Call of Duty has become pretty much become the punching bag of the gaming community. Every media release is inundated with at least a few comments of "Still better than CoD," and even when the series does release something cool, it's usually ignored by the majority. Due to frequent, yearly installments and a general lack of innovation over the franchises' lifestyle, the Call of Duty series has become synonymous with "unremarkable" to many.
The recent presentation of the franchise's newest installment may change that, however. Call of Duty: WW2 has shaken things up for the brand by returning to its origins in - you guessed it - World War II. Check out the trailer below:
The setting isn't the only thing to be excited about though. The presence of bayonets, flamethrowers, and various other historical weapons seems to hint at an installment that will introduce a welcome variety to the gameplay. Other features make their appearances as well; players seem to parachute in and jump off of trucks, rather than simply pop into existence behind the enemy team. There's also duel-wielding mechanic, though those who remember the general unpopular arrival of this feature to the Halo franchise may not share in the excitement over it.
Still, people are generally unwilling to change their opinions, which may explain why many have been vocal in their criticism of the developer's decision to replace the German swastika with an iron cross.
Of course, there's a few explanations for this. Germany doesn't allow swastikas to be portrayed (they're understandably pretty anti-Nazi in general), which means a globally streamed event like E3 must take steps to abide by these restrictions. It's also equally likely that Activision simply doesn't want to encourage players to associate Call of Duty with the Nazi ideology. It wouldn't be the first time for the public to take a misguided perception of a video game and run wild with it, after all.