Previous Call of Duty titles "got away from that 'big war' feeling." Treyarch promises that Modern Warfare 4 "goes back to its roots"

If anyone fancies watching Zak's Miami Vice Blu-ray collection, hit him up.

Modern Warfare 4 launches a brand new story in the saga of Captain Price and the remnant of Task Force 141, all while aiming to take its best-in-class multiplayer offerings to new heights with a revamped DMZ mode. I attended a press event led by studio co-head Mark Grigsby and learned a bit about what to expect from the highly anticipated sequel.

The press event took the form of a hands-off presentation that hyped up the various pillars of the FPS game. The story mode is set after the events of Modern Warfare 3 and wraps up the Makarov storyline before introducing a new status quo for the series. Captain Price is a rogue agent completing missions in his own way and on his own terms, much to the chagrin of the United States government and his old Task Force 141 allies. "Price is going to do some dastardly things in the campaign," Grigsby teased. "Things that go against the rules. Price is out of the system. Price is, like: 'I want to make my own rules.'"

Meanwhile, a new Korean conflict threatens to engulf the world in flames of war. Players will experience the action on three fronts: North Korea, South Korea, and Price's rogue unit. Grigsby promises that the three storylines will ultimately converge into a grand finale, though it remains to be seen exactly what that will entail.

Levels will be set in varied locales like Russia, Korea, and the streets of New York City. There will also be an open world map that sees the South Korean forces trapped behind enemy lines in North Korea. As for being an authentic Korean experience, Grigsby said the team hired South Korean advisors to make sure the story and setting felt appropriate for the location: "They advise us on dialect, culture, and the actors. We actually changed some of the writing and story beats based off of our dialect coach. He handles all of our different actors and their lines. We're constantly taking feedback from everywhere when it comes to South Korea."

But Modern Warfare 4 also promises a return to the big, open warfare of earlier games in the series. While the rebooted Modern Warfare games usually focused on smaller special forces units, Modern Warfare 4 aims to feature more full-on war sequences. Grigsby estimates that about 50% of the game consists of "war" levels, with the other half being tactical spec ops action. "This time around, we wanted to make sure that we went back to the roots. We felt that our previous titles got away from that 'big war' feeling. This time, we're going back to a big war."

Gribsby also gave a quick rundown on DMZ, which is Call of Duty's take on the extraction shooter genre. The first iteration of DMZ, introduced in Warzone during the Modern Warfare 2 era, was something of a beta test for the idea. However, the new version in Modern Warfare 4 is fully enclosed as part of the MW4 experience and serves as something of a sequel to the main game. "All the events from the campaign, you'll be able to revisit them and see the aftermath," Grigsby explained. "We have free roam, dynamic ops, story missions, boss battles; the gameplay constantly changes and feels dynamic. It's a game within the game." DMZ is set in Hajin, a new map that spans South Korea, North Korea, and Russia, though the Russian portion of the map will be added in later seasons. It features dynamic weather, allowing for sun, rain, snow, or whatever else the designers have in mind. And it's not just aesthetic: rain will wash away footprints, fog will impact visibility, and so on.

Finally, I couldn't help but ask about the old days of Infinity Ward vs Treyarch, if any of that old rivalry is still at play. Grigsby took a diplomatic stance: "We definitely keep in touch with each other, now that we're on the same engine. We share a lot of ideas to make sure we're not stepping on each other's toes and taking what someone else is doing before they do it! It used to be a pretty big rivalry back in the day! But nowadays it's nicer. There's still a little bit of competition, but it's cool."