We got a hold of Infinity Ward's Chief Creative Officer Vince Zampella and put him to the question about this fast-paced and compelling WWII-shooter that made us want to Save Private Ryan and face the Enemy at the Gates at the same time.

NVIDIA: How historically accurate is Call of Duty? What battles/campaigns/fronts from WWII are included in the game?

VZ: Call of Duty is very historically accurate. World War II was won by a team effort of many different nationalities. In Call of Duty you experience the war from the perspective of ordinary Russian, British, and American soldiers. Call of Duty is about working with your squad to achieve victory, not being the American super soldier.

Call of Duty includes many different historical battles: the Russian side includes several missions during the battle for Stalingrad on the Eastern Front and the battle for Berlin including the final attack on the Reichstag. The American and British side features the invasion of Normandy including Ste Mere Eglise, Brecourt Manor, and Pegasus Bridge. All of the historic missions are very carefully researched and authentic.

NVIDIA: How does the squad-based action of the game affect the way an individual gamer should approach the game? Can you command or control other squad members in single player?

VZ: In Call of Duty you face a great number of very deadly enemies at a time; without the help of your squad the game would be very difficult. Your squad is extremely useful by giving covering fire and suppressing the enemy for you. In addition, they distract the enemy allowing you to flank them.

The player does not have to order his squad mates around in Call of Duty; they understand the mission and the environment and are intelligent enough to take care of themselves.

NVIDIA: Just how smart is the AI--both friend and enemy--the game?

VZ: They understand and use cover both for protection and as a place to attack from. They understand grenades and will pick them up and throw them back or run away from them. They use machine guns and will get on or off of machine guns as the situation requires. They evaluate threats and will attack the most dangerous enemy. They will climb onto tanks and destroy them by throwing grenades inside. Perhaps most importantly, they understand suppressing fire, which means that before you cross an open area to attack an enemy hard point, you would be well advised to first lay down suppressing fire, which will cause the AI to keep their heads down, allowing you to cross easier.

NVIDIA: What types of weapons, vehicles, and equipment will be featured in the game?

VZ: There are almost thirty different weapons in the game ranging from pistols to mortars and artillery pieces. There is also a good range of tanks, jeeps, trucks, motorcycles, planes, boats, and cars.

NVIDIA: What kinds of tweaks have you made to the Return to Castle Wolfenstein/Quake III engine for Call of Duty?

VZ: We've basically replaced everything except the menu system and the network code. Also we've heavily modified the editor and the shader language. The short list is: AI, scripting language, render, visibility system, terrain system, vehicle system, animation system, model system, fx system, and weapon system.

NVIDIA: The graphics look fantastic in the demo. How will having a current generation graphics card enhance a gamer's graphical experience?

VZ: Without a current graphics card the player won't be able to see our super realistic looking pixel shader water. The player also won't see the textures at their highest resolution or the characters and other models with their full detail. Last but not least, to see our Crossing of the Volga level during the battle of Stalingrad in its full glory with nearly 300 charging Russians plus artillery explosions, and diving bombing Stukas will need a pretty good system and video card.

NVIDIA: We've heard that Call of Duty will include large-scale battles. How large a scale are we talking here? How many troops, vehicles, etc. could potentially be involved in a single battle?

VZ: During the crossing of the Vulga in Stalingrad there are nearly three hundred Russians on screen at a time. In addition to that there are constant mortar explosions, Germans raining MG42 fire down from the hill, about 3-5 Stuka Dive bombers strafing the riverbank, and a dozen large barges ferrying troops back and forth across the river.

NVIDIA: Can you tell us a little about what the multiplayer gameplay will be like? Is it true that it will differ depending on which side you play on?

VZ: Call of Duty multiplayer features five modes and twelve maps out of the box, and every map except for two of them supports every mode. Some maps feature the British fighting the Germans while others feature the Russians vs the Germans or the Americans vs the Germans. Call of Duty is the first game to combine Aiming Down the Sight (aka Iron Sights), prone, and the kick ass Quake 3 network code into one solid package. Call of Duty multiplayer is created using a very powerful scripting system that makes it easy to add new modes and mods.

It is true that, like in the war, in Call of Duty each nationality has different strengths and weaknesses. For example, the Russians have what is generally considered the best submachine gun of the war, the PPSH-41, which has a high rate of fire and a 71-round magazine, but the Germans have the StG 44, famous for being the world's first assault rifle and an all-around powerful weapon.

NVIDIA: Sounds excellent. Can't wait to try out the multiplayer.