The Call of Duty franchise has had its fair share of ups and downs with regards to single-player campaigns. Modern Warfare's "All Ghillied Up" comes to memory as one of the series' earliest noteworthy missions, while the following Modern Warfare 2 made headlines for the controversial "No Russian," in which the player took part in an airport shooting. Missions of a similar caliber would become less frequent in later installments, despite celebrity appearances like Kevin Spacey (House of Cards, American Beauty) and Kit Harrington (Game of Thrones, Pompeii), and the popular opinion seems to be that Call of Duty has taken a bit of a narrative nosedive.
From the looks of things however, Call of Duty: WWII could be serving up something special this time around. In an announcement over the series' official Twitter account, Sledgehammer Games today revealed a trailer showcasing the latest installment's single-player campaign. Check it out:
As the series has made a return to the familiar setting of World War 2, it really shouldn't come as a surprise that it seems to be tackling some rather common themes. From the dramatic lines issued by the apparent protagonists, it's obvious that War is most definitely Hell once again. The trailer makes no attempt to "coolify" the conflict in which so many lives perished, and while recent installments in the Call of Duty franchise have placed an emphasis on giving players plenty of neat new toys with which they could kill each other, WWII leaves things as grim and gritty as the setting deserves.
It's also worth noting how, despite recent, disturbing trends in our country's political landscape, the trailer doesn't shy away from violent displays of Nazism. The scene in which several men are being inspected by an enemy officer and the phrase "They're after Jews," is uttered in particular conveys a very haunting, very authentic scenario that many countries bore unfortunate witness to many years ago.
Call of Duty: WWII launches November 3 at $59.99 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Interested in the game but uncertain about making the purchase? WWII's PC multiplayer beta launches later this month on September 29. For more information on that, check out the official announcement on the Call of Duty website.
