Police Warfare: Fans Pitch Next Call of Duty Sequel

[Earnest Cavalli]

Police Warfare: Fans Pitch Next Call of Duty Sequel

[vimeo=34984373]

Lest Activision continue churning out the same military shooter cliches ad infinitum, a group of Call of Duty fans have pitched their own, surprisingly excellent idea for the next game in the series.

Dubbed "Police Warfare," the theoretical game is exactly that: A Call of Duty style shooter that drops you into the boots of a SWAT team member, or his heavily-armed criminal analogue. I'm imagining something like Sony's recent PAYDAY: The Heist, only with the technological muscle and level design capabilities of the people behind the recent Modern Warfare games. Straight up, that's a thing I would like to play.

Turning away from the theoretical however, this pitch is impressive in its own right. Its creators have sourced media from Michael Mann's Heat, news coverage of the infamous North Hollywood shootout and tons of existing concept art to create something original, compelling and hopefully polished enough to catch the attention of the people who fund these kinds of things.

Sadly, I'm pretty sure there are some huge legal hurdles swirling around this type of thing. In much the same way that many book publishers refuse to see manuscripts that are sent directly to them (thus avoiding the possibility that they might be sued for plagiarism in the future), I have to assume that Activision won't be able to view this thing and set to work on such a game right away. The lawyers just won't allow it.

Now that I think of it, in crafting this clever pitch the only thing the fans have done is ensure that a game like this cannot ever be made. Activision won't be able to accept the pitch for liability reasons, and now that it's become popular the company won't dare touch the subject matter for fear that it might be sued into oblivion by the people who created the idea originally.

Man, IP law is depressing, huh?

Source: Police Warfare [http://policewarfare.com/]

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[JokerboyJordan]

They wouldn't make the game anyway, it's a bit of a step down from WW3 isn't it?

 

[Best of the 3]

Reminds me of this XD

OT: I'd actually be interested in this one. I've been a bit turned off of the warfare aspect of CoD since MW2. This could make a nice change of pace.

 

[blackknight467]

Honestly, I think this is a good idea and could give the series the breath of fresh air. It is also an opportunity for the series to finally to deliver a good story with a city we may actually care about. However, i don't have faith that they'll deliver on the full potential this idea can bring.

 

[Wolfram23]

Where's the CoD Creation Kit?

 

[teh_Canape]

I get the feel that they're gonna end up making a more srsface version of Urban Chaos on the PS2

 

[Stilkon]

I'm pretty sure this would be pretty controversial considering the subject of police brutality, depending on how they address it. Knowing Call Of Duty's lack of characterization of the enemies, any antagonist not portrayed to be outright hostile could be inferred as a victim of brutality by any media organization. Activision really needs to be careful with what they do with this (if anything).

 

[Albino Boo]

Sadly, I'm pretty sure there are some huge legal hurdles swirling around this type of thing. In much the same way that many book publishers refuse to see manuscripts that are sent directly to them (thus avoiding the possibility that they might be sued for plagiarism in the future), I have to assume that Activision won't be able to view this thing and set to work on such a game right away. The lawyers just won't allow it.

Now that I think of it, in crafting this clever pitch the only thing the fans have done is ensure that a game like this cannot ever be made. Activation won't be able to accept the pitch for liability reasons, and now that it's become popular the company won't dare touch the subject matter for fear that it might be sued into oblivion by the people who created the idea originally.

Man, IP law is depressing, huh?

The idea of cops and robbers is sufficiently generic to void any IP clam. There is a possible claim over specific game play elements i.e. the police robots, the name heist mode and the grappling technique. Pretty much everything else is in the clear because they are common in popular culture. The existence of bank job movie does not precluded the making of another one. If it wasn't so valve could sue Activation to hell and back because of the multilayer mode in cod having the same terrorist side as CS

 

[XMark]

The Call of Duty style of gameplay doesn't fit well with a police-themed game anyways. Call of Duty is all about fast-paced hostile war zones where your objective is to shoot all the things.

Police games typically need to be constrained by all sorts of police procedure which would just slow things down. It works in the SWAT series, but wouldn't work in Call of Duty.

 

[Itsthefuzz]

I'm not a big fan of the MW Series, but hell, I'd buy this.

 

[redisforever]

Sounds like SWAT 4 with a proper storyline, because that game was a great series of unconnected missions. I want to play this, and I'll certainly buy it if it's made.

 

[NLS]

So you gun down endless lines upon lines of Criminal Scum armed with 9mm guns?
Sure it's nice with some inspiration from great movies like Heat, but there were only about 4-5 robbers in that movie. By CoD's kills per hour count the game would last about 30 seconds. There's only so many criminals you can kill before you'll run dry and will have to end up shooting civilians to spice up the mix and be "controversial".

Or you could put it all in the view from the robbers perspective, gunning down dozens of police officers. That would probably go well with the media.

 

[Steve the Pocket]

Sadly, I'm pretty sure there are some huge legal hurdles swirling around this type of thing. In much the same way that many book publishers refuse to see manuscripts that are sent directly to them (thus avoiding the possibility that they might be sued for plagiarism in the future), I have to assume that Activision won't be able to view this thing and set to work on such a game right away. The lawyers just won't allow it.

Now that I think of it, in crafting this clever pitch the only thing the fans have done is ensure that a game like this cannot ever be made. Activision won't be able to accept the pitch for liability reasons, and now that it's become popular the company won't dare touch the subject matter for fear that it might be sued into oblivion by the people who created the idea originally.

Man, IP law is depressing, huh?

Couldn't the people who created this just voluntarily put up some sort of limited license thing that gives Activision full rights to use anything from it, similar to how people can use Creative Commons or GPL to allow others to use their content?

 

[UnderGlass]

Given the number of current or recent situations around the world where protesters have clashed with the forces of police with catastrophic results - I have a hard time seeing how these roles will resonate with players in the same way as some abstract military conflict.

And seriously the LAPD?! Could they have chosen a US police department with a worse reputation?

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

So you gun down endless lines upon lines of Criminal Scum armed with 9mm guns?
Sure it's nice with some inspiration from great movies like Heat, but there were only about 4-5 robbers in that movie. By CoD's kills per hour count the game would last about 30 seconds. There's only so many criminals you can kill before you'll run dry and will have to end up shooting civilians to spice up the mix and be "controversial".

Or you could put it all in the view from the robbers perspective, gunning down dozens of police officers. That would probably go well with the media.

Well what I got from the pitch this wouldn't be a full game, because it would be exclusively for xbox live/PSN, so it's just implied as a downloadable game, like Gotham City Imposters. In that case they wouldn't need a story, and the multiplayer would make sense with teams of 6 on each side.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

And seriously the LAPD?! Could they have chosen a US police force with a worse reputation?

The NYPD is worse.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Sounds like SWAT 4 with a proper storyline, because that game was a great series of unconnected missions. I want to play this, and I'll certainly buy it if it's made.

Well, that's Police Work. Most crimes aren't related to each other at all.
SWAT 4 was unique in that you had to show restraint and not just blow away everyone you met.
It's actually a fairly difficult game.

Creating a game where you Dirty Harry your way through everything isn't a terrible concept, though it would definitely need to tone down the para-military Clancy-isms and focus on characters and story.

 

[Megacherv]

Sounds like SWAT 4 with a proper storyline, because that game was a great series of unconnected missions. I want to play this, and I'll certainly buy it if it's made.

Well, that's Police Work. Most crimes aren't related to each other at all.
SWAT 4 was unique in that you had to show restraint and not just blow away everyone you met.
It's actually a fairly difficult game.

Creating a game where you Dirty Harry your way through everything isn't a terrible concept, though it would definitely need to tone down the para-military Clancy-isms and focus on characters and story.

I agree, a system based more on planning your way through, strategising and receiving bonuses points for being non-lethal would be great.

Also, I had to quote you because of Intet, The Dreamer, he won me an awesome EDH game once...

 

[UnderGlass]

And seriously the LAPD?! Could they have chosen a US police force with a worse reputation?

The NYPD is worse.

Touché. Although reputation-wise perhaps that's more the case in the states? Internationally I'd say a fair bit more priceless media footage and damning references going back to early 1900's have made it into the international consciousness against the LAPD. I know that stuff exists for New York's finest too and I won't be voting for them as philanthropic organisation of the year anytime soon. As an outsider though, no municipal police in the US represents a more reprehensible, systematically corrupt and thoroughly incompetent force of law than Los Angeles' finest.

No offense to LA or California residents intended.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

Given the number of current or recent situations around the world where protesters have clashed with the forces of police with catastrophic results - I have a hard time seeing how these roles will resonate with players in the same way as some abstract military conflict.

And seriously the LAPD?! Could they have chosen a US police department with a worse reputation?

If they handled it well, topics of corruption and brutality can be touched on without damning the police overall. Adding situations of personal conflict and moral dilemmas would make for a compelling experience. A Department with some notoriety would give a bite to the story, as straight laced characters are often flat and uninteresting (unless well written and implemented, which I doubt CoD writers can do).

But this is COD, a series that made a huge publicity stunt out of shooting an airport of civilians to the point the controversy became a joke in the community... I have little faith they have the tact to handle such topics in a compelling and non-derogatory way.

Also, I don't think the industry needs any more negative publicity.