel concept.
10/11/2008 at 15:29 Kieron Gillen says:
They raped their way across Germany, for a start.
(Not totally fair – it wasn’t a systemised Everyone Does It thing. The contrast between how different soldiers behaved in a given situation is one of the most striking elements of it.)
If you’re interested in the period, you should read something of it. I’m re-reading Antony Beevor’s Berlin: The Downfall right now and it remains the ability to shock and provoke me so much I’ve got to put book book down sor a few seconds every couple of paragraphs.
KG
10/11/2008 at 16:21 Down Rodeo says:
ETPC: “We got a runner – he’s down”
That level made me shiver.
It annoys me that they have gone to WWII again, this feels like a rehash of CoD2 to me. Good game, but do we need more?
I agree that there is a certain amount of irony inherent in showing footage of mass graves and executions when the player is a walking death machine whose only purpose on this earth is to end the lives of others. At least, that’s the way Call of Duty has always played. (It would be interesting, perhaps, to have a game where your team-mates kill as many as you do; eg your overall killrate drops while theirs gets more in balance… Difficult to do with curent AI technology perhaps but it could be worth it to make you less of a one-man army.) Yet CoD2′s history sections in between levels were often interesting and informative. That said they did not include images of people being shot, I think. This was a while ago and I can’t remember.
Also, as a parting shot, zombies in a WWII FPS is gimmicky. Nothing more, nothing less. I will probably never know why they thought it was a good idea.
10/11/2008 at 21:27 Klaus says:
Yes this was it, I don’t usually play first-person shooters. I’m more of a RPG fellow. CoD4 was the first FPS I have played and loved in years. I was pleasantly surprised how awesome it was. My only criticism was that it was too short.
In regard to war games I tend to not think of goodies and baddies, I think of it as people who just doing their jobs. Such as the bombing mission, it was no big deal to them. There are no soliloquies, thank goodness.
I may have liked it because I didn’t see myself as the ‘Ultimate War Hero’. I was poor old Soap and some American guy I don’t care enough about to remember.
10/11/2008 at 22:22 Funky Badger says:
Breaking continuity for a moment, I think Gears of War 2 is touching on some of the above themes (don’t laugh) – an interesting and welcome new direction in gaming…?
11/11/2008 at 08:09 jay says:
“Guerilla war struggle is a new entertainment!”
“Guerilla war struggle is a new entertainment!”
(forgive me)