The making of a war epic: Call of Duty at 20

In 2003 a franchise was launched that combined Hollywood tragedy and euphoria with innovative narrative and gameplay, changing the face of the industry for ever

What struck you most at the time was the sheer cacophony of it. The explosions, the gunfire from dozens of other soldiers around you, the sheer chaos and confusion. While other first-person shooters of the era usually put the player in full control of a single character taking on whole platoons of enemies singlehandedly, the original Call of Duty, which is 20 years old this week, dumped you into the middle of major onslaughts, surrounded by AI comrades. You weren't Rambo, you were just a grunt, a cog in the second world war machine.

It wasn't quite the first game to do this. The Medal of Honor titles from Electronic Arts were already dabbling in the whole idea of the epic battlefield shooter, but when the creative team behind the best instalment in that series Allied Assault, grew dissatified with life under EA, 22 of them set up their own studio and signed a publishing deal with Activision. That was in 2002, and the studio was Infinity Ward. Barely a year later Call of Duty arrived.