Chapter 319 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Pass)

Chapter 319 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Pass)

In the meeting room of Nebula Games, everyone was holding their first meeting after the Lunar New Year.

The others were also discussing the content of this meeting.

At this moment, Chen Xu walked into the meeting room, and everyone instantly fell silent.

Chen Xu looked around at everyone and said, "You've probably all heard by now—about the competition between Zeus and Huanyu. Just like domestic game developers, we'll be using Huanyu's prototype to develop our new work. No more beating around the bush—let's take a look at our new project first."

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Cinematic Storyline [Level Design], Multiplayer, Alternate War)

A title appeared on the large screen.

Everyone present felt a surge of curiosity.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare—this was clearly the name of the new game project.

And just as the subtitle suggested, the game's setting would revolve around Contemporary Era warfare.

However, seeing the additional tags below sparked even more intrigue.

Multiplayer, Alternate War—these were relatively easy to understand.

It simply meant the game would feature a multiplayer mode, set in a fictional war scenario.

But "Cinematic Storyline" and the emphasized "Level Design"—what exactly did that mean?

Looking at the title, everyone felt puzzled.

"Mr. Chen, are we buying an IP for this?" During the Q&A session, someone asked curiously.

After all, the most talked-about recent event was atrai's 'Storm Action'.

And judging from Chen Xu's words, although not explicitly stated, one game would launch on the Zeus Platform while the other on Huanyu—clearly setting up a rivalry.

Under these circumstances, were they also planning to purchase a major IP?

However, Qin Yi, Yang Xin, Ruan Ningxue, and others who had already discussed it with Chen Xu knew the truth.

"Of course not—we're creating our own IP," Chen Xu replied with a smile, shaking his head.

"This new game project will differ a bit from what you might expect. We need to create a linear FPS game."

"As for 'cinematic', you can understand it as turning the game into a movie—giving it the feel of a film, with the pacing and presentation of a Hollywood blockbuster."

Chen Xu slowly explained, addressing the group.

The Call of Duty series had become the number one IP in FPS games in the previous life—largely due to the Modern Warfare installment.

What kind of impact did the Modern Warfare series have on the Call of Duty brand?

First, in terms of single-player story, the Modern Warfare series was arguably the peak of Call of Duty.

Unlike Half-Life, which pioneered narrative in FPS games, or Halo, which mastered the 30-second burst of excitement, Modern Warfare focused more on delivering a cinematic feel.

The concept of cinematic games hadn't been precisely defined in this Parallel World. Many game designers merely aimed to improve graphics.

But cinematic gaming was far more complex, broadly falling into three categories.

The first was the use of techniques like the one-shot style in New God of War, or direct homages within the game—such as a corridor sequence in Little Nightmares 2 that clearly referenced Roman Polanski's classic thriller Repulsion. This was a cinematic technique used to deepen player immersion.

Then there was interactive cinema—exemplified by Detroit and Heavy Rain.

Finally, the most common approach: delivering a cinematic experience through gameplay content—Uncharted's multi-threaded narration, The Last of Us' flawless camera work, and Metal Gear's seamless transitions.

And then there was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare—perfect in audiovisual presentation and Level Design.

Most FPS players first realized, through Modern Warfare, that an FPS game could feel exactly like watching a Hollywood blockbuster.

The use of camera angles, the rhythm of story delivery—each could easily stand as a film in its own right.

Even more impressive was that it wasn't just the story that felt cinematic, but the player's experience within the levels themselves.

Each of the Modern Warfare trilogy featured several unforgettable Level Designs.

Especially the flashback mission 'All Ghillied Up', which countless players revered as a masterpiece.

Of course, beyond its excellent story, what allowed Call of Duty to become an annual multi-million selling franchise was its multiplayer versus mode.

Killstreaks, abundant items, and intense, fast-paced action—these elements formed the core foundation of COD's multiplayer gameplay.

Everything was designed around delivering a satisfying experience for players.

Engaging single-player story, excellent multiplayer mode.

These were the main reasons Chen Xu chose Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

As for Black Ops—it was also excellent.

Characters like Reznov left a lasting impression on countless players. However, certain levels were too sensitive, posing serious Censorship issues, so Chen Xu decided not to consider it for now.

Before launching the project, Chen Xu explained some of the settings in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare to the team.

For an FPS game, the most critical aspects were the feel of shooting and the related actions.

While the Modern Warfare series excelled in story, Level Design, and pacing, viewed through today's lens, many details still needed improvement.

For example, a more diverse action system—here, Chen Xu drew inspiration from the rebooted Modern Warfare of his previous life. Although IW's demonization of Russians in the story had gone overboard, the core foundation of the rebooted Modern Warfare was still highly solid.

"We've already applied some cinematic storytelling techniques in It Takes Two."

"But in the single-player story of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, we'll go much deeper."

Chen Xu looked around as he briefly outlined some key points to note in the game.

One major difference from other FPS games was the story structure.

Modern Warfare employed multi-threaded narration.

Players wouldn't control a single fixed protagonist or belong to one fixed faction.

Instead, the entire story of Modern Warfare would be presented from multiple perspectives.

Additionally, the game would deeply develop teammates other than the player's character.

In-game teammates would provide tangible help to the player—unlike useless teammates who just shouted '6666' and ended up being pig teammates that dragged you down.

Interactions and the sense of reliability amidst a hail of bullets and explosions made players feel that their teammates were flesh-and-blood characters.

In fact, in the previous life, many players on higher difficulty settings didn't complete the game alone—they succeeded only by relying on NPC Teammates.

And this aspect—NPC Teammates—was precisely one of Nebula Games' strengths.

In other technical areas, Nebula Games wouldn't claim to be world-leading.

But in AI performance, they were in a league of their own.

Moreover, compared to previous AI performance, Zhong Yue's team had recently made new progress.

Of course, the R&D costs weren't small.

As for the entire Modern Warfare series' story, Chen Xu planned to develop all three installments.

The storyline of Modern Warfare in the previous life was exceptionally well-crafted.

Full of unexpected twists and turns, with an overall atmosphere leaning toward darkness and despair.

The Modern Warfare story wasn't a heroic anthem, but a brutal portrayal of military power interests and sacrifice.

Yet in terms of story length, each individual installment in the trilogy wasn't very long—none exceeding ten hours.

For a blockbuster game, that was far too short.

But considering the timeline of the trilogy and the switching between characters, forcing them into a single narrative might create a sense of fragmentation.

Therefore, Chen Xu ultimately decided to release three separate games. However, they would be bundled into a package—players could choose to buy any single installment, or purchase the full bundle to get all three at once.

As for multiplayer mode, buying any one installment would grant access to online multiplayer.

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