The characters are Tom Clancy levels of larger than life, which is significantly more restrained than what came later.
Mind going into more detail on this one? I’ve been reading the Jack Ryan novels, and I’m 3/4 of the way through Rainbow Six (the book) right now, and I think part of the appeal is that the characters feel small, as those stories always involve ensemble casts.
I agree that 4 and especially MW2 both feel very Clancy. I might even be more partial to MW2 as it’s got this prominent theme of history being written by the winners that hits all of the notes that matter to me most in movies.
While (classic, I’m not counting stuff ghostwritten under his brand) Clancy characters have hyper competence, it’s to be expected given that they are turbo ultra elite soldiers or spies. Their motivations and ability to act doesn’t reach the point of self parody.
For a COD4 example: Nikolai, the Russian that the player rescues early on in the game. He is a mole inside the Russian antagonist faction feeding information to the SAS. He got found out. He’s being kept at a house with a handful of regular soldiers watching him. When you rescue you him he is calm or at least puts up a calm front and thanks you. That’s a pretty believable guy who could have been a real person who is doing something realistic and dangerous.
In MW2 that character can materialize with apparently infinite types of military aviation hardware, and he is also a pilot able and willing to do insane maneuvers. And he is personal friends with Captain price rather than just being an SAS asset. And he is in touch with a friendly militia group in the middle of Europe.
There is a distinct jump from COD4 to MW2, where it goes from Tom Clancy to Michael Bay.
MW2 is still fun, but it exists in an entirely separate tonal reality than COD4.
Mind going into more detail on this one? I’ve been reading the Jack Ryan novels, and I’m 3/4 of the way through Rainbow Six (the book) right now, and I think part of the appeal is that the characters feel small, as those stories always involve ensemble casts.
I agree that 4 and especially MW2 both feel very Clancy. I might even be more partial to MW2 as it’s got this prominent theme of history being written by the winners that hits all of the notes that matter to me most in movies.
While (classic, I’m not counting stuff ghostwritten under his brand) Clancy characters have hyper competence, it’s to be expected given that they are turbo ultra elite soldiers or spies. Their motivations and ability to act doesn’t reach the point of self parody.
For a COD4 example: Nikolai, the Russian that the player rescues early on in the game. He is a mole inside the Russian antagonist faction feeding information to the SAS. He got found out. He’s being kept at a house with a handful of regular soldiers watching him. When you rescue you him he is calm or at least puts up a calm front and thanks you. That’s a pretty believable guy who could have been a real person who is doing something realistic and dangerous.
In MW2 that character can materialize with apparently infinite types of military aviation hardware, and he is also a pilot able and willing to do insane maneuvers. And he is personal friends with Captain price rather than just being an SAS asset. And he is in touch with a friendly militia group in the middle of Europe.
There is a distinct jump from COD4 to MW2, where it goes from Tom Clancy to Michael Bay.
MW2 is still fun, but it exists in an entirely separate tonal reality than COD4.