Game developer Infinity Ward currently has their hands full with the upcoming release of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare reboot. However, in an interview with Game Informer, Infinity Ward revealed that before the making of the original Modern Warfare, they had been working on an unnamed sci-fi shooter.
This FPS game was termed a "Halo killer," meaning it meant to compete with Microsoft's sci-fi shooter juggernaut. While not much about this canceled game that could have been is known, here are a few details you might not have heard of. Read on if you want to know some tidbits about this would-be "Halo killer."
10 It Was Designed With The Intention Of Beating Halo
As most gamers with an ounce of common sense could suss out, Infinity Ward's canceled game was supposed to be in direct competition with the Halo series. For years, Halo redefined what it meant to be a first-person shooter, and Infinity Ward tried to get into that gaming sphere with their "Halo killer."
When you hear about a game that's described like that, it is unlikely that the game's developers were hoping to make nice with the Halo series. Nope, Infinity Ward wanted to gut Halo, in terms of outstanding gameplay and game sales in general.
9 Infinity Ward Split Into Two Teams
The Call of Duty series was still Infinity Ward's bread and butter at this time, so the developer decided to split into two teams. One team would tackle the next Call of Duty game on the roster, while the other would begin planning for their "Halo killer" prototype.
The Call of Duty game would have been set in WWII, as all other CoD games had been before, and the sci-fi shooter would have featured futuristic guns and environments. Afterwards, Infinity Ward realized that splitting themselves up actually weakened their work on both products, so they regrouped and began work on their next project together.
8 The Game Would Most Likely Have Released Before Modern Warfare
This "Halo killer" that Infinity Ward had in the works was planned way before Modern Warfare was conceived. Treyarch Games, the developers behind Call of Duty 3, finished their work on the third entry in the CoD series just in time for Infinity Ward to begin their development on the fourth installment.
The fourth installment, which we now know as Modern Warfare, was initially set to be in World War II. This followed a tradition set by previous Call of Duty games.
7 The "Halo Killer" Would Have Been Infinity Ward's Third Game
Infinity Ward proved themselves as game developers with their early games under the name 2015, Inc., performing well enough to impress publisher Activision into acquiring them in the early 2000s.
Once under the Activision umbrella, Infinity Ward laid the groundwork for their later success by making Call of Duty and Call of Duty 2. The unnamed "Halo killer" would have been the studio's third game, if it had ever been released. Instead, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare became Infinity Ward's actual third game, as well as the studio's magnum opus (as of this writing, at least).
6 Assets From The Game Have Not Been Officially Used
When a game is canceled, it doesn't always matter how far development had got before it was shut down. Many a nearly-finished video game has been canceled that can attest to that fact. Infinity Ward's "Halo killer" was still just in the preliminary stages of its development.
However, the game was far enough along to have assets under development. In the interview with Game Informer, the developers confirmed that they have not seen any scrapped assets from their prototype used in later games by Activision.
5 Those Alien Cryptids Sure Look Familiar, Though
Despite stating that none of their assets from their canceled "Halo killer" game were used, Infinity Ward developers did mention that the design of certain aliens from Call of Duty: Ghosts looked vaguely familiar.
In Call of Duty: Ghosts, there is a game mode called Extinction. In a familiar set-up to any fan of the first-person, wave-based set-up, four players have to withstand assaults from a strange alien species in a centralized location. One of these alien races, known as Cryptids, struck some developers behind the "Halo killer" as resembling certain scrapped assets.
4 A Balance Emerges From Futuristic And Past Warfare
Fate has a funny way of showing its face. While Infinity Ward struggled to make two games, one Call of Duty entry set in World War II and one "Halo killer" set in the future, they ended up making neither. Instead, they decided to embrace more modern aspects of warfare.
In a way, they struck a balance between intensely futuristic and archaic gunplay, eventually giving gamers one of the best Call of Duty entries to date. Perhaps if the "Halo killer" had never been imagined, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare would never have existed.
3 The Halo Killer's Descendant
Infinity Ward never made the "Halo killer" game they were planning. However, they eventually did make a game set in the far future. They are the developers behind Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. Admittedly, this is not the CoD entry most gamers point to as being the best game in the franchise.
As a matter of fact, the opposite is quite true. However, any steps Infinity Ward took to make a triple-A title should be appreciated just for the hard work that must have gone into it.
2 Infinity Ward Did Beat Halo...Just Not With The Halo Killer
The "Halo killer," as stated before, was meant to be a direct competitor with any Halo game published by Microsoft. While the "Halo killer" never saw the light of day, Infinity Ward's next project brought the fight right to Halo 3's doorstep.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare competed with Halo 3 in terms of sales, and it ended up outselling Bungie's prized giant. So, in the end, while Infinity Ward did not create a "Halo killer," it did create a Halo competitor.
1 The Halo Killer's Replacement Lives On
The spirit of Infinity Ward's "Halo killer" was eventually embodied in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. In essence, Modern Warfare functioned like a kind of replacement for the "Halo killer."
Now, that replacement is getting a reboot on October 25, 2019. Despite the "Halo killer's" cancellation, its spirit lives on to this day in the form of this new entry. Avid gamers will have to wait until then to see if this new Modern Warfare title lives up to its predecessor.