Oh, you know us. Always up for a mystery story, aren’t we? In fact, we like perplexing enigmas (and their subsequent elucidations by erudite, pipe-smoking, deerstalker-hat-wearing men) so much, that we are often obliged to take up the role of amateur sleuth in our day-to-day business. Today was one such day, for we were investigating the aptly named Strange Case of the Missing Cod the only way Sarcastic Gamer knows how (badly and with a remarkable lack of detail meticulousness)…

After conducting extensive interviews in badly lit, wood paneled, lounges, we had resolved that ‘Call of Duty’ was first noticed missing during the debut trailer for Modern Warfare 2.

Keen to investigate the going astray of such a prolific and notable brand, my sidekick, Montgomery, and I were hired by a man (whose name cannot be disclosed) to investigate the disappearance. Hot on the trail of this debut trailer, we tracked down a company known only as Infinity Ward, as the possible culprits. Indeed, a mere few days later, our worst fears were confirmed when promotional materials for the game were released, emblazoned with a sans Call of Duty logo. Believing ‘Call of Duty’ to have been abducted by a felon, Montgomery and I went straight to the top: Activision Blizzard. After six days travel, we arrived at their head offices. But, no sooner had we reached the destination (keen to give the CEO a rigorous interrogation, with light provided by a single gas lantern), an Activision Blizzard spokesman declared that Modern Warfare 2 had “taken on such a life of its own.” Montgomery and I jumped into our Morris Minor and hastily made our way back to the office — it appeared that ‘Call of Duty’ had disappeared and suffered a fate worse than reading SarcasticGamer.com, for it was no where to be seen. The people at Activision Blizzard had done an admirable job covering their tracks.

A week passed and it seemed as though we had lost the scent. We would never solve this most curious of mysteries: why had ‘Call of Duty’ disappeared? I spent five days pacing up and down my office, drinking scotch out of a tumbler, occasionally raising my head with a thought, but then lowering it again when I realized said thought would not help. Montgomery had now been away from his wife for over two weeks and was growing prurient — we had to crack this tough-nut of a mystery post-haste! Thankfully, out of the blue (like a quail flying out of a wooded area), a tweet appeared from none other than Nick Chester, Editor-in-Chief of Destructoid.com, pointing to a quaint Google Trends search. The search showed that, without the well known ‘Call of Duty’ brand, Modern Warfare 2 was not as popular as it could have been, and a delightful selection of survey data bolstered this view.

It looked as though we were nearly out of the thick of it — and we were. For, you see, today one Robert Bowling, an Infinity Ward spokesman who often goes by the pseudonym FourZeroTwo, posted a picture of the Modern Warfare 2 packaging which proudly carried the ‘Call of Duty’ logo. Later on, Activison said: “Infinity Ward, the original creators of the Call of Duty franchise, has said from the beginning Modern Warfare 2 resides in the Call of Duty universe. This is reflected in the title’s package.” Out of the woods were we, and a stiff handshake with Montgomery, followed by a more-than-generous swig of port, were shared. We then trundled off to the person who hired us, to collect our reward.

After that, Firefox crashed, and the incessant bouncing of an item on the dock swiftly brought me back from the nebulous world of amateur sleuth, to the rather less exciting world of tired blogger. Unusual states of mind aside, the mystery was solved — ‘Call of Duty’ is back, and every one lived happily ever after.

In the words of a certain Sherlock Holmes: “with”.

What? He said that!

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