Treyarch Looking for History Buff for Next Call of Duty

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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Treyarch Looking for History Buff for Next Call of Duty



Looks like Treyarch won't be following in big brother Infinity Ward's "Modern" footsteps after all: A job listing for a CoD level designer mentions - among other things - an interest in historical research.

Last October, Noah Heller - Treyarch's senior producer for Call of Duty: World at War - told OXM UK [http://www.oxm.co.uk/article.php?id=6644] that WaW was likely to be the last game set in World War II that the company would develop (at least for a while), leading many to wonder if it would be joining series co-developer Infinity Ward in the Modern Warfare arena.

However, a job listing OPM UK [http://www.treyarch.com/jobs/56460]) indicates that the developer's next game will still be set sometime in the past: Treyarch is looking for a level builder & designer who possesses not just the technical acumen and experience to craft a well-made mission, but a willingness to "[r]esearch subject matter for history and look of the level."

Obviously, the wording is vague, since "history" could arguably mean something as relatively recent as, say, the first Gulf War. However, rumors back in May [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/91428-Rumor-Next-Call-of-Duty-In-Nam] suggested that series publisher Activision was looking to license a very specific type of music: "Vietnam War era tunes, as well as Cuban, African, and Soviet Union music." Said rumor led many gamers and journalists (including yours truly) to speculate that Treyarch's next CoD would be set during the Vietnam War - or, perhaps, the Cold War as a whole.

While - if true - this wouldn't be the first war game set in 'Nam, it would be an interesting direction for Treyarch to go in. In comparison to WW2, which is generally perceived in pop culture as a "good war" in which the heroes triumphed over an undeniably evil foe, Vietnam occupies a decidedly different area in terms of cultural memory - especially here in the States.

Still, I'd like to see it happen. Treyarch is a competent developer in its own right, but has largely been in the shadow of Infinity Ward for the most part. Branching out in a new direction - not just for the company but for the series as a whole - would be a chance for the Treyarch team to strut its stuff without (quite so many of) the endless comparisons to the IW games. Besides, it's a (relatively) unexplored era of warfare as far as games are concerned, and if done right could be a damn interesting game.

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Katherine Kerensky

Why, or Why Not?
Mar 27, 2009
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Well, It'll be interesting as long as it isn't WWII. ok, that would still be interesting, but I'd like to play a game either set in Vietnam or WWI.
but hey, I suppose anything is good if it's made well.
 

Gxas

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Sep 4, 2008
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CoD7: Cuban Missile Crisis.

We all sit around a table and debate whether to fire on Russia.

Bonus mission: You get to fly the plane over Cuba and take pictures of their missiles.
 

MGlBlaze

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Oct 28, 2009
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Please let this not be ANOTHER bloody WWII game...

I want something based on some other historic war for once, and I'm sure many others agree.
 

BaldursBananaSoap

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May 20, 2009
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Vietnam would be awesome. Maybe they'll add in some controversy and let you pillage and rape innocent people?
 

Chris0132

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Dec 3, 2009
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Do consider that they would probably not want to simply hire them for one project, so research skills could mean any future project, and also research skills are needed for anything based in reality, the background and history of a place is neccesary even if your game is set in the future, especially if it's the near future because all the places you'd be going would have elements of the past in them.

Half life 2 for example is heavily influenced by eastern european history even though it's fighting aliens in the near future. History tells you how an area develops and helps you make it realistic.
 

The DSM

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Apr 18, 2009
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Its never been the most historicaly accurate franchise, why start now?

Also, lets see if it gains even a speck of the hype MW2 did.
 

gamefreakbsp

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Sep 27, 2009
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Veitnam War would be interesting, but World War I would be really cool I think. Of course I love WWII games so.....I would very much enjoy another one of those too.
 

Strategia

za Rodina, tovarishchii
Mar 21, 2008
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Remember how, several years ago, everybody and their dog was suddenly releasing Vietnam War games? Remember the more recent 'Nam games, Shellshock 2 and whatever it's called again that Uwe Boll produced? Remember how they all sucked?

I wish Treyarch the best of luck.
 

hazabaza1

Want Skyrim. Want. Do want.
Nov 26, 2008
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Maybe they're asking for an historical researcher from the future?
Because... the game could be set... in the future?
Yeah, I think I'll shut up now.
 

Xanadu84

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Apr 9, 2008
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Cool, Vietnam would be a good thing to try. There's not a lot of Vietnam games, and the 1 I remember was Battlefield Vietnam, which was actually increadibly fun, just that one class was unbalanced. Increadibly unbalanced. If you've played it, you know the one. I hope they do this. The music licensing, I think, is a far bigger hint then them looking for a historian. Looking for someone doing historical research could very well mean that they want to add a good deal of depth and realism to the environment in some world location in the present day.
 

SharedProphet

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Oct 9, 2008
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Sounds like it's time again for... the Guess the Name for the Next Call of Duty Game Game!

I'll start:

Call of Duty: World of Warcraft
Call of Duty: Om Nam Nam Nam
Call of Duty: All Your Cash Are Belong to Us
Call of Duty: Revolutionary War
Call of Duty: War of 1812
Call of Duty: Civil War
Call of Duty: Ancient Warfare
Call of Duty: Parallel Incursion/Evacuation Contingent Exercises (CoDPIECE)
Call of Duty: Dedicated Servers
The Call of Duty Saga: New Moon
Call of Duty: Kill More Civilians
Call of Doody: Restroom Break
Call of Daddy: Little Sisters United
Call of Duty: World at War 2
Call of Duty: Legends
Call of Duty: Byzantine Warfare
 

Virgil

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Jun 13, 2002
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I think the Napoleonic era is woefully unexplored in FPSs - maybe they should look there for inspiration next.
 

fanrock51

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Feb 27, 2008
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I want to see some WWI games though. would be fun. but I wish Treyarch would start their own franchise game though instead of relying on CoD.

PS. If it's nam, throw in "Fortunate sun" by CCR and I will try
 

OmegaXIII

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Jun 26, 2009
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How about Call of Duty: American Civil War? With Abe Lincoln as a bonus character?