GC: So, you must be almost finished the game now. If not actually finished?
GS: I don't know what we can say and what we can't. But our job here is done. (laughs)
GC: It's not gold yet though is it (gold means the game is finished and ready to be mass produced)? Is there an official status?
GS: Ah, I don't know what the official status is. I know we're getting approvals [from the various different divisions of Microsoft and Sony, as well as PC hardware manufacturers - GC] left and right these days. There is a ton… you've gotta go through all the different countries, but for what it's worth it's sailed through most of them pretty smoothly [implying there are no major bugs or incompatibilities - GC].
GC: So what haven't we seen yet? Is there something fundamental that hasn’t been revealed, any secrets that you're still keeping back?
GS: Well… yes. We're holding back quite a bit. We're holding back some really exciting story parts. There's some character parts, things like that where we're not showing them at all. We'd just give too much away. The story means a lot to us and so we're kinda holding back about the countries we're going to.
Also, and this isn't holding back on purpose but we've got some really interesting pacing in the game, but if you show… demoing it and playing it sometimes is such a different animal that there are a few things where people are just absolutely going to love some of the pacing and what I mean by that is not, 'Oh all of a sudden I'm playing a hoppy jumpy game' but it's just as stressful sometimes to…
GC: Are you implying quieter moments in the game? Perhaps stealth elements?
GS: That sort of thing, but while they might not go on for long there's nothing as tension-building as… I don't know if you saw the harbour level in the game?
GC: Hunter Killer? Yes, we have.
GS: Well, you start off on this small sub and there's more of that going on in the full game, but it just doesn't demo well.
GC: Sure. Unless we've missed it before you mentioned in your intro to the Iron Lady demo a level set in Africa, which we don't remember hearing about before? Is that the first time you've talked about that?
GS: Oops. (laughs) No, it's not the first time I've mentioned it. But that's all I can say.
GC: But is that indicative of the sort of things that are hidden so far, that there's whole extra levels set in completely new countries?
GS: Uh-huh. (nods) Give it a couple of weeks and you'll find out.
GC: Although there's been an attempt in the UK to invent some over the tube level, there doesn't seem to be any attempt to create purposeful controversy on a par with the No Russian level from Modern Warfare 2? Is that also something we've yet to see?
GS: You never know what's going to turn into controversy, we had no idea the tube thing was going to do anything. I've said many times we don't go into the design of the game with controversy on our mind. Like, 'All right guys I want you to come up with something really crazy and you know what, we're going to cause a stir.' Actually it would be pretty easy but the hard thing, especially given the sort of world we live in now, is to tell a big story without offending people.
GC: But you must've known the No Russian was going to be controversial?
GS: Oh sure.
GC: So was there a conscious decision not to have an equivalent in this new game?
GS: Umm… there was no need to do that, in this game. We wrote a story and that's where it all starts from. If the needs of the story said, 'You have to blow up the moon, pieces of it kill everyone in China' and it made for a great story we'd do it. But it's more we have a really good story and we're happy with it and we didn't need anything like that.
GC: Something we noticed in the Iron Lady level in particular is that there seemed to be a lot more destructible scenery than we've seen in previous Call Of Duties, the bit where the hotel collapses or when you take control of the fixed machine gun, but that's not really something you've talked about before is it?
GS: Well, it's not a major system. It's not a system that we've put into the game, like other games have done, and it becomes a major selling point. It is a gameplay enhancement that we put in wherever possible to let you know you're interacting with the world a lot more and make it feel like the world is alive. But everything we do kind of goes back to trying to enhance the gameplay experience… we try to put destructible scenery in as many places as possible but then again if there's such a big moment going on that you don't need it you shouldn't.
GC: But it's an impressive effect, it's interesting that you don’t see any need to shout about it.
GS: It's not… I don't think we go around talking a heck of a lot about it. We're not out there touting a system to sell. We prefer to talk about the gameplay, like the multiplayer, the Spec Ops, what we've done to the single-player. Because there's a lot of advancements throughout this game, everywhere. And it's hard to tell which ones are the most important to talk about.
GC: Is there a sense that not only will the story be concluding with this game but also that this specific style of game will also be reaching a logical conclusion? Do you feel you have gone as far as you can with these mechanics and this technology, that Modern Warfare 3 will be drawing a line under something?
GS: Not necessarily. I don't think we're making a point to do that.
GC: We spoke to the Gears Of War guys and they did feel like they were closing the book on the original trilogy and looking to do something slightly different with the next games…
GS: In that respect, yes I'd say we're in a similar position. Yeah, I think the whole idea was, 'Let's tell the story, we've been dragging it out… the last two had cliffhangers. Let's let the player feel satisfied, let them feel like the investment they've made in the characters in the last couple of games, we'll make you feel okay about it.' Is it the end of Modern Warfare? I hope not.
It's not something where we went in consciously and said, 'Okay, let's finish up three and end with a cliffhanger and start up four.' We went in and said, 'We've got a story that just felt really good and really wrapped up that part of the series.' I think that it could go on and the creative… if we set them off for five minutes they'd come up with five different ideas.
GC: So there's no cliffhanger at the end of this one?
GS: (hesitates) Not necessarily… let's just say that there's going to be some surprises along the way though.
GC: So you’re alternating with Treyarch in making games each year, is it always going to be a Modern Warfare game when you and Infinity Ward make a new Call Of Duty?
GS: Don't know, don't know. I'm not sure what the deal is for the future. I think there are a lot of things up in the air but the one thing I guess I can see is that we [i.e. Sledgehammer Games - GC] are looking to try and do one on our own and so that's the only thing we can talk about right now. The truth is Infinity Ward and Sledghammer have been working together really, really well… but we don't know what the future holds.
GC: So it could become a three year gap between each studio's game? Infinity Ward one year, then Treyarch, and then Sledgehammer?
GS: It could be and maybe some teams split off, I don't know. I gotta get back, we gotta take some rest and then we'll sort it all out.
GC: But presumably the sort of time frame you're talking about there would involve the Xbox 720, the next generation of consoles?
GS: Probably, yeah. (laughs) I'd bet on us to make a good Call Of Duty.
[At this point the attending PR person stops us, as we've already overrun our time slot.]
GC: And we didn't even mention Battlefield 3!
GS: (laughs) Well I certainly appreciate that.
GC: We're sorry if those other questions, you're probably asked the same ones every time…
GS: No, not at all. Those were some good questions, I had to think hard for some of those. The only one I always get asked every time is Battlefield 3, and I an getting sick of that. (laughs)
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