That and you’re firing down on the historic centre of Paris, with explicit instructions not to destroy the buildings – although if you do you’re treated to some impressive destruction effects and explosions.Sitting in the gunship doesn’t have quite the sense of omnipotence as before and as you hose down the enemy with rivers of hot lead there‘s a missile warning and a flight of attacking Russian jets.
As we’ve noted before Infinity Ward clearly haven’t lost their knack for cinematic set pieces, in fact with the help of Sledgehammer they’ve only refined their art further, with the scene then quickly zooming out to a view above the battleground in an AC-130 Gunship.It’s a familiar viewpoint now for Modern Warfare (and everything from this week’s new Ace Combat to iPhone game Zombie Gunship) but the difference here is it’s in broad daylight, and therefore full colour. This is made considerably more difficult by World War III breaking out and the section of the level we saw is focused solely on a fight for the US embassy.This starts at ground level with a V-22 Osprey (the helicopter with the transforming propellers) getting shot down and threatening to end your game almost immediately.
The latter of which was certainly news to us (but does seem to be featured briefly in the new trailer, also released on Friday).Schofield gave only a vague background to the plot of Iron Lady, revealing that you play as US Delta Force soldiers (apparently including new protagonist Sandman) attempting to locate a ‘high value target’ to pump for information. Although it’s been known for a long time that there are levels set in London, Paris, and Berlin Schofield also hinted at sections set in Russia, the Himalayas, and Africa.
As Schofield explains Iron Lady is from around the middle of the game, following a series of levels set in the US and detailing the American fight back against the Russian invasion of the Eastern seaboard.According to him this escalates the war even further and by the time things get to Europe it’s became a genuine World War. He’s the CEO and co-founder of Sledgehammer Games – Activision’s new studio brought in to help Infinity Ward with Modern Warfare 3 – and he was in London on Friday to show off a brand new single-player level called, for reasons that weren’t immediately apparent, ‘Iron Lady’.Rather than featuring a giant robotic Margret Thatcher taking on the whole of Russia with a nuclear-powered handbag, the level was set in the middle of Paris. As you’ve no doubt noticed the marketing has just started to kick in and in the now relatively short journey towards November 8 you’ll find out just how much advertising $200 million can buy you.That however is none of Glen Schofield’s concern. The next time we write about Modern Warfare 3 it’s going to be for the review.
Modern Warfare 3 coming your way on November 8