Call of Duty WW2's new Headquarters mode is one of its more interesting and mysterious additions - a social space that so far hasn't really been addressed except for that screen up there, and a mention you can now prestige in public.
Fortunately, I recently spoke to senior multiplayer producer Mike Meija at E3 to find out more. And, while the easiest comparison so far has been Destiny's tower, Headquarters actually sounds like it's its own beast entirely.
Meija calls Headquarters "probably the most ambitious and innovative feature we’ve got in the game." 48 players can occupy this online social zone, where Meija talks about "looking for groups and partying up." But it's the other stuff you can do that sounds more interesting - this isn't just a space to stand about chatting in, you can compete and fight as well
"If you’re testing out your gun in a firing range I can have a shoot out with you: let’s see who hits the most targets."
"You can go into a firing range now," says Meija, "and it’s not a solo experience, you can do it with everyone in there." This range is an area where you can test guns without having to start a match and realise you've made a terrible mistake. "You can have a shoot out," he explains. "If you’re testing out your gun in a firing range I can have a shoot out with you: let’s see who hits the most targets." And, if that level of competition isn't enough, you can literally go toe to toe with someone else: "I can go a 1v1 pit arena where you and me can play around and see who gets the first three kills," confirms Meija.
Then there's that prestiging, which Meija finally expands on: "you can now prestige in public, in a living space. When you’ve prestiged before you’ve done it in a menu, [hit] ‘prestige’ and it resets. Now, in headquarters, you can go talk to the general on the cliff and everyone sees that. It’s much more than just a social space. It’s a place where you show off and get rewarded." Man, I hope there's saluting. There had better be saluting."
If you want more then there's everything else we currently know about Call of Duty WW2 and we've also got an interview with Sledgehammer's Michael Condrey about the COD's new campaign.
