Sledgehammer Games had a fantastic concept, but the publisher, Activision Blizzard, never allowed them to implement it.

By 2023, Sledgehammer Games had developed not one, but two versions of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. However, the studio had another idea they pitched to Activision. A third-person Call of Duty set in a terrifying reimagining of the Vietnam War. Studio co-founder Glen Schofield, who left in 2018, described the concept as thrilling.

Before founding Sledgehammer Games, Schofield worked at Electronic Arts Redwood Shores, which later became the now-defunct Visceral Games, creators of Dead Space. With that background, Schofield knows the horror genre well. Still, Call of Duty: Fog of War would have been a different kind of horror, while maintaining the action-packed sequences the franchise is known for.

“We wanted to create an intense, scary version of Vietnam. We wanted intense, personal battles that you’ve never seen before. We were excited about having you go through tunnels because everything is scary down there with not much light. Sometimes, you’re shooting in the dark. In another sequence, you reach a river and decide to follow it downstream. I think you’re trying to escape. We turned the camera so that you’re now running toward it. The camera moves with you. In the background of the jungle, though, we see a giant American B-52 bomber on fire.

Your character looks behind him and sees that it’s coming down. It looks like it’s coming down close, but then you see it dip down behind the trees. It disappears, and you wait for the explosion. It doesn’t happen. Now, it’s coming toward you. You jump, and the camera turns off the cliff and into the waterfall and the water below. Looking up, you see the plane go over your head, dropping pieces into the water. Then, you see it crash. ‘It was good,'” Schofield told PCGamer.

Unfortunately, the concept never materialized. Issues arose at Infinity Ward. Co-founders Vince Zampella and Jason West left amid a legal battle, taking a chunk of the team with them. This led to the creation of Respawn Entertainment, under Electronic Arts. As a result, Activision had to move quickly to salvage Modern Warfare 3. Sledgehammer was told to abandon Fog of War and jump to the other project instead. The studio never returned to Vietnam…

Source: PCGamer