In a recent interview with Game Informer, Infinity Ward's campaign gameplay director, Jacob Minkoff, and studio narrative director, Taylor Kurosaki, sat down and gave onlookers some insight as to why they made the decision to reboot the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise instead of giving it a fourth installment. It seems as if the strategy has worked, and the upcoming game has been receiving a great deal of hype, attracting both existing Call of Duty fans, as well as those that haven't played a Call of Duty title in years. Even with that hype, many may find the developer's decision to reimagine a popular franchise so recently after it's conclusion a bit head-scratching, and it will likely be found interesting to hear Infinity Ward open up about that decision.
"There's so much lore [in the original trilogy], and the stakes of the world bare no resemblance to the world that we live in today, that we just felt it wasn't relatable anymore," stated Minkoff in explaining Infinity Ward's discussion over a sequel. He went on to mention how there are so many people who play today's Call of Duty games that never experienced the original trilogy, and expecting them to be caught up with the series' colossal narrative wouldn't work.
The answer that Minkoff and Kurosaki gave certainly made a lot of sense, as they explained how 2011's Modern Warfare 3 ended with Russia invading the United States, the kidnapping of world leaders, and nuclear warfare. Creating a fourth installment in the series would come with the expectations of the game being even bigger than its predecessor, an expectation that could potentially alienate fans of the series.
Instead, they thought it would be best to reimagine the story on a more grounded level, making it more closely related to present-day events, and easier for today's players to relate to the story. Minkoff even mentioned the original entry in the series, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and how much of that game's success stemmed from the fact that it gave players a story that felt like it could have actually happened in the political world of 2007.
The two later discussed how extensively the story is reimagined, and even mentioned that they considered radical casting choices, such as changing the gender or race of characters from the original trilogy, even characters as big as Captain Price. "If we made all of the characters really similar to the ones that you know from the original series, then we're just inviting the comparisons to the original series," stated Kurosaki. "There are a few characters who have made reasonably drastic changes because they are the right actor for the job," added Minkoff. The two made it a point to mention that they were looking for the person that best portrays each character and that nationality or gender wasn't always the defining characteristic.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a big deal for a lot of gamers, as many of them left the Call of Duty series after it digressed into eccentric space combat and all other sorts of gimmicks, and it's refreshing to see the franchise return to what it's always done best. As Jacob Minkoff explains in this interview, the essence of Modern Warfare is, in fact, modern warfare, and representing that concept in a direct sequel to the original trilogy would be impossible. Given that, the decision to reboot the franchise has a lot of people excited and is expected to bring back a large handful of players who left years ago. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is expected to be released on October 25, and it might have a solid shot at being the best in the series.