Call of Duty 4 devs 'going after' Halo 3

by Justin McElroy { Sep 4th 2007 at 9:30AM }

Unlike bristly television producer Lou Grant, we like spunk. So you can imagine how our cockles were warmed seeing Call of Duty 4 developer Infinity Ward's president Grant Collier give the following quote to Next-Gen. "We love competition," he said. "I think for the 360 it's pretty much Halo 3 that's the competition so we're going after who we think are at the top of the game right now and we want to take those guys on. On PC I guess I'm hearing a lot about Crysis right now. Those guys kind of came right out from nowhere. There's lots of buzz around that game. On PS3 we're number one."

Pretty bold words, especially considering that Bungie never farmed out an inferior sequel and Unreal Tournament 3 ... you know, exists. That said, CoD 4 performed very well at this year's E3. We like Collier's spunk, we're just not sure his game can cash all the checks his mouth is writing.

Gallery: Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat

Tags: activision, callofduty4, halo3, infinityward

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

NukeAssault @ Sep 4th 2007 9:34AM

Oh god... how ever will i choose!

hvnlysoldr @ Sep 4th 2007 10:47AM

I can be indecisive to the point of flipping a penny I found off the ground for about two hours before Best Buy opened and I got a Wii. I know it's terribly hypocritical to flip a coin over and over. If you're letting a coin flip decide let it decide. If it keeps dragging on obviously you either follow it or you have come to a decision the other way because that's why you keep flipping. This will require another day's worth of flipping at least.

k0llateral @ Sep 4th 2007 9:41AM

"Pretty bold words, especially considering that Bungie never farmed out an inferior sequel"

I think many would disagree with that statement....

modified @ Sep 4th 2007 10:30AM

You're not understanding the statement correctly. Call of Duty 3 wasn't made by Infinity Ward.

Thaddeus @ Sep 4th 2007 10:34AM

By "farmed out" he means it was developed by a different development team then the rest of the series. Halo 2 may be arguably worse than Halo 1, but Bungie made it.

Edog Lost @ Sep 4th 2007 11:54AM

"Bungie never farmed out an inferior sequel"

It's a good burn Justin

waves @ Sep 4th 2007 12:09PM

Myth III: The Wolf Age.

Although they actually sold the rights to Take Two after Microsoft bought them, so I guess that's not farmed out. But it was a bad game compared to the other two.

Ska Oreo @ Sep 4th 2007 12:59PM

and many would agree with that statement.

Bert @ Sep 4th 2007 9:43AM

From someone who played in the HALO 3 Beta and is currently playing in the COD4 Beta I can say that in IMHO, that COD4 is a much more enjoyable game. The leveling system, perks, and customizable weapons give this game more of an RPG feel. I haven't been able to stop playing this Beta since I got in and it only has 3 maps and a level cap of 11.

I'm sure HALO 3 will still sell more copies due to the insane marketing behind it but for someone who can see past all of the hype, COD4 is the better game.

Mark @ Sep 4th 2007 10:25AM

"Much more enjoyable game" is stretching it a bit. I've been playing the COD4 beta and the level system is a nice touch, but nothing I haven't seen before. The game is definitely butter smooth, and plays very well. I'll be picking it up. But much more enjoyable than Halo? Sorry guy.

Stevo @ Sep 4th 2007 11:28AM

Yeah-- I've played both Betas, and while both games will surely change before release-- Halo 3 was a much more memorable and fun experience.

COD4 may be the best tactical shooter ever (I LOVE every Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon)...but I still don't think it is halo. Regardless, I'll be buying them both--COD4 just won't get my money until I've slowed down with Halo sometime in 2008.

JayDiggler @ Sep 4th 2007 2:32PM

Butter smooth? Was I playing at a bad time, I played 4 matches on Monday and all I got was insane lag, wasn't just me everyone in the match was complaining.

Ashraam @ Sep 4th 2007 9:44AM

Having played the beta over the weekend until my eyes were bleeding, I have to say I think they're right on the mark in terms of game quality. I don't typically go for competitive online play, but this game has me hooked in a way that Halo's multiplayer never did. (And that's with just the beta build.)

However, they'll never overtake the Halo hype machine in terms of sales on the 360. I'll be picking up Halo for the campaign mode. But I'll be picking up CoD4 for the campaign AND the multiplayer.

kavendano14 @ Sep 4th 2007 9:44AM

I dont think PS3's owners have a choice since it's probablyy the only good game coming out this year

Jake @ Sep 4th 2007 10:01AM

Hey now, UT3 may be AAA and Ratchet will surely please Ratchet fans. Uncharted also has potential coming from Naughty Dog. Folklore and Heavenly are also exclusives that are/will be playable rental type titles. Okay, that's all. Carry on.

Myke @ Sep 4th 2007 11:11AM

What R U talkin about?The PS3 has a great lineup including CoD4, Haze, UT3 (w/ mods & keyboard/mouse support. I'm so sick of XBOTS counting out everything just cause they Halo3.... Thats the only game you guys have besides Mass Effect which is another M$ game that takes place in space. That crap is getting old. I guess next M$ will have do games w/ the setting being underwater like BioShock.Anway, i'll be gettin this game 4real. W/ UT3, Haze, Assassins Creed, Kane & Lynch, and Army Of 2 releasing in Nov., this will be a expensive year for gaming!

Myrpok @ Sep 4th 2007 7:09PM

@Myke
Are you really trying to say that PS3 has a better fall line-up than the 360? LMAO, and on top of that, all the games you mention are shooters! What's all that I hear about the 360 being only good for shooters?

And Mass Effect and Halo 3 both take place in space, yes, but apart from that they are so astronomically (lol punny) different that it's retarded. By it I mean you. Eternal Sonata, Beautiful Katamari, and PGR4 are all also 360 exclusives. I'm not excited for PGR4, but it's usually a big game for racing fans. Don't forget about OrangeBox, either, although that one will be multi-system.

PS3 isn't going down in flames by any means, but the rest of this year between PS3 and 360 belongs to Xbox, without argument.
I suppose you could argue it, but you'd be wrong :p

Ashraam @ Sep 4th 2007 9:46AM

Bah! I need to learn to type faster. My post sounds just like yours!

One minute late for the lose.

Jake @ Sep 4th 2007 9:51AM

I agree with him totally. He is referring to fall buzz and how many people currently look forward to the different games, and he is right on. COD4 is #1 on PS3, #3 or #4 on PC, and probably #2 on 360. He conveniently disregards UT3, but lets not forget that no unreal game has ever sold much more than a million copes. Gears is the best selling Epic game of all time by about 4x (though unreal games were surely played by many more people than those that just bought it)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_selling_games#PC

Surely, past success does not guarantee or negate the possibility of future success. Epic hopes that the quality of UT3 rockets it to the forefront of FPS games on all platforms. In the end, the best shooters will tend to be the most popular.

Halo was an unknown when it dropped, earned a 97 metacritic score, and look where it got. Perfect Dark Zero had twice the marketing and hype of Halo1 and, er, look how it ended up. It received a respectable, but mediocre, 81 score. It was the sequel to the greatest console shooter of the N64/PS1 generation and flopped.

My point is that if they want to "take on" Halo3, they will have to, at the very minimum, release a game that is as good as Halo3. Given the very long development cycle, enormous resources, dev team history, and the vast amount of different gaming options, all of which are fine tuned to the Bungie standard, of Halo3 my guess is that COD4 has absolutely no chance of "killing" Halo. Add to it the fact that halo is already so popular and that guy just made a pointless statement.

That's just me and I could be wrong though. My "call" is that Halo3 will be a 96 on metacritic, sell approximately 6-7 million copies, and come in third on GOTY voting to some combination of Mass Effect, Bioshock, and Crysis. But, I'm only right about 93% of the time so you never know.

doomcloud @ Sep 4th 2007 10:09AM

if your comment is longer than the article you should probably do some serious thinking about your life

Danners @ Sep 4th 2007 10:19AM

While I won't disagree with your assessment, calling a game score of 81 "mediocre" is a little odd. Perfect Dark Zero was far from a AAA game, but it was still a very solid game.

copa @ Sep 4th 2007 9:56AM

Halo has always struck me as a well-designed, well-balanced, dumbed-down PC shooter. I'd never trash it as a bad game, but it is not something that has ever inspired a lot of passion or excitement from me.

COD4, on the other hand, is very compelling to me. That E3 demo got me out of my seat; the game seems to have a smart, focused creative vision, and Infinity Ward has the technical chops to deliver the goods.

Obviously, neither franchise is going to hurt for sales.

modified @ Sep 4th 2007 10:37AM

Only thing dumbed down is your statement. Especially when you have nothing to back it up.

kokuryukai @ Sep 4th 2007 10:48AM

I could have not said it any better -
"Halo has always struck me as a well-designed, well-balanced, dumbed-down PC shooter"

lessbiasedthanmost @ Sep 4th 2007 11:04AM

Welcome to the wonderful world of opinion kokuryukai and modified. The best thing about opinions is, you don't have to back them up with facts. I'm going to have to agree with copa though, Halo feels like a highly derivative game, though it's prettier than most of the others. You've still got your rocket launcher weapon, you've got your machine gun, and you've got the pistol; you also have an "alien" version of each.

Don't take this the wrong way though, I don't see myself playing CoD4 any time soon either, but since I don't own a 360 I won't be playing H3 any sooner.

And before I get flamed for not knowing what I'm talking about, yes I have played both Halo games and found them lacking in story. IMO if you need to sell separate books to tell the story of a game, you need to focus more on the story in game.

Phour ZwanZig @ Sep 4th 2007 11:48AM

lessbiasedthanmost, so was Star Wars a bad movie then, cuz they sold books based on the universe that the movie set. Ones that even tied in..

And lets not forget The Clone Wars..

Books and other media to tie story together is just another mediam for revenue.. Im sure many ppl even read the Halo books but may never have played a Halo game.. Ive never read a Halo book but will I be lost in the Halo story, I bet not..

Give it a rest on Halo.. MS put together a well set story and ppl just have to admit that once and awhile MS does do something right..

LAZoftheTamarinds @ Sep 4th 2007 9:59AM

Exactly, CoD 4 is going to be a much better game. CoD 4 will sell well but not along the lines of Halo 3. Halo 3 will be purchased more because of all the hype and marketing. It will probably get a better review than CoD 4 because it's halo. Halo is the Xbox brand's icon.

Ska Oreo @ Sep 4th 2007 1:05PM

Or maybe Halo will get a better score because it deserved it.

OrganicShadow @ Sep 4th 2007 10:03AM

It's a good thing all of the major titles that were due this fall for PS3 have been spread out across this fall and the first three months of 08, because I don't think anyone has the cash for all those games at once. This should help each title get good sales and not let any of them get lost in the chaos.

CoD4 will be huge for PS3, but I don't think it's going to take #1 spot. I think an exclusive might do the trick like Uncharted or Haze.

Intellectualdiot @ Sep 4th 2007 10:05AM

Sure, you like SPUNK.

But do you like MOXIE? That, my friends, is the true test.

fawazr @ Sep 4th 2007 10:51AM

+1 for having KV as your avatar.

I also appreciate the latent eroticism in the fact that "Moxie fills you with spunk."

Voted up for being tangential!

elnino334 @ Sep 4th 2007 11:05AM

Halo 3 will be a better game overral just because of the 4 player co-op campaign. Halo will have longer legs then cod4 because of this. It is the reason why I decided to buy Halo. Both are going to be very good games so everyone should be happy.

Fatima @ Sep 4th 2007 10:12AM

I was playing the beta of CoD4 over the weekend and it is a lot more fun than the Halo 3 beta. I am really excited for CoD4. Halo 3 will have great campaign. But I think in the end both of them are great games with different tastes. I will get both for sure. Mayb H3 for 360 and CoD4 for Ps3.

Deviation @ Sep 4th 2007 10:12AM

In defense of Infinity Ward, it was Activision who made the decision to have Treyarch make a Call of Duty console sequel and call it CoD3. In the office, the Modern Combat executable is called CoD3.exe.

Irwin @ Sep 4th 2007 10:13AM

noone cares anymore that WWII shooters are still coming out?
i remember a year or 2 ago, we were getting swamped by WWII shooters, everyone was getting sick of em'..i guess they were just bad quailty..

Ashraam @ Sep 4th 2007 10:21AM

CoD4 isn't a WWII game. Its modern combat now. :)

Vidikron @ Sep 4th 2007 10:24AM

What are you referring to? CoD4 isn't a WWII shooter... hence the subtitle "Modern Combat".

Irwin @ Sep 4th 2007 11:58AM

LOLOLOL i feel realy dumbass now
wait wait, is the new Medal of Honor game that comes out today a WWII shooter?? :P

License to ill @ Sep 4th 2007 4:04PM

Ah you gotta luv the ill-informed...

Irwin @ Sep 4th 2007 4:33PM

its not entiremyl MY fault..my friend has been shoving this title down my throat for the past month sayigs its going to be the best game evar, even better then halo 3..PSH

i just ignored him. i had heard enough, even though i didnt pay attention.

Mike-453 @ Sep 4th 2007 10:16AM

I disagree, I find Halo 3 more fun, but that's of course only my opinion.

I'll be juggling between this and Halo 3, I love the ranking and weapon unlocking and all that kind of stuff that this and to a lesser extent R6V has.

drdre74 @ Sep 4th 2007 11:47AM

I'm not a big FPS person besides Rainbow six Vegas and Gears of War but I think this game has them both beat. From the trailers alone you gotta love this game. I love the fact that you can get a few shots off before you die and that you can shoot thru walls and hit people like in real life. Not too many games do that if at all. I love the camaflouge in the tall grass also. Thats gonna be sweet as hell online.

Mike-453 @ Sep 4th 2007 10:19AM

Irwin, this isn't a WWII shooter....

Jake @ Sep 4th 2007 10:21AM

Well, COD4 may not earn as high of a metacritic score, sales despite being multiplatform, or garner 1/10th the total hours played despite being multiplatform. It may not have the options or depth of Halo 3. It may have only 1/10th the marketing and hype and previous franchise accomplishments of Halo. Sure, it has less weapons, equipment, gameplay choices, and vehicles. And obviously, it has nothing like the Forge, instant replay and video making, or customizable co-op. So what if it doesn't have arguably the best matchmaking system in a game. And does it really matter that it is the sequel to games that weren't as good as the Halo games, didn't sell as well, and aren't currently played by as many people? So what if it is a generic multiplatform war shooter that plays much like its WWII brethren? So what if it has half the dev time as Halo 3? So what if the campaign will be as generic as the last two COD games?

Gosh darnit, I don't care about all that BS. The game has good graphics and you can put different scopes on your damn guns. Therefore somehow, some way, it is going to be better.
-------
Look, lovin' up COD4 is cute and all, but let's face the facts here. The game will be good, but it won't be Halo good. It won't be Crysis good. It probably won't be UT3 good. It will be the 4th to 7th best shooter released in the next 4 months.

Vidikron @ Sep 4th 2007 10:28AM

Huh? What aspect are you talking about? IMO, Halo's MP has never been that great. For me Halo has always been about the campaign... specifically co-op. I know the Halo MP is popular, but I've played better. I played the H3 beta for a while and it was OK, but I'll take Warhawk's MP anyday on console.