It’s only four days until Modern Warfare finally hits shelves. Dan Howdle From NowGamer sat down with Robert Bowling to gather some  in-depth recon.

NowGamer: Any dogs this time round? The dogs annoyed the hell out of us.
Rob Bowling: Not in multiplayer.

NG: We found them incredibly difficult to kill on veteran. The timing is so hard.

RB: On veteran the window is so small. Miss it… dog wins. In Spec Ops, dogs totally change the way you approach the level. Because you can hear the dogs barking from a long way away. As soon as you hear them, you shout ‘Dogs!’ and both of you start backing into a corner and start to watch your sector just waiting for them to come. Even then they have a habit of leaping through a window rather than taking the path you might expect.

NG: We remember going through on Veteran on the last one and getting repeatedly taken out by the same damn dog on ‘All Ghillied Up’. It was like, we just escaped a gunship helicopter just to get killed by a dog.

RB: The worst thing about the dogs in Spec Ops is the panic they cause when one is on your team mate. You only have a few seconds to get the dog off of him or it’s all over. Tell you what, in a minute we’ll play a level with dogs on Spec Ops and set it to Veteran so you can get some of the punishment you seem to enjoy so much [laughs]

NG: For us that’s all about making the experience last longer and a greater sense of accomplishment. It just has to be Veteran all the way. That’s not to say we’re good at it, but through sheer bloody-minded determination, we get through.

RB: It’s enjoyable. It’s just enjoyable for a whole different reason than when you play through on regular. You’re not playing it for the Hollywood experience, you’re just saying test me. Really test me.

NG: We hear that infinitely respawning enemies are a thing of the past now. That should make things a bit easier on the tougher difficulties.

RB: No. The mass respawn of enemies was never actually infinite in Call Of Duty 4. It was a set amount and granted, that amount was absurd – way beyond the number that anyone would reasonably stand around and kill, but that was really just to push you forward. Now, during the fast-paced, high-octane levels of Modern Warfare 2, you will see the different AI tactics we use. There’s no longer that thing of reaching some invisible point to push them back. They’re just much more dynamic AI. With texture streaming we have much bigger levels, much bigger world so you don’t have to always go down this hallway. No Fighting In The War Rooms was a good example, you have more freedom as to how you can approach a situation and then the dynamic AI also have more freedom on how they can approach you. They understand the environment and will be like ‘Okay, I just saw him through that window running that way, so if I climb this ladder and run across this rooftop, I can cut him off over there and take an open shot at him from the flank’. In Favela especially, you’ll notice just how much more savvy the AI have become in using their environment against you tactically.

NG: Sounds like hell… in a good way…
RB: It’s very intense.

NG: Do you discover different behaviours each time you go through, or will they behave in a similar way from one playthrough to the next?
RB: How they approach you, especially like sometimes I’ll see one quite a bit aways, trying to get to a point where he knows he’ll be able to cut me off. I’ll be fighting guys and he’ll be getting on a rooftop and sprinting over it and I’ll be like ‘What the hell’s he doing!?’. Then I’ll see him suddenly cut in a different direction and realise ‘Oh, he’s trying to get there to cut me off’. They’re always teying to get above you and behind you. Behind you is the toughest part because in your mindset as you clear rooms and as you clear areas you’re mentally checking them off; okay, that’s done, that’s done and so on. Now I can focus on this and now I can focus on that. But you didn’t realise that a couple of them have worked their way to your flank, so when they start shooting you in the back you’re like ‘Oh f***, I’m totally pinned down’.

NG: It’s a problem we often lament. That with some shooters you just feel like you’re just cleaning the pipe. We quite like being, you know… shot. We’re masochists.
RB: [laughs] Well we have to think about that now when we’re building each level. To make sure that there’s a lot more than what’s going in just in front of you. That there’s stuff happening behind you nand to your sides. There’s a lot of elevation changes in the levels and a lot of design dynamics like that. Basically a good mixture of AI improvements and how you personally approach the level.

Part 2 goes live tomorrow