Infinity Ward shows off stunning new Call of Duty engine

Activision and developer Infinity Ward has finally shown the world what it can expect from the next generation of Call of Duty.

The upcoming new game in the series, Call of Duty: Ghosts, will use a number of new graphical techniques to make the game ‘more immersive than ever before.’

The traditional Call of Duty gameplay appears largely unchanged. In the footage shown to the games press last week, the game features a number of cinematic set-pieces, including a spectacular underwater attack on a submarine. Anyone expecting a big departure from the series would be disappointed.

In fact, Infinity Ward is continuing down the cinematic route and has teamed up with Stephen Gaghan for the game’s script. Gaghan is best known for writing Traffic, as well as writing and directing the George Clooney movie, Syriana.

Infinity Ward has set the gold standard for this genre in the last generation and make no mistake, they are going to set it again in the next generation,” said Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg.

Ghosts will showcase what is possible on the next gen. It will be a leap forward for the franchise and I think it will be the best Call of Duty we have ever made.”

Other new features in the game includes a realistic dog companion, which Infinity Ward promises will be a significant addition to the title. The game’s multiplayer has also been upgraded. The firm wouldn’t reveal all the changes it is making to this side of the game, but did reveal dynamic multiplayer maps (complete with events such as Earthquakes).

But the most significant difference in this Call of Duty is the visual upgrade. A piece of technology called Sub-D, tech originally developed by movie giant Pixar, has been incorporated in the game that dramatically increases in-game polygons. Sub-D is designed to create smoother curves and remove noticeable edges, it also adds contouring via 3D rendering without the need for the developer to do anything.

Sticking with the tech information, Ghosts also boasts a big increase in texture density and polycount, which leads to an increase particle count.

Complete with the usual low latency and 60 frames per-second, and Infinity Ward hopes it has created the most immersive Call of Duty game so far.

This new tech allows us to make those worlds that we are playing in more realistic and more visceral,” said Infinity Ward executive producer Mark Rubin, who leads development on Call of Duty Ghosts.

All of that kind of artistic detail that we put into the environment, the more realistic and natural it feels to you, the more the player’s imagination melds with that game, then the barrier between the player and the game gets even thinner.”

For more on Call of Duty: Ghosts, make sure to read this Friday’s edition of MCV.