A few years ago, Sledgehammer Games was working on a third-person Call of Duty game set in the Vietnam War. But it never happened. Bret Robbins, the developer who worked on the game, shared some new details about the project in an interview with MinnMax, noting that he’s actually working on Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare 2 before Sledgehammer shifts gears. I also confirmed that it started.
Robbins said the unannounced third-person Call of Duty game is “kind of the Uncharted and Call of Duty ideas.” However, Sledgehammer was brought in to help Infinity Ward complete Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, so after a major major overhaul at Infinity Ward, its top boss is suspected of disobedience. The game never came to fruition, as he was fired at .
“We built a prototype, built a demo. It was cool. It was fun. I think someone should make that game one day,” Robbins said.
The developer said the game would be “gritty”, adding that it was aiming for a “more brutal third-person war experience”.
However, the development of the title did not go far. “Honestly, we didn’t get that far,” Robbins said, adding that the team hadn’t planned how the game would turn out. Robbins described it as an “experiment” overall.
Earlier, former Sledgehammer boss Michael Condrey stated that the game, codenamed Fog of War, was intended to be an Apocalypse Now-style Call of Duty game.
“In your head, you can instantly imagine an Uncharted-style game, but with Call of Duty lore,” he said in 2014. The gritty Apocalypse He Now challenges Vietnam in an interactive way, with a 15-minute demo that had some great moments.”
Call of Duty fans didn’t get Fog of War, but 2020’s Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War from developer Treyarch featured flashback missions set in 1968 during the Vietnam War.
Also in an interview, Robbins admitted that Sledgehammer created an early prototype and possibly a demo level for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare II, but that game also never materialized. Creating WWII “felt like a better opportunity” for the team, says Robbins.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare II has been the subject of speculation lately, but so far it doesn’t look like fans will be getting a sequel anytime soon. It will reportedly release in the Warfare universe, and Sledgehammer is said to be leading the development of the title.
2022’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II was a sales juggernaut, setting franchise records dating back to 2003. The game’s next major update, Season 3, will be released on April 12th.
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