Infinity Ward may have created Call of Duty but publisher Activision has always wanted to take the hit war-game series into different directions. Most of those efforts stalledālike the third-person variant that dev studio Sledgehammer was working onāand the public never gets to see what might have been
But what youāre seeing above is animation for a Call of Duty Tactics game that was in development at Vicarious Visions. Itās listed as a prototype for Xbox 360 and PS3 on the website of animator Steve Nelson, who formerly worked at the studio that also made Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 for Activision.
While praised for its frenetically fast-paced action, Call of Duty often gets criticized for its shallow strategic depth. It wouldāve been interesting to see what a tactically focused spin-off of the first-person franchise would have played like. But that may not be happening anytime soon.