How Sledgehammer games reinvented multiplayer for Call of Duty: WWII

Sledgehammer Games and Activision revealed Call of Duty: WWII’s multiplayer combat last week at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the influential game trade show in Los Angeles. I played a few rounds of multiplayer on some close-combat maps, and then I interviewed Michael Condrey, the cofounder of Sledgehammer Games.

It was an all-too-brief hands-on session, but I enjoyed it. We started with a battle in the bunkers at Pointe Du Hoc, where the U.S. Army Rangers scaled cliffs and fought hand-to-hand. Then we played a round of domination in the ruins of a stone building. And we also played a “war mode” map where we progressed from one task to another, such as building a bridge across a riverbed. At first, I played as a German soldier. That took me aback at first, but I soon got used to it.