With every year, a new installment in the long runningCall of Dutyfranchise is now a guarantee. Since the series began in 2003, the immensely popular first person shooter has not missed a major annual release a single year, even to this day. Many of these games have been huge successes, fromCall of Duty 4: Modern Warfarerevolutionizingmultiplayer shooters, toCall of Duty: Black Opsbreaking new ground is first person storytelling.
Additionally, considering the nature of these games, the many battles theCall of Dutyseries has placed players smack dab in the middle of has varied with each release. From multiple entries in World War 2, to the Vietnam war, all the way to many years in the future,Call of Dutyseems to have tackled just about every variation and era of combat. However, even with the numerous entries already available for players, there do remain a handful of possibilities for locations and timelines that the developers can dive into for subject matter.
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Call of Duty: Korean War
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfarefeatures a fictional depiction of a second Korean War; the United States and South Korea against North Korea. These battles contain many futuristic weapons, hardware, and other wild advanced military technology living up to the subtitle of the game. As bombastic as that was, an account of the real Korean War is still untapped territory for theCall of Dutyfranchisein terms of narrative and setting.
The Korean War, much like otherreal life events featured inCall of Duty, was a horrible time in history. Spanning three years, the conflict pit the United States, China, and both the North and South parts of Korea into a deadly battle. In the end, nearly five million lives were lost from all the fighting, marking the war as one of the most tragic moments in human history.
The bleak and violent tone of this conflict may be heavy subject matter, but if handled with enough grace and respect, aCall of Dutygame could pull it off as a compelling look at the past. Infinity Ward did deliver a viscerally disturbing take on war with 2019’sModern Warfare, so something like this would play out similarly in execution.
Call of Duty: Gulf War
A notable war for barely lasting a month (January-February 1991), the Gulf War was a brief but brutal struggle between the United States and other allies against Iraq. The invasion of Kuwait was the most pivotal moment in this conflict, which would serve as the largest portion of the storyline if anewCall of Dutygamewould center its story around this war. The Gulf War was also notable for being the introduction of actual live news broadcasts directly from the front lines of the battlefield. This could open doors for new methods to depict the violence stylistically, in the form of news reports and possible found footage gameplay sequences.
Considering that historically, much of the events that occur in the Gulf War are connected to the Cold War between the U.S. and Iraq, this would be a good follow-up toCall of Duty Black Ops: Cold War. Since that game and the one preceding it,Call of Duty: ModernWarfare, had some shocking connections to each other. Intersecting the Gulf War storyline into an overall narrative arc could help tie everything together for fans.
Call of Duty: World War One
World War Two was at one point, the basis for nearly every first person shooter on the market. It was hot subject matter to be used for setting and gameplay, and considering it was a global war spanning multiple years, its understandable why. However, the conflict preceding this one, World War One, hasn’t been interpreted nearly as often in video game form. The most notable recent example would beEA’sBattlefield 1, which offered a gritty, brutal vision of the horrors of this major worldwide battle.
Call of Dutyhas yet to tackle this time frame outside of a flashback sequence during the campaign forCall of Duty: Black Ops 2. The franchise hasn’t been afraid to depict the uglier, more grungy side of what war can be. World War One was predominantly fought inside trenches, making for some horrific, closer quarters encounters. The advancements in next-gen consoles in terms of graphics and functionality could also make this the most immersiveCall of Dutyyet.
Call of Duty: Future Warfare
Granted, theCall of Dutyserieshas already dabbled in concepts of future war and sci-fi elements with 2014’sAdvanced Warfareand 2016’sInfinite Warfare. However, there were still aspects to the designs and weaponry that had a grounded, realistic feeling to them. Much of what is seen appeared to be technology that could actually exist someday, but this can be pushed even further in an upcoming game.
Swap bullets for lasers and jetpacks for teleporters, and you have a truly sci-fi basedCall of Dutyexperience. The closest comparison to what this title could be is to look atEA’s recentStar Warstitles. The blistering pace of space dogfights inStar Wars: Squadronsand on-foot action inStar Wars: Battlefront 2can be representative of what the all out warfare inCall of Dutywould be like. This would also open the door to even more multiplayer options, with the potential for battles that can begin on the ground and then seamlessly soar into the skies above.
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