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Call of Duty 3 : Interview with Rich Farrelly
Creative
Director at Treyarch, developers of Call of Duty 3
XCN
(Xbox Community Network), with which Xbox Gazette is affiliated, has been able
to ask some questions to Rich Farrelly from Treyarch, about their game Call of
Duty 3. XCN : Did you have
any veterans of the campaign advising on the game?
Rich Farrelly : Absolutely.
We have a great advisor called Lieutenant Colonel Hank Keirsey who has a lot of
experience in military history as well as tactical matters. He advised us a lot
on the way the game looks and feels, and he also acted as an invaluable point
of contact for other veterans of the battles. He personally introduced us to four
other veterans who were actually in the units that we portray in the game. All
of that coming together makes for a very accurate experience.
XCN
: Have there been any specific movies or TV shows that have influenced the
look and feel of Call of Duty 3?
Rich Farrelly : Pretty much all of
them! If you could see the bookshop in my office you would know what I mean! I
have over 200 books on WW2, I have pretty much every WW2 movie ever made, I have
Band of Brothers and this great BBC series that has been invaluable for us. Whether
it’s a comic book or a academic documentary we’ve looked at it and it’s
had some influence on the game!
XCN
: So how do the four separate soldiers interact with each other?
Rich
Farrelly : Well, every time you see one of our videos we’re wrapping
up one part of the storyline and taking you into a new part. This is where the
crossover between the soldiers comes in. There are some moments in the game where
you’ll see characters from the different nationalities crossing over too,
like when one of your Canadian squad members turns up in the Polish campaign.
It’ all about cause and effect so there’s a lot of cross over like that
for you to look out for. XCN :
How many players can play simultaneously in the multiplayer mode, and what new
multiplayer game modes have you added?
Rich Farrelly : We really went
above and beyond with this. We have 24 players out of the box which is far beyond
any previous Call of Duty game on console. We also have 6 game modes, some old
and some new. We have your standard Capture the Flag, then we have a new One Flag
mode. We have Battle and Team Battle which are similar to Deathmatch modes. We
brought back the Headquarters mode from other Call of Duty games. And we have
one all-new mode called War which is a kind of progressive Capture the Flag mode.
For instance, in a level there will be five flags and you have to fight over the
middle one and then once someone holds that position it becomes like a kind of
American football game, with both sides advancing and pushing back on the front.
It’s great fun and the good thing about having the one specific flag to fight
over means there’s always a major firefight going on.
XCN
: Was the War mode inspired by other games like Battlefield or was it something
the Call of Duty community suggested?
Rich Farrelly : Well, it’s
the kind of online game mode that a lot of games are moving towards. We worked
on another Call of Duty game called United Offensive which had a similar mode
in it, so we really took our cue from that and grew it for the Xbox 360. 
XCN : Tell us a little bit
more about the vehicles and how they’re used in the single-player game.
Rich
Farrelly : We’re really excited about the vehicle because up until now
you’ve only ever been able to drive a tank in the single-player game. Now
we’re able to offer you many more vehicles, and we highlight this in the
British campaign in CoD3. It focuses on the British SAS operating in central France
so you get to drive around in one of these SAS assault jeeps which is bristling
with machine guns. The level has on-foot gameplay and then you can jump into the
jeep and free drive. We tried to make the way the jeep feels very unique and take
advantage of all the fun things you can do in a vehicle, so driving through stuff,
jumping over things, doing E-brake turns around corners, being chased and so on.
You can even see your squadmates on the jeep firing weapons at the enemy while
you drive. It’s a very intense experience and really adds a new dimension
to the gameplay.
XCN : How
does the addition of vehicles affect the multiplayer game?
Rich Farrelly
: For a start the maps are larger because there’s so much extra hardware
to fit in! There’s much more mayhem too because you suddenly have enemies
in tanks, motorcycles and sidecars and so on. The vehicles are multi-occupancy
too, so you could have a friend in the sidecar of your motorbike who jumps out
and grabs a flag while you take out the defences, then you both roar off! Or if
you’re in a tank you can be driving and firing the main gun while your friend
mans the machine gun. It’s pretty exciting adding all those new ways of laying
waste to the enemy.
XCN :
Do you think it adds a whole new layer of strategy to the multplayer game because
you now have a complete fighting force rather than a group of footsoldiers?
Rich
Farrelly : That’s exactly the intention. Some guys will love being infantry
men, some people will love commanding tanks, and other will love driving the fast
assault vehicles. The really cool thing is that vehicles aren’t invulnerable
on the battlefield. If you’re on foot and up against a tank you’re not
necessarily helpless – you can hop up onto the tank, drop a grenade into
the hatch and kill the crew. In addition to that we also have the class system
in place so everyone can now choose whether they want to be a Medic, a Scout or
whatever. All the classes have unique strengths so we’re really letting people
play the game in the way they want to.
XCN
: What plans do you have for the future of the Call of Duty series?
Rich
Farrelly : Well, we’re just getting this one out the door so we’re
concentrating on that for the moment! But we are looking to the future and we’re
kicking around a few ideas. Like I said WW2 certianly isn’t tapped out, but
that’s not to say there aren’t more possibilities out there. Again,
watch this space, and I’ll look forward to sharing more ideas with you all
in the future!
XCN : Can you
see the Call of Duty series being taken out of WW2?
Rich Farrelly :
Like I said, anything’s possible!
XCN
: Many thanks for your time !
Related
links : - Treyarch
webiste - Call
of Duty 3 : official site -
Call
of Duty 3 : videos
Strongbow, Xav, Max73, Xbox
Gazette, november 16th 2006 Thanks to : Rich Farrelly,
Treyarch, XCN
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