I am far from the type of person who enjoys first-person shooters. Between struggling with the fast reflexes required and not being able to see the speck of a sniper in the distance, I was usually the single cause of my team’s frustration. I mean, I don’t blame them
So, after actively avoiding first-person shooters since 2017, I intended to do the same for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and its spinoff, Warzone 2.
Then why did I buy the main game for £60? What led to me totaling 100 hours of playtime in the free battle royale?
It’s embarrassing to admit, but I returned to the genre I deeply hated because of the developed characters.
Behind The Mask
If you’ve been on TikTok since the game’s release back in October, you’ve probably seen at least one edit of an animated military operator wearing a skeleton mask. This is Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley, voiced by Samuel Roukin, who was the first to reach the masses.
Ghost has been a fan favorite among players since his first appearance in 2009. His masked appearance had the most influence on this. The mystery behind his character, rugged personality and gritty backstory were enough to command the player’s attention. His popularity led to him appearing in several games across the franchise, including Call of Duty Mobile.
So, it’s no surprise that Ghost was used as the face for the new reboot of the game, alongside serving the purpose of a secondary protagonist. Activision aimed to excite old players, but they didn’t expect the beloved character to attract up to 500,000 players, making it CoD’s biggest launch.
But It Doesn’t End There
Of course, one character can’t be the single cause for that many players. All of the operators have played a part in enticing new gamers, with their physical and personality design taking social media platforms by storm.
The dynamic between your character, Sergeant Johnny “Soap” MacTavish, voiced by Neil Ellice, and Ghost was frequently edited and posted to platforms like TikTok. Short clips from the main game are mainly focused on where the two are shown joking around with each other while you complete the mission.
Ghost: Two goldfish are in a tank…?
Soap: Go on…
Ghost: One turns to the other and says… “You know how to drive this thing?”
Ghost: Little army humour.
Soap: Very little.
Although some may have found the jokes funny, while others aligned themselves with Soap’s reaction, it was not the dialogue that connected with most people. Players found themselves drawn to the personality the developers had spent more time building. Many first-person shooter games fall victim to the cliche of creating strong and masculine characters with an apathetic view to killing yet also have the emotional intelligence of machines. It’s hard for players to relate or connect with these tropes as they seem less human and more robotic.
By having a group of tough characters expresses emotions and senses of humor, Activision allowed room for inspiration and creativity to run freely. Smaller voice actors began to create their own jokes as the operators, animators, and artists used these as inspiration for short videos. Even people with little creative talent got involved, posting videos with their head cannons for the group as they went about their daily lives.
As more people posted about the game, more people were exposed to it, and interest snowballed. Videos spread like wildfire as player numbers seemed to triple each passing hour. Old and new players alike finally had something in common: genuine enjoyment. All thanks to well-developed characterization.
Warzone 2.0
As interest peaked in Call of Duty, players also began to explore the rest of the franchise. Warzone 2.0 is a battle-royale spinoff of Call of Duty, with people being able to play as characters from the main game and new operators. Due to it being free to download, Warzone 2.0 reached 25 million players in only five days.
Playing with others is a lot more daunting than following a simple story game. Despite my love for the leading operators, I was still extremely hesitant to branch out to fighting against real-life opponents who were definitely better than I could ever be. Obviously, I caved in and installed it anyway.
Now, I’m not going to claim that the game didn’t make me angry. The bugs and hidden sniping players built up my frustration to the point of hovering over the “uninstall” button several times. So why didn’t I press it? Again, the characters kept me reeled in.
König is another masked character that quickly grew in popularity. I mean, it makes sense. His physical design is one of the more original.
But for me, although his appearance is impressive, it wasn’t the reason I spent three days trying to bypass glitches and escape other players to unlock him. König’s biography states that he suffers from extreme social anxiety and has experienced bullying. Not only did I relate to him, being the nervous wreck I am, but having a character as cool and as well-liked as he is despite this offered me some small sense of hope.
Relatability and admirability were crucial things that tied players to their favorite operators. The wide range of ethnicities and biographies across the male and female playable characters allowed gamers to feel seen. The inclusive selection also opposed virtue signaling within first-person shooters. Games such as Call of Duty: Vanguard and Battlefield 5 were mocked for their historical inaccuracy in favor of forcing diversity. The natural variety of Warzone 2.0 subtly added to the game’s entertainment value.
The missions and activities needed to unlock these characters also kept people playing. Once you finally unlocked the operator you wanted, you had several more missions to unlock their alternative skins too. Again, thanks to character design, Warzone 2.0 brought out the determination many of us didn’t know we even had.
The Importance of Characters
By focusing more on characterization, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II developers found that one of the most critical factors of a game is, well, the characters. The games mentioned could be better, but players have found it’s easier to ignore bugs and frustration when you have complex operators to enjoy. By creating these characters, Activision started the domino effect of people liking them and posting about them, therefore encouraging others to play, and the cycle continues.
