When Infinity Ward and Activision first announced they were working on the World War 2 shooter Call of Duty, many dismissed it, saying things like "We already have Medal of Honor!" and "Aren't there enough WW2 games already". However Call of Duty turned to be a spectacular game, earned rave reviews and sold a boatload of copies. No surprise then, that Infinity Ward is now working on a sequel. We asked lead designer Zied Rieke about the PC / Xbox 360 game, which is currently scheduled for release this fall.

Shack: There have been many successful WW2 games the past few years and some gamers these days are beginning to say, "WW2 again?!" Why are you guys returning to this war and what are the things you are doing to keep it fresh?

Zied Rieke: First, you have to remember that World War II was huge. No other war covered as much of the globe and had as much at stake. After the first Call of Duty, we knew there were other great battles and scenarios we wanted to put gamers in that they had never experienced, such as cliff assault at Pointe du Hoc or the British campaigns in North Africa. Second, we have a new engine that brings a new level of realism and intensity to World War II first person action, which goes beyond what we could do in our first game. Our campaign structure is also more open ended, allowing a more non-linear approach to completing missions.

Shack: Why was the decision made to split up development of the PC and console Call of Duty 2? Do you work at all with Treyarch and vice versa? Are the two games connected in any way?

Zied Rieke: Call of Duty 2 is being developed by Infinity Ward, simultaneously for PC and Xbox 360. Call of Duty 2: Big Red One is a different Call of Duty game that's being developed by Treyarch for Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube. They are two distinct games and they have no direct connection. So Call of Duty fans are in store for two new games this year.

Shack: When creating an authentic representation of World War II, what are some of the steps the team takes to research, study, and comprehend the myriad of aspects concerning the war?

Zied Rieke: There are many aspects of the war that we researched in different ways. For the environments, we sent groups of artists to Normandy and North Africa to photograph and video as much of the real places as possible. We took 10,000 photos on those trips, and they proved invaluable in achieving a real sense of place in our levels. For weapons and uniforms, we found and photographed the real thing. We have thousands of photographs of one of our military advisors and a few of our artists modeling dozens of different WWII uniforms in various configurations, and videos, photographs and sound recordings of every weapon in Call of Duty 2. The design of the levels were influenced by our research trips, books, movies, our military advisors and live weapons tests of authentic World War II weaponry out in the desert.

Shack: With a new generation of video cards, the trailer definitely showcased some excellent new effects. Can you tell us what are some new technologies you're incorporating?

Zied Rieke: We built our engine for Call of Duty 2, knowing that we were developing for the next generation of console technology. Above and beyond what Call of Duty (1) had, we have normal and specular maps, feathered particles that allow us to get a real volumetric effect from our explosions and smoke grenades, soft shadows, heat shimmers, screen blur, dynamics for the gear on characters, enhanced facial animation and higher polygon counts all around. Infinity Ward is always focused on gameplay though, so we're always careful to maintain a great framerate, and to make sure that we can still deliver huge, epic battles.

Shack: Every gamer loves to feel immersed into what they are playing. What are some of the "big things" you're trying to accomplish to make COD2 more immersive?

Zied Rieke: Through our consultation with our military advisors it was pointed out that a missing aspect which hadn't yet really been explored was that soldiers were unrealistically silent. We felt the incorporation of a well though-out battle chatter system driven by comprehensive AI to be a solution. With each soldier in Call of Duty 2 vocally reacting to situations from their own perspective, the result, we believe, is a much more authentic and immersive battlefield experience – much more true to life and compelling.

Shack: A common complaint with the original Call of Duty was the huge amount of scripted events. While some felt it did a great job of creating a fluid pace, others felt constricted by it. Are you doing anything special in the sequel to address those complaints?

Zied Rieke: Call of Duty immerses gamers into the cinematic intensity of war, so of course that does involve some big moments where we'll show you spectacular things to tell the story or add even more context to a scene. That also includes a huge amount of NPC dialogue that deepens the immersion and authenticity of the experience. Still, much of what happens in Call of Duty 2 is in real-time like the battle chatter and the AI system. That brings so much to the action that when those spectacular moments happen, you might just get a chance to catch your breath before we throw you into the next wave of action.

Shack: Throughout the E3 trailer, there was plenty of NPC chatter. How many lines of dialogue is being pumped into the sequel compared to the original?

Zied Rieke: Call of Duty 2 has around 10 times the VO content of the original. Much of this content is in our new battle chatter system, which gives each and every soldier (allied and axis!) around 800-1000 lines of vocabulary. The battlefield is now alive with the voices of your squad mates and enemies reacting to the dynamically unfolding action. You will often hear soldiers giving orders, pointing out threats, calling for help, coordinating maneuvers – even more unnerving, you can hear the enemy doing the same in their own language!

Shack: I gotta say, the artillery strike about halfway through the demo was one of the coolest things I saw at the show. Will the player have any control in blowing shit up in a spectacular fashion?

Zied Rieke: There will be many huge moments like the artillery strike you saw E3 throughout Call of Duty 2. Our goal is to deliver the most intense and authentic portrayal war ever in a video game. Blowing crazy amounts of stuff up is a big part of that.

Shack: The entire E3 presentation was seamless with no loading. We landed at the beach, climbed the wall, hopped over the trenches, reached the city, and entered the backroads behind them. Are huge environments going to be the norm? Will things still be mission structured?

Zied Rieke: Call of Duty 2's missions will have more variety. While you still have campaigns from American, British and Russian perspectives, you will face new challenges and new, more open ended mission objectives. What you saw at E3 was just a taste of what's new. In the British campaigns in Africa, for example, you're going to find that you can take many different paths to get to some objectives. In some missions you will be faced with more than half a dozen immediate objectives at a time, spread across a large map. You can take them on any order you want and your squadmates, and the enemy, will respond accordingly.

Shack: How smart are the enemies this time around? In the demo, we saw them run away from grenades and other simple things; are we going to see them respond more dynamically than the first?

Zied Rieke: Call of Duty 2's squad-based gameplay takes everything that was great in the first game and goes far beyond it. Because our level objectives are more open with multiple pathways, we designed your AI squadmates to realistically work with you no matter what path you chose and call out your enemies with the battle chatter system. In Call of Duty 2 you are going to face a huge amount of enemy soldiers in very intense moments you haven't played before. You are going to need your squad to cover you without you having to tell them. At the same time, the enemies AI in Call of Duty 2 will call out your squad's position and make counter moves depending on which path you take and which objectives you go after first in any given level. Just like your squadmates, the enemies will lay down cover fire for each other to maneuver themselves into a position to destroy you. They are aggressive, yet they will take cover when needed. They seek out machine gun positions and will shower you with grenades. Everything that you and your squad will do to them, they will try to do it to you too.

Shack: Not much has been shown in regards to vehicles. What's going on there? Any new weaponry to be briefed about?

Zied Rieke: I hate to give away all the surprises, but we made sure that players returning to Call of Duty would be using and fighting alongside new allied vehicles as well as facing new German vehicles. The P-51 Mustang and the British Crusader II tank in particular make some exciting appearances.

Shack: Everything is still go for a holiday release?

Zied Rieke: Absolutely.

For more information about Call of Duty 2, head over to http://www.callofduty2.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="external. We also have more screenshots here as well as trailers on FileShack.