Sledgehammer Games’ shelved Call of Duty title, Fog of War, was set during the Vietnam war in Cambodia and was a “true, gritty, Apocalypse Now” take on the war. In an interview with Eurogamer, Sledgehammer co-founder Michael Condrey said that the studio was aiming for an Uncharted-style gameplay with Call of Duty lore.
In your head you instantly can imagine an Uncharted-style of game, but done in the lore of Call of Duty. You can see that. We built a prototype and it was cool. It was a true gritty Apocalypse Now take on Vietnam in an interactive way. We had a 15-minute demo, and there were some great moments.
Unfortunately for Sledgehammer, the entire fallout at Infinity Ward saw the studio being roped in to help finish Modern Warfare 3.
In a separate interview, Condrey said that the decision to abandon Fog of War was difficult, but working on Modern Warfare 3 was an opportunity that the company “just couldn’t pass up.”