Call of Duty Game Features Tube

I know nothing about gaming, but apparently the latest version of some big game called "Call of Duty" came out on Monday. This one's subtitled "Modern Warfare 3" and has picked up a bit of media attention for the fact that it contains a London Underground level.

I'll leave Jon Justice to tell you about the rest:

I've been playing it and I've attached some screenshots. Although I was hurtling through it at speed, I did notice a few odd things 

You're in a truck, pursuing a Tube train down a line and you pass through a station. It turns out that it's Westminster, which is a little odd as a few minutes later your driver shouts about how you'll be in Westminster station in a minute. 

I do quite like that when you pass through that first station some of the passengers on the platform scatter and run, whereas others are a bit more London about things and stand their ground, completely ignoring the truck full of SAS chaps chasing a Tube train. 

 I was also slightly puzzled by how a train can go from Westminster station immediately into an above ground section, but seemed odder is that the train has "Westminster" on its destination board. Do trains terminate at Westminster? I don't think I've ever heard of that.



But what is funny is that, despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the game's budget, Activision wouldn't pay TfL's fee to use the signage and maps. The station name appears on a black rectangle with nary a roundel in sight. The map looks odd, like they've simply made it up, although I can't quite read what it says. 



In fact, there's a curious lack of signage anywhere in the station.



It's just about possible to get a look at the interior of a carriage before it gets blown up. I can't remember what the right moquette is, but is that one correct?

All very curious."

Thanks for all of that Jon, my guess is that games company probably did approach TfL and that TfL told them to get lost as they wouldn't want to endorse a game which involved blowing up loads of their trains.  But I could be wrong.  What do you think about it all?

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, November 09, 2011 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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