The rumors and leaks that have been circulating so far have been extreme at times, but exciting. If the rumors are to be believed, this year’s Call of Duty could take the franchise in an entirely new direction. While many of the rumors have not been backed with an actual announcement or reveal, the latest leaked code name has added weight to a number of them. The latest reveal, which came from Call of Duty leaker Tom Henderson, states that the upcoming Call of Duty game has been codenamed ‘Slipstream’. While this isn’t the first code name for Call of Duty 2021, it does appear to back up some of the game’s other leaks.
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What Will Call of Duty 2021 Be?
A number of rumors and leaks have come out concerning Call of Duty 2021, and it appears that some of them may be true if the latest code name is to be believed. These rumors are likely to please Modern Warfare fans, as one of the major rumors has been that Call of Duty 2021 will be quite similar to Modern Warfare. This is because it will supposedly be gritty and down to earth in a similar fashion to the controversial Modern Warfare campaign. It will also continue with the trend of recent Call of Duty games which have reverted to a boots on the ground formula. While it’s impossible to please all Call of Duty fans, Modern Warfare’s realistic gameplay was well received by most and would likely be welcomed back with open arms.
Other rumors surrounding the game center around its setting, and they’re a bit out there. One of the more tame rumors is that Call of Duty 2021 will have a World War 2 setting, which Sledgehammer Games has some experience with. But the more speculative rumors suggest that this will be an alternative timeline World War 2, in which World War 2 carried into the 1950s. This would be an all-new direction for the series, as historical Call of Duty games have traditionally stuck pretty closely to the facts. Judging from the leaks, it seems likely that Call of Duty 2021’s setting will at the very least be World War 2-based, but the codename could back the alternative timeline theory.
Will Call of Duty 2021 Be Set In World War 2?
Call of Duty 2021’s Slipstream leak appears to have exposed its ties to the World War 2 era for a couple of reasons. The first of which is that the image of the logo that was leaked looks very reminiscent of something that could have been found in World War 2. The logo includes the title ‘Slipstream’ brandished across a black background, but what tips fans off to the World War 2 setting is the ribbons tailing each end of the logo. The color scheme of these ribbons looks as though it’s stylized to resemble the ribbons from which World War 2 medals were suspended. This isn’t all that the leaks potentially expose, however, as more information can be gleaned from the image when analyzing the title itself.
The code name of Slipstream could suggest that the game will involve some element of airborne combat. This is fairly self-explanatory, if Slipstream is the genuine code name of Call of Duty 2021, it could be making reference to the slipstream of an airplane. This wouldn’t be the first Call of Duty game to have airborne combat, but it would be the first to make it a significant enough feature for the title to reflect its inclusion. When closely analyzing the logo, it appears as though an artistic choice could back this theory up. The Slipstream text isn’t solid in color, and it actually appears to be acting as a window to a clue about the setting. While it’s fairly difficult to see clearly what lies behind the text, it looks as though it could be a sky, which supports the airborne theory.
Both of these leaks are fairly significant and offer a lot for Call of Duty fans to be excited about. Airborne combat is often more closely associated with Battlefield vs Call of Duty, but this could be something entirely new for the franchise. However, while this element of the leak is potentially huge for the future of the franchise, another fan theory surrounding the title would blow this out of the water.
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Will Call of Duty 2021 Involve Time Travel?
The name Slipstream could actually be referring to a 2008 BBC radio drama about World War 2. Slipstream is the fictional story of a British air raid in Germany during World War 2, but there’s a twist. In this story, the German army has some sort of alien technology capable of reaching otherworldly speeds, with disastrous effects. This technology allowed the German army to shoot down over 150 allied aircraft, giving Germany a massive advantage in the war effort. While it may not be immediately apparent how Slipstream links to the story of Call of Duty 2021, the extraterrestrial aspect is perhaps slightly on the nose given some of the fan theories.
The most exciting Call of Duty 2021 rumors concern a potential alternative timeline. The main source of these rumors appears to be from a Black Ops Cold War mission in which the player is reliving a past memory. In the memory, the player is asked to walk through a red door, but they can refuse by simply walking around the building. This doesn’t allow the player to skip the mission, however, as a trippy sequence is triggered by the player’s refusal. This sequence ends with numerous red doors blocking the player’s path until eventually there’s no place to run. These red doors have since appeared in Warzone, suggesting they could become an ongoing feature in the series.
Red doors could open a metaphorical door to the rumored alternative timeline of World War 2. While not a one-to-one comparison, the red doors are something outside the realms of possibility and could suggest more slightly supernatural storylines to come. Certainly, when considering the Call of Duty 2021 alt-history rumors, it seems as though the code name choice of Slipstream could be hinting at something. While little is known about the game now, fans will soon receive a clearer picture of just what Call of Duty 2021 offers as the game approaches its release.
Call of Duty is in development for unspecified platforms.
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