Call of duty
It’s like the Olympics, but with more guns. The Games of Summer began today in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, putting players through a gauntlet of tests that, to me, harken all the way back to that obstacle course at the beginning of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. So as I feebly try to hop on top of straw bales and inevitably end up choking in the gas below, more talented players than me are no doubt putting up videos that smash the required score for Gold and complete the whole thing in 20 seconds or what have you: such is life. Here’s what you need to know.
The Games of summer began today, August 28, at 1:00 PM Eastern, and they’ll run until the same time on September 7. They consist of five combat trials that test your skills in various different arenas: only one is available today, and it’s a parkour challenge that asks you to play a variation on “the floor is lava” on a little farmstead, the difference being that the floor is poisonous gas. Complete it quickly enough, and you can grab yourself the “Shot Put” handgun with gold.
This is a little different than the official schedule, which had “Gun Course” up first. According to the game, that one’s up next, followed by “Marksman Challenge”. There are two more after that: here they are, as per the official Activision Blog with a little editing to change what appears to be changed dates.
“Gun Course: Make your way through the course as fast as possible while clearing all enemy targets and avoiding civilian casualties.
Marksman Challenge: Engage waves of long-distance targets and beat the clock. Missed shots burn time.
Shooting Range: Locate and shoot all targets in the area as quickly as possible while conserving ammunition.
Price’s Alley: Eliminate an endless series of enemy targets while avoiding civilian targets to maintain the combo for as long as possible.”
Each trial has it’s own rewards, and anyone who participates gets a “Games of Summer Cup” weapon charm. Earning Gold in every trial will earn you the legendary Assault Rifle Juliet blueprint, which the game says is “built for pure precision”.
Those are the basics, but then there’s a strange twist: we’re also competing on behalf of our countries, and every medal you earn will award points to your account’s country of origin. The game will keep track of which country is leading, and points are weighted by participants so high population countries don’t run away with the whole thing. It’s a neat little event, and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens. I always like it when games use their essential format to produce something that feels very different from normal gameplay.
