Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II developers Infinity Ward, Activision Shanghai Dive into Dark Water
Twenty-four hours after the pulse-pounding reveal of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, the community got its first look at one of the game’s Campaign levels: Dark Water.
The Dark Water video is known as a “vertical slice” in game development: an internal “playable demo” that serves as a major pre-release milestone. It showcases a small game portion in its intended final state, highlighting core features, visuals, audio, and overall player experience for the studio, its publisher and – in this case – millions of fans to see what these developers want to make a reality everyone can enjoy.
In choosing this Campaign level to show off, Infinity Ward set the tone for what Modern Warfare II is: a visually stunning action-packed game that you’ll have fun with this October 28… or up to a week earlier if you digitally pre-purchase and take advantage of the Campaign Early Access.
Simply Put: “It’s Way More Complicated Than It Looks”
With the help of developers from lead studio Infinity Ward and partner studio Activision Shanghai, this is what went into making the Dark Water Campaign mission, and a glimpse into the creation of Modern Warfare II.
“Dark Water balances being completely realistic while being completely ludicrous,” said Rich Farrelly, Lead Level Designer who worked at Infinity Ward for nearly a decade. “You approach the [oil] rig, get up there, ascend, and that feels like Clean House in the last game [Modern Warfare® (2019)]: military guys doing military stuff. And then the second half of the level, you’re doing a ramp jump into the back of a moving ship – somehow we made it work together to make it pretty badass.”
From a game designer that brings up level ideas, to an artist that draws out a concept scene, to a producer
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