IGN - The Other Call of Duty. Thanks Ant.
In contrast, Treyarch's games emphasize characters and interpersonal conflict. "We're on a secret mission to get coffee and donuts," McMillan explains in the opening of Call of Duty 3. "The problem is the Germans ate all the donuts and drank all the coffee so now we gotta kick their asses." It's a startling line, both in its crude condensation of World War II and in its glibness in sanctioning violence. It also captures the need-to-know basis of soldierly motivation, while keeping the human conveyor belt of new recruits as well supplied as possible. I can imagine the disorientation of having been drafted and sent overseas to a place I'd never seen, in a company of randomly selected strangers, given a gun, and being ordered to fight.

IGN - Setting the Pace. Thanks Joker961.
Pacing is a difficult issue in gaming. It is the result of a great many things – difficulty curves, level design, set-piece placement – and it must cater to the needs of the player. While a Hollywood film has the luxury of controlled shots and pre-recorded events – a character will decipher a vital clue when the director decides he or she should, a game must ensure that players themselves notice the next trigger in order to advance, as well as understand what to do with it. If a ledge is too well disguised, or an object puzzle not clearly marked then we, the players, move in meaningless circles for the next ten, twenty, thirty minutes and become frustrated as all sense of progress dissipates.