Modern Warfare Was "An Amazing Benchmark" For Treyarch

Although you might've heard that Infinity Ward and Treyarch aren't the best of friends, at least one Treyarch employee holds no grudges.

In a recent MCV interview with Treyarch design director David Vonderhaar, he called Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare franchise "a huge inspiration." In short, the team saw MW2 as "an amazing benchmark" for Black Ops. We can't forget the scores IW's massive title pulled down in 2009, and although Treyarch's effort ended up trumping MW2 in terms of sales, Vonderhaar has plenty of respect for the competition. Said Vonderhaar:

"Every developer dreams of making the No.1 selling title in the history of gaming.

You want to make the biggest, strongest, highest-rated, most critically acclaimed and best-selling video game on the planet. We looked at Modern Warfare 2 and said: 'What an amazing benchmark, let's go get it'. It drives a lot of what we do everyday. It is a huge inspiration to us, and for us to even be in that league, that's fantastic."

Well, love it or hate it, when two studios go at the same franchise, you have to expect they will keep trying to top each other. And competition almost always begets quality, right? We have to admit, at least in terms of the single-player campaign, we were more satisfied with Treyarch's Black Ops, although the jury is still out amongst the hardcore fans when we factor in multiplayer.

So shouldn't we expect another step in the right direction when Modern Warfare 3 hits later this year? Wouldn't you expect Infinity Ward to now use Treyarch as a benchmark?

Tags: call of duty, modern warfare, black ops, treyarch, infinity ward

2/7/2011 9:20:15 PM Ben Dutka

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Comments (47 posts)

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Alienange
Monday, February 07, 2011 @ 9:55:14 PM
Reply

I don't see any trumping happening in the numbers over at vgchartz. In fact a surprising million and a half customers are missing from the 360 side of the sales according to them.

Oh there's no doubt it's a huge success, but looking at these numbers, no wonder Treyarch dislikes IW. In fact I know a lot of companies that seem a little miffed over the spankings IW has been handing out these past few years.

0 up, 1 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 12:03:51 AM

Black Ops supplanted MW2 as the best-selling and fastest-selling video game of all time.

1 up, 0 down

PasteNuggs
Monday, February 07, 2011 @ 9:55:47 PM
Reply

So they go at them by creating a clone and setting it in a different era. The day COD becomes more than a mindless killing spree I will respect it.

5 up, 0 down

Godslim
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 9:20:37 AM

yeh all they did was take iw's ideas!

0 up, 0 down

JSwayze
Monday, February 07, 2011 @ 9:57:14 PM
Reply

With out IW engine and ideas, Treyarch wouldn't be in the green.

3 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, February 07, 2011 @ 10:05:59 PM
Reply

The guys I know who are into CoD thought Black Ops was a step down. The last one I played was MW2 and I thought that was pretty tame so I imagine these games can only stay the same at best. Nothing to do but wait for Activision to over saturate the market and quit jerking itself off.

How long until the dittoheads realize the level of highway robbery this series has become?

3 up, 0 down

Alienange
Monday, February 07, 2011 @ 10:12:18 PM

I really enjoyed MW2 but when it came to BO, although it has some great new online features, just seemed like a lame duck. The mp maps are not great. That's where Treyarch was always lacking. Multiplayer level design.

Oh, and the guns suck.

1 up, 1 down

booze925
Monday, February 07, 2011 @ 10:14:10 PM

the guns effects sound like they belong on plastic toys guns. especially the ak-74u

0 up, 1 down

oONewcloudOo
Monday, February 07, 2011 @ 10:18:21 PM

@Alienange

i think BO maps are great and blow away most of the maps in MW2, 1 or 2 maps in MW2 are very poorly designed and the rest are just avarage

2 up, 2 down

Underdog15
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 6:38:27 AM

I actually felt BO was a step up. Multiplayer matchmaking still sucks, but it works better and parties are better kept together. In game, there's no more quick scope glitching (HOORAY!) and so far, I haven't noticed any map bugs. The spawning could be a little better, though.

In terms of maps, I find BO maps far far far better than MW2's. BO maps actually have interactive features, like the rocket that takes off half way through the one level. It can kill you if you are under or near it!

It's still broken though, and the single player AI is still dumb as bricks with higher difficulties simply cheating. Sound effects are indeed worse, as these guys said. And what's with CoD games making the Russian characters the best characters? Reznov? Makarov? Best characters in their respective games, by far.

1 up, 0 down

booze925
Monday, February 07, 2011 @ 10:12:49 PM
Reply

black ops is good n everything, but without inspiration from IW, im suspecting a substantial drop in quality soon.

0 up, 1 down

oONewcloudOo
Monday, February 07, 2011 @ 10:13:05 PM
Reply

the reason there game sales is because its call of duty and the reason its good is cecause there a copy and paste developer

2 up, 0 down

spiderboi
Monday, February 07, 2011 @ 10:13:48 PM
Reply

For the love of all that's good, say what you want to say IW/Treyarch (yes Activision, especially YOU!), but bottom line is: please, you have astronomical sales. Please, give us some servers! Not some matchmaking servers, but actual ones that enable quality MP connections. That's my biggest wish. That alone will likely fix a lot of the issues the players have with your games.

1 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, February 07, 2011 @ 10:29:33 PM

But it would cut into Bobby Kotex's profit margin so no you can't have those.

Activision: "Our fans do not deserve respect, we must exploit them as much as possible. Now, announce a new CoD and put out a couple maps for $15!"

Fans: "Yayyy."

4 up, 0 down

AntDC
Monday, February 07, 2011 @ 10:15:26 PM
Reply

"You want to make the biggest, strongest, highest-rated, most critically acclaimed and best-selling video game on the planet."

Biggest? Not even close. Strongest? I doubt it. Highest-rated?/Most critically acclaimed? Yeah right. Best-selling? It is for this generation.

David Vonderhaar sounds like a good guy, and I'm sure he did a great job designing the game, from what I've experienced anyway. It's just such a shame that such talented people are being overshadowed by the absolutely backwards clusterf*** of a company a la Activision.

Companies like this would be smart to go independent after their contract expires. Complete control, money earned goes to their pockets. I hope they eventually do this, because Activision's giving them a bad name. Well that's my opinion anyway...

3 up, 0 down

BTNwarrior
Monday, February 07, 2011 @ 10:24:53 PM
Reply

Wait, you said you appreciated the single player campain in black ops more than mw2? Come on at least MW2 had a plot you could follow, black ops on the other hand was a jumbled mish mash of levels that had no connection to each other and had one of the most confusing and rediculous stories I have ever witnessed in a game. Plus MW2 at least had memorable moments to it, all that I got from black ops is that is fun to drive a boat while listening to the rolling stones

2 up, 3 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 12:05:15 AM

...I think you missed a few things in Black Ops.

3 up, 1 down

Beamboom
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 12:53:41 AM

I dare say I think the story in Black Ops were *good*, no less. I loved the way it was told, the slightly psychotic parts of it were really good.

2 up, 0 down

Underdog15
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 6:43:32 AM

I don't really feel like any of the CoD stories have many redeeming qualities beyond the plot (and in fact, story and plot are NOT the same if you understand the definition of plot).

But BO was hardly a jumbled mess. In terms of the organization of the story bits, I thought it was pieced together well.

1 up, 1 down

Killa Tequilla
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 8:34:03 AM

I kind of understood the story, but who was Mason the whole time if Reznov was Mason?

0 up, 1 down

Underdog15
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 8:41:17 AM

SPOILER ALERT for Call of Duty: Black Ops

Yeah, that was the only hole... the fact that Reznov would shoot people too... But Mason was Mason the whole time. The rest was in the head.

0 up, 0 down

sha4dowknight05
Monday, February 07, 2011 @ 10:29:07 PM
Reply

i thought black ops was world at war plus modern warfare 2 with an extra twist or two. Anyways, I find it the best call of duty. I look forward to modern warfare 3, see if they try to incorperate a zombies mode! Since treyarch did steal several infinity ward things!

2 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, February 07, 2011 @ 10:31:17 PM

Zombies are the saving grace of those games. Everybody likes zombies.

4 up, 0 down

Killa Tequilla
Monday, February 07, 2011 @ 11:53:59 PM
Reply

You guys might hate me or you might of already hate me anyways so it doesn't really matter, you might thumb me down numerous times, but there are more people loving Call of Duty, then there are people hating it. It doesn't matter if it MW, MW2,WaW, or BO. It's still Call of Duty & we've all played Call of Duty. Come on, getting good reviews over anything, people actually playing it ( The stats are in paper: 677 billion shots fired etc etc), breaking gaming records like sales... It's ovious Call of Duty won't die anytime soon. New Black Ops maps for Ps3 users... And the many more to come. Ask any one what Call of Duty is, they're bound to know. Anyways, I like playing games and BO is not the only thing I play. Just sayin'.

2 up, 1 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 12:04:40 AM

Yes. We get it.

And there has never been a time in human history when the choice of the masses - i.e., the highest popularity - has equated to the highest quality.

Just sayin'.

6 up, 0 down

Underdog15
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 6:40:21 AM

People used to like the Beatles, Ben! Also, lots of Wayne Gretzky fans! lol

Last edited by Underdog15 on 2/8/2011 6:41:17 AM

1 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 9:48:15 AM

eh, I don't hate CoD. I might hate on it, but that's natural when someone feels the accolades should be elsewhere. There's probably more Justin Bieber fans than haters too, but that don't make it right.

I enjoy a brief game of split screen cod with friends now and then, but I can't for the life of me see where all the hype comes from when other devs are doing some really amazing things by pushing the envelope in various areas and cod just stays the same.

Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 2/8/2011 9:48:47 AM

1 up, 0 down

Temjin001
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 11:48:36 AM

World, so I tried these cookies. They were like Oreo's, but not Oreo's. But they were heck of better. They were thicker, tastier, more stuff, went better with milk and yummier than an Oreo. They're Deerfield's from Walgreen's. But no matter how much better they are, Oreo's have a position and identity in the market that probably won't be surpassed anytime soon.

=p

1 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 2:40:52 PM

This is true my ninja friend. This is true.

1 up, 0 down

___________
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 1:26:47 AM
Reply

you do!?
so why do you release a buggy broken game, than whenever someone complains you threaten to shut down the servers?
yea, i thought so, you could not give a royal sh*t if your games the biggest, strongest, highest-rated, most critically acclaimed game.
as long as it brings in the $$$$$ thats all that matters, right?

2 up, 3 down

Temjin001
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 1:52:54 AM
Reply

I prefer MW2 over any of the CoD's. It could've been longer, but what was there was great. How cool is shooting dudes from the top of a burger joint in some shopping area?

I think what really got me with MW2 more than anything was the setting. I liked having everyday relatable locales turned war zone. Anywhere from running down urbanized neighborhoods, shopping plazas, to fighting it out in modern day DC made for some memorable and stand out moments in modern FPS game design. So many FPS games tend to take place in places we've never been or really recognize in our day to day commuting: alien ships, industrialized zones, jungles, trenches etc. MW2 took us places uniquely engaging, where I can't quite say I've "been there, done that" in a FPS before.

Last edited by Temjin001 on 2/8/2011 1:54:07 AM

1 up, 1 down

Alienange
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 1:29:02 PM

I agree with that 100%. Especially the burger joint part. Playing that level in spec ops with a friend on vet difficulty was just great. They got a lot right in the level designs.

1 up, 1 down

SSRGohan
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 2:48:56 AM
Reply

I like the games, whats frustrating is having to deal with some very bad servers RUINS everything, i havent played those shooters since mass effect 2 came out.

0 up, 1 down

Beamboom
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 3:22:46 AM

... And you shouldn't, either. ME2 is just *so* much more than these shooters, imnsho...!

0 up, 1 down

crunchy_nut_kid
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 3:43:50 AM
Reply

MW3 isn't worth buying for me. the only reason i would buy it is for the campaign. $60 isn't worth the 6 hours. i already have plenty of good multiplayer games.

1 up, 0 down

Killa Tequilla
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 8:38:09 AM

How do you know it's 6 hours?

0 up, 1 down

Underdog15
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 8:42:16 AM

I think he's going based on recent COD's. If you put MW2 or BO on the easiest difficulty, it's easy to beat in less than 6 hours. I only play on veteran to make it seem longer.

1 up, 0 down

Ultimate_Balla
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 4:26:50 AM
Reply

I liked the story of MW2, that's how you get started with the A~Team. The trophies were all offline... That sold me in. The other was also the 4player offline mode. But Looool. Does new IW have a choice? It's their first game and whatnot. And IMO, BO sold so much because of MW2. It's logical, ain't it?

0 up, 1 down

Alienange
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 1:22:48 PM

Yup

0 up, 1 down

slugga_status
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 7:55:55 AM
Reply

Call of Duty will always sale b/c of the name. Doesn't mean it's the best game or best shooter out there.

So far I like the story of BO slightly better then MW2. If I had a choice though I'd just play the original MW. That was the best one period.

Not interested in MW3. Not going to buy CoD simply to play with friends anymore..besides..I'll be too busy with Killzone and Resistance 3 sprinkled with InFamous 2 and Uncharted 3..

1 up, 0 down

OxyFenix
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 10:54:07 AM
Reply

BO single player was good in its own right but I wouldn't compare it to MW2. Multiplayer though was complete thrash. I would rather go back to MW2 and play that mess. Better yet, I should be back at COD4.

I could never find a match in BO, bullet lag made me want to break a controller, spawn locations were so stupid. Why would you place me in front of the enemy? Complete thrash, plus from what I heard at the Treyarch forums, most of the problems are only on the ps3. 360 version is probably perfect. Treyarch doesn't care about ps3 and probably doesn't even test it out unless it's on a 360.

This is why I will never buy a treyarch game again. Plus I doubt MW3 will even compare to any cod games. It's a whole new team of developers, you might as well call it a different name. Just because you put an apple logo on your dell, it doesn't make it an apple computer. Unless Reswpawn finishes MW3, I'm not buying. I hope they win there lawsuit.

Most of the people I know who still play COD, still think the same developer makes ever COD game. You won't believe how many are unaware. Some are even split between IW and 3arch. COD is already slowly dying.

1 up, 0 down

JSwayze
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 11:32:50 AM

I totally agree with you. I rather play with overpowered killstreaks/ unbalanced perks in MW2 than the bland & boring maps and guns in Black Ops....Heck, the connection alone is enough to make you quit

0 up, 1 down

Alienange
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 1:21:21 PM
Reply

If I'd had known BO wasn't going to have sniping in the sp I'd have left it on the shelf.

0 up, 1 down

mooser
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 1:37:54 PM
Reply

if they looked at mw2 and said wow then why is the game so under par. the graphics are not as good the sounds sucks music pretty cool. no sniping. the sp is pretty cool but the mp is not as good as mw or mw2 or even bfbc2 and even medal of honor. and as hard ans chaotic as kz2 is online it is better. it made sales so high due to the hype and all the advertising and the help from mw and mw2 being so good. then after the sale everyone is i wish i knew i would not have bought it. i think the sp for being back in time was pretty cool. i think treyarch like those old war games. they did world at war too didn't they?

0 up, 0 down

slugga_status
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 2:19:31 PM

Yep they did WaW also

1 up, 0 down

just2skillf00l
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 @ 5:35:32 PM
Reply

Personally I thought BO had a more engaging sp experience. I actually liked it. As for multiplayer goes, MW has probably the best online experience. I really liked how they added so many customizable features in BO though. What these developers need to do is to grab the best features from each of the COD games and mash them together into a ball of greatness. That is something I'd be inspired to hear about! But then again FPS have been OVERLY overwhelming this gen. Something NEW pleaseeee!

Last edited by just2skillf00l on 2/8/2011 5:41:02 PM

1 up, 0 down

Stang
Wednesday, February 09, 2011 @ 1:35:28 PM
Reply

I hope and expect IW to take NOTHING from Treyarch - they are the "B" team for a reason and sold us all a broken game in Black Ops - IW provided us an almost identical experience to Xbox with Modern Warfare 2 - and then Treyarch sold us a broken, badly coded port with Black Ops.

"Frames per second Treyarch" - look it up.

0 up, 0 down

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