A new level in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has received widespread praise for its hyperrealistic depiction of Dutch capital Amsterdam. The video game, which launched October 28 onPS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, allows players to explore a city faithfully and faultlessly recreated, right down to the famous tree-flanked canal and bridges.
One user's praise of the graphics, complete with a video, garnered 150,000 likes on Twitter as players praised the level of detail. Indeed, another user visited the exact spot recreated in the video to reflect just how accurate the depiction was.
Virtual Vagabond
While this isn't the first time Call of Duty has recreated real-world scenes, the quality of the graphics in its latest release takes things to a whole new level. And it certainly highlights just how amazing the metaverse could be for digital tourism.
Watching those Amsterdam scenes on a laptop screen is pretty cool. But imagine the scene in the metaverse, and being able to navigate those iconic cobbled streets and scenic waterways using a VR headset. You look up at the spire of a church; You cross a bridge; You take in the thrumming city at leisure, with every detail creating a hyper-realistic tableaux that is almost impossible to distinguish from the real thing.
Short of jumping on a jet and flying into Amsterdam for a few days, it’s the closest approximation of the experience as you're likely to get.
Interestingly, a five-star hotel featured in the game is now considering legal action due to its inclusion. The manager of the Conservatorium Hotel, which appears under the name Breenbergh in the game and soon becomes the site of intense gunfire, is reportedly upset about not being consulted by the game developers. So if metaverse tourism is ever to take off, there may need to be consultations with the owners of the buildings in question.
Despite this element of bad press, the key takeaway of the Amsterdam scene is the potential of metaverse technologies to recreate real-life experiences, particularly in terms of tourism.
We are seeing this already. A recent initiative in Abu Dhabi saw Yas Island recreated in the metaverse, with visitors able to purchase digital homes, explore cultural attractions, and attend special events. Also in the UAE, a hyper-realistic version of Sharjah City has become the world's first government-backed metaverse city.
On the sporting side, Manchester City are currently working on building the world's first metaverse football stadium with the help of Sony. The stadium will give fans the chance to watch matches in the virtual stadium and even socialize with their friends in one of the many Etihad lounges.
How long until the world's greatest cities and tourist attractions are mapped in the metaverse?
