IGN call of duty preview. The whole PREVIEW with screenshots *they like it a lot*
Sat Sep 20, 2003 2:19 am
VIDEO PREVIEW. They say it's a BF multiplayer killer. 64 players in multi
http://insider.ign.com/videos/articles/450/450825p1.html
September 19, 2003 - After coming home from the Call of Duty event last night, I can firmly say that I'm probably more excited about this game than any other I can think of that's up for release this holiday season. Not only did the lot of us get to jump in and try out a gaggle of new levels that we hadn't had the chance to play before, but also got to test our skills out in the multiplayer portion of the game. Everything is looking rock solid with an amazing engine, wonderful AI (both enemy and friendly) and some seriously heart-pounding action in each level.
You know the premise, so let's get right into the meat. We played the single player portions of the game first, so we'll start there. Each and every one of these levels was a non-stop barrage of gunfire and chaos. And each and every one of these levels found me dead on more than one occasion. There are so many enemies coming from so many directions it's ridiculous. You just have to be quick on the trigger and wait to move until you're given cover fire. Carrying out orders quickly also increases your chance of survival. Hop to it soldier!
Those that have played the terrific demo Activision released should have a hint at what is coming in the next level. But the reality of the situation is that they're going to come back into the town with more firepower than you and your team brought with you. What ensues is an incredible assault from many parts of the town that will have you fighting against soldiers, playing the roll of anti-tank gunner, handing an heavy machine gun emplacement, and scrambling like hell to stay alive. German soldiers come from all over the place, but they always look like they're coming from somewhere they should be coming from. This is one of the big things that the team wanted to make sure was included in this game and they've succeeded. Germans come out of buildings, through holes in walls, over walls, in trucks, escorting tanks... they come from everywhere, but you never get the feeling that they're just spawning on the other side of these obstacles, you really start to get the feeling that they've been marching in from some unknown starting point just to kill you and your friends.
While many of the single player levels in the game will feature you on foot against the German army, there'll be more missions that involve vehicles of some sort. Two of these missions were demoed last night. One put players in the back of a moving truck trying to fend off German vehicles and the soldiers in the back of them using machine guns, anti-tank weapons, and sniper rifles. Your aim will have to be good and your decisions quick. You, the driver, and the guy helping you out in the back of the truck depend on it. Fighting while moving like this has been done before, but it was still a damn fun experience and pretty challenging.
We also had the chance to jump behind the controls of a tank rolling along in a column of six. There were plenty of enemy tanks to engage and battles to fight. One of the things that really tickled my fancy was just how the environments were handled when it came to tank interaction. Those pesky trees that seem to give your tanks so many problems in other games like this stand no chance. They just crunch, crash, and become fodder for your treads. Being able to run through forests seems like a small thing, but I found it almost entertaining enough by itself. This level gave me the feeling like I was just part of someone else's RTS game (particularly because of the mechanical way the tanks move around in line much as they might in an RTS when wandering across a map).
You can see all of these different parts of the game in our video preview , which I highly recommend checking out. The game looks and plays amazing in single player. While Medal of Honor really started this mad rush at working with your fellow soldiers, Call of Duty will take it to the next level.
The one thing that we haven't really had the chance to talk about up until now has been the multiplayer portion of the game. After everyone had the chance to drop into the single player for a while, the server was started, teams were chosen, and all were put in the middle of some team deathmatch to get warmed up. Over the course of the night, we saw four of the multiplayer maps, and each of the nationalities available for play.
The first map was from the demo mission, but in daylight, as it is in the single player mission that follows the demo. The entire map is there and intact and is surprisingly fun without many changes at all. Perhaps this is due to the basic nature of the game. Because the single player has so many soldiers fighting on each side, ducking, running, hiding, finding sniper positions, and so on, it already lends itself to team play fantastically.
The second map brought us to the hills just inside the Normandy shoreline. Those that have seen the opening mission in Band of Brothers will recognize this immediately. While we started out on this map in team deathmatch again, it was later switched to objective based play. The map itself was a pretty interesting design that took some time getting used to. It was actually a circle with boundaries on the outside of the circle in the form of a very deadly minefield that our old compatriot David Smith managed to find right off the bat. In the middle was a mess of shrubs and a hill that can't be climbed. But there are tunnels going through the mound to get to the other side. One side of the hill holds the Allied starting point while the other is home to two artillery pieces. The Allied objectives are to destroy them while the Axis hunkers down to protect them. The interesting thing here is that the game worked in a Counter-Strike fashion. Meaning once you die, you're dead until the next round. It certainly adds more strategy to the mix and tension. No one wants to run right into the enemy and have to sit out until the round is over.
But if you do happen to do this, you'll get the chance to check out the Kill Cam, which shows the few seconds before your death from the perspective of the person that killed you. So you can see how that guy snuck up behind you and shot you in the back or sniped you from a distance. It's actually pretty entertaining to see how you were offed. This feature works for any of the multiplayer modes. Another mode like this will actually allow players to watch the last few seconds of the player that managed to complete the last objective in a mission. Nothing wrong with a little bit of glory I suppose.
The next map put players back into team deathmatch, but this time with the Russians and Germans going at it. The Russians have a smaller selection of weapons to pick from, which I didn't like quite as much. One thing that can be said for all of the weapons in Call of Duty is that they look, sound, and feel fantastic. But if you happen to be a Russian in this level, you might find yourself snaking weapons from fallen German soldiers as I did. One of the coolest parts of this map was an area that seemed to concentrate some of the action. It actually was the second story of two separate buildings with windows facing each other. Getting in a firefight between these two buildings was a blast. There were usually a lot of dead bodies in each of those rooms.
The last map and mode for the night took place in a European town somewhere (whatever, I was too busy trying to kill people to pay attention) with a lot of buildings and plenty of places to get in close quarter fights. Running down the middle of the road through town can be a seriously dangerous proposition with so many windows looking down on the lane. The mode for this map was called Behind Enemy Lines. Basically, there were three Allied soldiers on the map with the rest Axis. The Axis players were charged with hunting down these Allied soldiers and killing them. Once an Axis player had killed an Ally, those players would switch teams and respawn. The object was to survive as long as possible as an Allied soldier. Allied soldiers would gain a point every 10 seconds they remained alive as well as a point for every Axis soldier killed during that time. The trick is, that as well as you hide, the Axis will find you. Each Axis player has question marks on their compass that tells them the last known location of the Allied soldiers. It was a pretty fun game of cat and mouse.
Up to 64 players will be able to join games in multiplayer, which we imagine will be pretty damn insane and we can't wait to try it out. Everything we saw in this game makes us believe that it should be in the forefront of people's minds this holiday season. Make sure to keep your eyes on it and look for it to hit store shelves this November. Now make sure check out that Call of Duty Video Preview when you get the chance to check out plenty of direct feed footage accompanied Steve's commentary, it's well worth it.
http://insider.ign.com/videos/articles/450/450825p1.html
September 19, 2003 - After coming home from the Call of Duty event last night, I can firmly say that I'm probably more excited about this game than any other I can think of that's up for release this holiday season. Not only did the lot of us get to jump in and try out a gaggle of new levels that we hadn't had the chance to play before, but also got to test our skills out in the multiplayer portion of the game. Everything is looking rock solid with an amazing engine, wonderful AI (both enemy and friendly) and some seriously heart-pounding action in each level.
You know the premise, so let's get right into the meat. We played the single player portions of the game first, so we'll start there. Each and every one of these levels was a non-stop barrage of gunfire and chaos. And each and every one of these levels found me dead on more than one occasion. There are so many enemies coming from so many directions it's ridiculous. You just have to be quick on the trigger and wait to move until you're given cover fire. Carrying out orders quickly also increases your chance of survival. Hop to it soldier!
Those that have played the terrific demo Activision released should have a hint at what is coming in the next level. But the reality of the situation is that they're going to come back into the town with more firepower than you and your team brought with you. What ensues is an incredible assault from many parts of the town that will have you fighting against soldiers, playing the roll of anti-tank gunner, handing an heavy machine gun emplacement, and scrambling like hell to stay alive. German soldiers come from all over the place, but they always look like they're coming from somewhere they should be coming from. This is one of the big things that the team wanted to make sure was included in this game and they've succeeded. Germans come out of buildings, through holes in walls, over walls, in trucks, escorting tanks... they come from everywhere, but you never get the feeling that they're just spawning on the other side of these obstacles, you really start to get the feeling that they've been marching in from some unknown starting point just to kill you and your friends.
While many of the single player levels in the game will feature you on foot against the German army, there'll be more missions that involve vehicles of some sort. Two of these missions were demoed last night. One put players in the back of a moving truck trying to fend off German vehicles and the soldiers in the back of them using machine guns, anti-tank weapons, and sniper rifles. Your aim will have to be good and your decisions quick. You, the driver, and the guy helping you out in the back of the truck depend on it. Fighting while moving like this has been done before, but it was still a damn fun experience and pretty challenging.
We also had the chance to jump behind the controls of a tank rolling along in a column of six. There were plenty of enemy tanks to engage and battles to fight. One of the things that really tickled my fancy was just how the environments were handled when it came to tank interaction. Those pesky trees that seem to give your tanks so many problems in other games like this stand no chance. They just crunch, crash, and become fodder for your treads. Being able to run through forests seems like a small thing, but I found it almost entertaining enough by itself. This level gave me the feeling like I was just part of someone else's RTS game (particularly because of the mechanical way the tanks move around in line much as they might in an RTS when wandering across a map).
You can see all of these different parts of the game in our video preview , which I highly recommend checking out. The game looks and plays amazing in single player. While Medal of Honor really started this mad rush at working with your fellow soldiers, Call of Duty will take it to the next level.
The one thing that we haven't really had the chance to talk about up until now has been the multiplayer portion of the game. After everyone had the chance to drop into the single player for a while, the server was started, teams were chosen, and all were put in the middle of some team deathmatch to get warmed up. Over the course of the night, we saw four of the multiplayer maps, and each of the nationalities available for play.
The first map was from the demo mission, but in daylight, as it is in the single player mission that follows the demo. The entire map is there and intact and is surprisingly fun without many changes at all. Perhaps this is due to the basic nature of the game. Because the single player has so many soldiers fighting on each side, ducking, running, hiding, finding sniper positions, and so on, it already lends itself to team play fantastically.
The second map brought us to the hills just inside the Normandy shoreline. Those that have seen the opening mission in Band of Brothers will recognize this immediately. While we started out on this map in team deathmatch again, it was later switched to objective based play. The map itself was a pretty interesting design that took some time getting used to. It was actually a circle with boundaries on the outside of the circle in the form of a very deadly minefield that our old compatriot David Smith managed to find right off the bat. In the middle was a mess of shrubs and a hill that can't be climbed. But there are tunnels going through the mound to get to the other side. One side of the hill holds the Allied starting point while the other is home to two artillery pieces. The Allied objectives are to destroy them while the Axis hunkers down to protect them. The interesting thing here is that the game worked in a Counter-Strike fashion. Meaning once you die, you're dead until the next round. It certainly adds more strategy to the mix and tension. No one wants to run right into the enemy and have to sit out until the round is over.
But if you do happen to do this, you'll get the chance to check out the Kill Cam, which shows the few seconds before your death from the perspective of the person that killed you. So you can see how that guy snuck up behind you and shot you in the back or sniped you from a distance. It's actually pretty entertaining to see how you were offed. This feature works for any of the multiplayer modes. Another mode like this will actually allow players to watch the last few seconds of the player that managed to complete the last objective in a mission. Nothing wrong with a little bit of glory I suppose.
The next map put players back into team deathmatch, but this time with the Russians and Germans going at it. The Russians have a smaller selection of weapons to pick from, which I didn't like quite as much. One thing that can be said for all of the weapons in Call of Duty is that they look, sound, and feel fantastic. But if you happen to be a Russian in this level, you might find yourself snaking weapons from fallen German soldiers as I did. One of the coolest parts of this map was an area that seemed to concentrate some of the action. It actually was the second story of two separate buildings with windows facing each other. Getting in a firefight between these two buildings was a blast. There were usually a lot of dead bodies in each of those rooms.
The last map and mode for the night took place in a European town somewhere (whatever, I was too busy trying to kill people to pay attention) with a lot of buildings and plenty of places to get in close quarter fights. Running down the middle of the road through town can be a seriously dangerous proposition with so many windows looking down on the lane. The mode for this map was called Behind Enemy Lines. Basically, there were three Allied soldiers on the map with the rest Axis. The Axis players were charged with hunting down these Allied soldiers and killing them. Once an Axis player had killed an Ally, those players would switch teams and respawn. The object was to survive as long as possible as an Allied soldier. Allied soldiers would gain a point every 10 seconds they remained alive as well as a point for every Axis soldier killed during that time. The trick is, that as well as you hide, the Axis will find you. Each Axis player has question marks on their compass that tells them the last known location of the Allied soldiers. It was a pretty fun game of cat and mouse.
Up to 64 players will be able to join games in multiplayer, which we imagine will be pretty damn insane and we can't wait to try it out. Everything we saw in this game makes us believe that it should be in the forefront of people's minds this holiday season. Make sure to keep your eyes on it and look for it to hit store shelves this November. Now make sure check out that Call of Duty Video Preview when you get the chance to check out plenty of direct feed footage accompanied Steve's commentary, it's well worth it.
Sat Sep 20, 2003 8:45 am
You need to be a bloody insider, we pay enough for the internet, and mother won't use her credit card online if her life was depending on it.
Sat Sep 20, 2003 9:25 am
It just looks like MOH: AA 2 to me. Nothing new, just the same old same old.
Far Cry, HL2, Stalker all look to be better titles as all three are a leap forward in gameplay, where this is just a side step, adding a few things.
Far Cry, HL2, Stalker all look to be better titles as all three are a leap forward in gameplay, where this is just a side step, adding a few things.
Sat Sep 20, 2003 11:57 am
Yeah, but the tanks are actually tanks now! DIE TREES! 
Be intresting to see if grenades are less effective on tanks as well, etc....Sounds like fun (maybe their netcode isn't shit?). Although the deathcam sucks....
Be intresting to see if grenades are less effective on tanks as well, etc....Sounds like fun (maybe their netcode isn't shit?). Although the deathcam sucks....
Sat Sep 20, 2003 12:37 pm
MMmmmmm 64 players, sounds like a good testbed to me
Sat Sep 20, 2003 12:43 pm
Joint Operations will be better.
Sat Sep 20, 2003 1:34 pm
COD COD COD COD COD COD COD COD COD COD COD COD!
Sat Sep 20, 2003 6:00 pm
Originally posted by Evan
Joint Operations will be better.
no faith whatsoever with Novalogic. sorry.,
Sat Sep 20, 2003 6:15 pm
Originally posted by Evan
Joint Operations will be better.
I agree with Evan on this one. Ive played the call of duty demo, and it seems like its going to be a great single player game, but I think Joint operations is going to blow it away in multiplayer. Just so you know 64 player support isnt that big of a deal nowadays. Joint Ops and stalker will both have support for 64.
Sat Sep 20, 2003 6:36 pm
Originally posted by Edogg
I agree with Evan on this one. Ive played the call of duty demo, and it seems like its going to be a great single player game, but I think Joint operations is going to blow it away in multiplayer. Just so you know 64 player support isnt that big of a deal nowadays. Joint Ops and stalker will both have support for 64.
Yeah 64 player support isn't that big a deal anymore....HOWEVER, being able to do it without shoddy netcode is. *cough* EA *cough*
Sat Sep 20, 2003 7:01 pm
Originally posted by Edogg
I agree with Evan on this one. Ive played the call of duty demo, and it seems like its going to be a great single player game, but I think Joint operations is going to blow it away in multiplayer. Just so you know 64 player support isnt that big of a deal nowadays. Joint Ops and stalker will both have support for 64.
It looks like a good game... it reminds me a little bit of Vietcong, in that you can use the actual site on the weapon to aim and shoot... But I agree with others' points that it's not really breaking much new ground...
Is there really that big a difference between 60 and 64 players? Not to me...
Rave about more players when it's 120 in a game...
Sat Sep 20, 2003 9:53 pm
Originally posted by Xenius
Yeah 64 player support isn't that big a deal anymore....HOWEVER, being able to do it without shoddy netcode is. *cough* EA *cough*
Novalogics netcode isn't shitty like some *cough* EA *cough*
Sat Sep 20, 2003 10:57 pm
Originally posted by Evan
Novalogics netcode isn't shitty like some *cough* EA *cough*
no, but their games are.
Sat Sep 20, 2003 11:18 pm
Originally posted by buliwyf
no, but their games are.
Not since BHD!
Sat Sep 20, 2003 11:33 pm
All I have to say is watch the Joint Operations trailer and then tell me that it doesnt look like a cool game.