What is Call of Duty based on?
As an avid COD player and military history buff, I‘m often asked if the Call of Duty games are based on real events. After all, the blockbuster franchise strives for immersive realism across its various wartime settings.
The answer is: partly yes, but also partly no. Read on as I reveal the true stories behind Call of Duty!
World War II: Bringing Key Battles Back to Life
The early Call of Duty titles focused extensively on World War II‘s Eastern and Western Fronts. COD designers went to great lengths to accurately recreate crucial battles like the D-Day landings, Battle of the Bulge, and Soviet defense of Stalingrad.
According to developer interviews, they consulted historical battle plans, documents, and maps stored in national archives. The team also picked veterans‘ brains — including British paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division — on terrain details and combat dynamics. Fun side-note: it‘s rumored actual war stories shared over one whiskey-fueled night inspired COD‘s "All Ghillied Up" sniper level!
Through meticulous research, Infinity Ward brought to life warzones like Omaha Beach right down to regimental positions, terrain elevation, and field obstacles on the morning of June 6, 1944. However, as games must take creative license to entertain, fictional American protagonist Martin levels the beach rather than real-life forces!
COD‘s D-Day landings (left) mirrored actual war photographs (right).
So in summary, Call of Duty‘s World War II DNA comes from real battles adapted — with a bit of Hollywood magic — to thrill rather than simulate.
Table: WWII Battles In COD vs Real Life
| Game Battle | Real-life Counterpart |
|---|---|
| Invasion of Normandy | D-Day Landings |
| Liberation of Stalingrad | Battle of Stalingrad |
| Battle of the Bulge | Ardennes Counteroffensive |
The Cold War Era: Conspiracy Theories & Covert Ops
After exhausting WW2, the series pivoted to the Cold War period rife with conspiracy theories and classified CIA stunts prime for fictionalization. Black Ops leveraged several declassified affairs like 1960‘s failed Bay of Pigs Invasion as inspiration.
Let‘s consider the seminal "Operation 40" mission, where Mason and Woods foil a Castro assassination bid amid the Cuban Missile Crisis. This dramatic level actually traces back to CIA Director Richard Bissell‘s real 1959 plan to eliminate Castro! Declassified documents reveal Operation 40 (dubbed for agent roster count) first made waves when an informant leaked the scheme barely a week before deployment! Sound familiar?
Now the inaugural Call of Duty couldn‘t depict real missions down to exact details for legal reasons — even with names changed, it was risky! Instead Infinity Ward re-imagined the core concept of an aborted Cuban coup amid nuclear tensions in October 1962. Real operatives and raids were fictionalized while retaining that authentic clandestine flavor. The result? A thrilling glimpse at covert CIA "what-ifs"!
Declassified CIA scheme (L) turned into fictional Black Ops campaign (R).
Through supplementing actual events with action-drama, Call of Duty‘s Cold War chapter managed to educate players on recent, murky history…all while delivering that trademark adrenaline rush!
Call of Duty Cold War Story Inspirations
| Game Mission | Inspired By |
|---|---|
| Operation 40 | Real CIA plot to assassinate Fidel Castro |
| WMD Accident | 1966 Palomares B-52 crash |
Modern Warfare: Contemporary Battlegrounds Come to Life
Seeking a fresher, timely setting, Call of Duty recently shifted to fictional contemporary conflicts clearly modeled after real-world hotspots and scenarios.
Shadowy militant leader Al-Qatala seems awfully similar to deceased Al-Qaeda head Osama bin Laden. The country dubbed Urzikistan bares striking resemblance to conflict-ridden Chechnya and Georgia. Levels in 2019‘s gritty soft-reboot Modern Warfare consciously evoke battlefields like bombed-out Aleppo from Syria‘s ongoing civil war.
Through adapting real insurgent tactics and weapons usage amid hauntingly familiar urban ruins, Call of Duty crafts a vivid, authentic combat simulation parked firmly between fiction and reality. Immersion reigns supreme even when playing hypothetic wars not found in any history textbook…yet.
Modern Warfare‘s fictional locales (L) mirrored Syrian warzones (R).
It‘s this potent mix of real-world inspiration and trademarked COD spectacle that keep military FPS enthusiasts like myself returning year after year!
So in closing, Call of Duty derives unparalleled excitement from adapting actual 20th and 21st century combat into bombastic interactive entertainment. Everything from precise assault tactics to gear selection celebrates armed forces while allowing room for creative liberties necessary in this interactive medium.
Yet for all the over-the-top action chasing main characters survive, the franchise pays its dues honoring true war stories both small and seismic in shaping today‘s complex geopolitical landscape.
