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Developer reveals plans for cancelled 'Call of Duty' spin-off set in ancient Rome

Call of Duty Roman Wars - The story of the lost CoD
This year, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare will break new ground for the FPS franchise as it relocates the action to a far-future conflict taking place across our Solar System. However, the series almost took a turn for the unusual back in 2008, with an installment set in ancient Roman times.

At that time, Modern Warfare had just launched, and Activision was interested in exploring a potential spin-off. One of the pitches the company received was code-named “Roman Wars,” and would have cast players as a member of Julius Caesar’s Tenth Legion, according to a report from Games Radar.

The project was being developed by Vicarious Visions, the studio best known for its work on the Skylanders series. However, back in 2008, the team had most recently been working on Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2,and so it used a similar top-down camera for their proposed Call of Duty spin-off.

However, the game was intended to switch back and forth between perspectives depending on what sort of gameplay was being served up by individual missions — which could range from riding into the Battle of Alesia atop a war elephant, to engaging in gladiatorial combat in the arena.

Like other Call of Duty games, “Roman Wars” would have had players jump back and forth between different characters to gain a full view of the conflict at hand. Apparently, there were even plans for a mission where Julius Caesar himself was the protagonist.

Unfortunately, “Roman Wars” never came to pass, as Activision CEO Bobby Kotick soured on using the Call of Duty brand on a game that was so different from the core series. The project was later presented to Ubisoft as an original IP, but the French publisher passed.

Of course, this year’s iteration of the Battlefield series is set to explore a historical setting — albeit only going as far back as the early 20th century. Perhaps if Infinite Warfare underperforms, we’ll see Activision reconsider a Call of Duty title set in the past.

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Brad Jones
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Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III trailer teases a No Russian reimagining
No Russian's reimagining in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III

Activision Blizzard has fully pulled back the curtain on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III following an in-game event in its predecessor. This came alongside new gameplay that concludes by teasing a rebooted version of the series' infamous No Russian mission.
The gameplay trailer focuses on the campaign missions, which got a lot more detail in a post on the game's website. It affirms that the game follows Task Force 141 as they take on Vladimir Makarov and will feature some "Open Combat Missions" that give players multiple ways to complete objectives. The gameplay seems to mainly feature a stealthy run to one of these levels. Of course, the trailer's most shocking moment comes at the end.
Gameplay Reveal Trailer | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
We see Makarov text someone "No Russian," before they pull out a gun on a crowded plane. If you don't remember, No Russian was one of the original Modern Warfare II's most infamous missions, as it had players partake in a mass shooting terrorist attack at an airport with Russians. The level has influenced the tone of this rebooted Modern Warfare series, and it now looks like Modern Warfare III is set to reimagine this mission in some way, following up the Modern Warfare II post-credit scene that referenced it.

While the trailer focused on the campaign mainly, that post confirmed a lot of new info on multiplayer and Modern Warfare Zombies too. Its multiplayer features all 16 launch maps from 2009's Modern Warfare II, two larger Battle maps for Ground War and Invasion, and an even bigger War map for the return of the War Mode introduced in Call of Duty: WWII. Map voting returns, so you can have a say in where you want to play a match.  Finally, Activision says Modern Warfare Zombies takes place in a new open world where players will fight Dark Aether Zombies, complete missions, and incorporate Extraction game elements. 
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III launches on PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on November 10.

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Activision teases Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’s biggest improvements
The official logo for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.

Activision has just teased lots of new details about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, which launches this November. That includes the fact that the game will contain a Zombies mode, more open-ended campaign missions, and introduce a new "Call of Duty HQ" that will serve as a hub for all future Call of Duty games.

These details were all revealed in a new blog post posted on the series' website ahead of the in-game event that will give us our first in-depth look at Modern Warfare II. In it, Activision clears up a lot of rumors about the game to try and show that Modern Warfare III is still an "incredible, premium annual game experience across Campaign, Multiplayer and Co-operative modes" despite reportedly starting development as a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II expansion.
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More importantly, it's finally officially confirmed that this year's game will feature a Zombies mode. Titled Modern Warfare Zombies, Activision calls it the "largest Zombies offering to date." Finally, Activision made it clear that it plans on keeping all Call of Duty content closely bundled together going forward. After Modern Warfare III launches, Call of Duty HQ will be introduced and serve as "one access point for your future Call of Duty content."
While there aren't many specifics on all of these things, we at least now have a broader picture of what to expect from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III when it launches on November 10.

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Does Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 have Hardcore mode?
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 guy with a gun

In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, players have access to a wide variety of multiplayer game modes including Team Deathmatch, Search and Destroy, and the new Prisoner Capture. One of the most popular modes in the series is Hardcore, which has been in the series for years. This intense mode removes the HUD and increases damage across the board. But does this mode appear in the new Modern Warfare 2?

Here's what you need to know about the Hardcore mode in Modern Warfare 2.
Does Modern Warfare 2 have a Hardcore mode?
When Modern Warfare 2 first launched, it didn't have a Hardcode mode, much to the disappointment of fans. Instead, the game had a mode called Tier 1, which was basically a rudimentary version of Hardcore mode, with some missing features. For instance, there's no HUD, whatsoever, no hitmarkers, and no killfeed, which made the mode hard to actually play in some cases. Thankfully, Activision finally did add Hardcore more at the start of 2023, replacing the Tier 1 mode from before.
What is Hardcore mode?

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