14 DAY TRIAL // The new Call of Duty trailer, setting the scene for the upcoming Black Ops 3, looked eerily familiar, and it seems that I'm not the only one to think that.
As I was watching it, I had to check to see whether I was indeed watching the right thing. I feared that my hand had gravitated toward something Deus Ex-related due to sheer force of habit.
But no, I was indeed watching the teaser for Black Ops 3, which got me excited and sad at the same time. If you haven't seen it, it's the second video at the bottom of this article.
On one hand, the Call of Duty games are usually very dumb. They look great and have some interesting campaign sequences, but they're mostly corridor shooters, and the multiplayer never appealed to me, as I have always regarded Counter-Strike as a much more satisfying experience.
On the other hand, science fiction has always been one of my key interests and pursuits when it comes to entertainment, because it's simply much more interesting.
Science fiction writers try to raise our awareness regarding problems that we face today using flashy and intriguing props, and challenge us with theoretical situations where ethics, evolution, humanity and everything else we know about life is challenged and put to the test.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a great example of how a triple-A shooter can have engaging gameplay and a decent story at the same time, with a world that seems fleshed out with a little bit more craftsmanship than the usual scenery of the genre.
Health regeneration will finally make sense
Cyberpunk with all it entails has been exerting a pretty strong influence from the glory days of Dick and Gibson, but it hasn't entered mainstream attention until recently.
Now that a Call of Duty game is trying to tackle the problem of transhumanism, I know that I should feel right at home raving about augmentations and the fast pace at which our lifestyle is changing, since it's clearly socially accepted to have an interest in science fiction.
I'm very curious how Treyarch will pull off the difficult theme, and whether it's going to be a simple set piece for the usual kind of lowest common denominator action and plot, or whether the company will actually try to tell a compelling story.
Eidos Montreal did a pretty good job, even if Deus Ex: Human Revolution had quite a few low points, but fortunately its plot and cutscenes were much less contrived than its main rival super duper serious science-fiction shooter series, Mass Effect.
I'm hoping Treyarch will take its time exploring the world it's going to offer us. Call of Duty games are usually so fast paced you would think there's someone with a stopwatch yelling "explosion" at the dev team every 30 seconds.
You don't have enough time to do anything right, because some mysterious entity is afraid that you'll get bored unless you get a shiny new toy. I really hope that they get rid of the mysterious entity for this one.
What I liked the most about Deus Ex wasn't the annoying lead character, his dimwit banter or gruff voice, although the actor playing him did a pretty good job. It was the world. It was sneaking around and listening in on people's conversations, hacking terminals to read emails.
Trying to make sense of how the lives of everyday people are impacted by the futuristic technology, how the social pressure shifts and is influenced and directed by those seeking power, that was the captivating part.
Call of Duty must be quite interesting in Bizarro World
Seeing the context of your mission objectives and briefing is what makes an action game alive for me. Being able to blast "bad guys" in the face with a shotgun is simply a means to an end. The exciting part is seeing the struggle and tension in the world.
The Call of Duty series usually lacks this profoundly human component. I would really like to see Treyarch's talent exploited in a way that makes people pause and wonder, teased by what they see and hear, and not just eager to pull a trigger.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was a chance for the series to be regarded as something a little less childish, but unfortunately the campaign was so shallow and phoned in that I couldn't even laugh at it.
Human Revolution had a lot of depth to its gameplay, especially since it was possible to play it sneaking around instead of shooting up the world, but it was the narrative that grabbed me the most.
What I'm essentially saying is that I want Call of Duty to also become a single-player game, which is pretty much impossible. But one can hope.
In any case, I'm pretty excited to see interesting science fiction themes get more attention in video games, even if I ultimately end up being an elitist jerk about them.
In closing, here is the NeoGAF thread showing the amusing response of the Deus Ex team, upon seeing the new Black Ops 3 trailer. Apparently, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided takes place on the Eastern Front, in World War 2.
Also, here's an interesting promotional video done for Deus Ex: Human Revolution, detailing some of the actual work being done in order to turn people into cyborgs.
