Gamepro talk to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2′s scriptwriter to find out what he hoped to achieve with the airport mission, how they considered putting aliens in the game, and why the game should be adapted into a movie.

Jesse Stern (Modern Warfare 2 scriptwriter)

Jesse Stern has been a writer on the hit CBS show “NCIS” since 2004. With the show currently reigning at the top of the Nielsen ratings, Stern has another hit on his hands with Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. After working with Infinity Ward on the first Modern Warfare, Stern returned to collaborate with the developer on the sequel’s action-packed storyline. While the game has etched its place in entertainment history with its historic opening gross, Modern Warfare 2 has also made headlines because of its edgy story. In this exclusive interview, Stern talks about the creation of the controversial airport sequence and gives his thumbs up to a potential Hollywood adaptation of the Modern Warfare franchise for the big screen.

GP: What was it like returning to work on the new Modern Warfare after being involved in the first game?

Stern: The second time around, we really felt like we had to play off of all the things we introduced in the first game. People have an expectation now that you’re going to die, which is a weird thing. Here we have a video game where at any given moment your character’s storyline might end. So, it became a real challenge to play into these expectations and try and keep things surprising and emotionally charged. We all tried to make it emotional.

GP: Did any current events influence Modern Warfare 2′s subplot of reopening the conflict between Russia and the U.S.?

Stern: Infinity Ward’s Jason West, Steve Macuda, Todd Alderman, Mackey McCandlish and me would talk about the kinds of stories we could tell, and we didn’t want to just make a straight sequel to Modern Warfare. We started kicking around anything and everything to weed out the bad ideas.

In the beginning we talked about having things in Modern Warfare 2 like outbreaks, viruses, chemical warfare, and even outlandish things such as aliens and the living dead.

We worked our way through it before we finally ended up with a more grounded version of the real world as it’s depicted in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. And as we were kicking around scenarios for conflict, we kept stumbling into things that were happening in real life, which was honestly unintentional.

GP: What kinds of real things?

Stern: At the time, there was a lot of rattling going on in the former Soviet Republic and Putin was making some pretty aggressive statements and declarations. We originally had the idea of: “What if we had real tanks head into one of the republics?” Then a couple weeks later, Russian tanks actually invaded Georgia (the country).

We also talked about how terrorists operate in the modern era. We played around with situations where we had heavily armed terrorists carrying machine guns and explosives — shortly after this, the terror attacks took place in Mumbai. That was really scary. We actually sent out e-mails saying, “All right, let’s take a little break, and stop talking about these horrific things,” because it felt like it was hitting a little too close to home.

We didn’t intend on doing anything ripped straight from real headlines or based directly on current events. We did want to capture that feeling of unimaginable scenarios that are prevalent, but so distant from the psyche on any given day. That’s the thing about making Modern Warfare 2: it’s mostly fantasy, but you can put people very close to real situations that you normally wouldn’t want to be involved in.

GP: What did you hope to achieve from a narrative standpoint with the airport level?

Stern: We’ve been catching a lot of criticism for that and a lot of praise as well. People have really strong reactions to the airport scene and it’s been fascinating because we all wanted to make it something that would be upsetting, disturbing, but also something people relate to. There’s something instantly identifiable about it when it happens, when you’re in that situation and the level begins.

I find that interesting, that the player knows what’s going on instantly. It’s too familiar and at the same time it’s not something that people are able to get that close to. Right now, there’s a documentary with interviews of people who were actually in Mumbai when that attack took place and you’ve got similar accounts of Columbine. I’m sure we’ll get some from Ft. Hood.

People want to know. As terrifying as it is, you want to know. And there’s a part of you that wants to know what it’s like to be there because this is a human experience. These are human beings who perpetrate these acts, so you don’t really want to turn a blind eye to it. You want to take it apart and figure out how that happened and what, if anything, can be done to prevent it. Ultimately, our intention was to put you as close as possible to atrocity. As for the effect it has on you, that’s not for us to determine. Hopefully, it does have an emotional impact and it seems to have riled up a lot of people in interesting ways. Some of them good. Some of them bad.

GP: Is there a “right” way to play that scenario?

Stern:It’s interesting because that level kind of comes out of nowhere and some of the criticism in the narrative has been that there’s not much of a set-up. Your character has distinguished himself in battle and was handpicked for this undercover assignment. Then you’re dropped right into the middle of it before you’ve even really gotten the chance to get your feet wet in the game, so it’s really a sideswipe. We spent a lot of time trying to set the right tone there so that people wouldn’t feel confused.

There’s three things you can do. Once you realize what’s happening, you can open fire on the other terrorists that are with you. They’ll turn around and kill you quickly, but that is an option. You can do nothing for the first half of that level too. You’re not obligated to do anything other than walk and watch, which I think portrays another completely different feeling of helplessness. And the third option is [that] you can open fire.

When we tested the level, it was interesting. Steve Mancuda, who ran a lot of the testing, said people would get angry or sad or disgusted and immediately wonder what the Hell was going on here. And then after a few moments of having that experience, they would remember that they were in a video game and they would let go. Every single person in testing opened fire on the crowd, which is human nature. It feels so real but at the same time it’s a video game and the response to it has been fascinating. I never really knew you could elicit such a deep feeling from a video game, but it has.

GP: Do you hope this opens up things creatively for other games moving forward?

Stern: I hope so and I hope that people don’t just look at it as being this simplistic and brutal sequence. We’ve done our best to treat it with care and not to make it gratuitous. The effect of it is you absolutely hate this guy, and the war that takes place in the game is set in motion. Obviously, the narrative of the game is not the real world. It is a hyper-real environment set five years into a future that may not ever exist where there are conflicts raging all around the globe. There are wars that take place in Modern Warfare 2 that don’t exist in real life.

I hope that game developers take the lesson that you’ve got to try things. You’ve got to go out on a limb sometimes. This is a triple-A game and the top grosser of all time with this huge budget behind it, yet we’re still taking major chances wherever we can and the airport level was a risk we had to take. Sometimes you take huge risks and it really works. Sometimes it doesn’t work at all. But if you don’t take the chance, you’re not going to make something new.

GP: Would Modern Warfare work as a movie?

Stern: It would work very well as a film. Hopefully, that’s a conversation I’ll have with somebody somewhere down the line. Jason West, Steve Macuda and the rest of the guys from Infinity Ward have an interest in doing it and Activision wants to do it. I’d be very curious to give that a try. You’ve got your source material to draw on, which is the biggest advantage in getting one of these movies off the ground.

GP: We’ve seen a lot of TV shows turned into games from Criminal Minds to CSI. Would NCIS or its new spin-off work as a game?

Stern: This year has been very interesting for us at NCIS, where we’re finally reaching number one. We’ve been climbing and climbing for the last few seasons and now that we’re the top-rated show on TV, a lot of these opportunities are coming along. People are having those conversations with us more realistically about doing a video game. It’d be great to have an NCIS game. The main thing that you have to capture is the tone of the show. NCIS is a character-based show. There’s a lot of humor. There’s a lot of banter and the procedure elements of it are secondary. So I think the biggest challenge would be to make an adaptation that brings that same kind of flavor to it. But hey, I’m open to have that conversation soon.

In episode 310 of Gametrailers Bonus Round, Geoff Keighley is joined by the Infinity Ward developers for a Modern Warfare 2 special. Robert Bowling, Fairfax S. McCandlish IV and Joel Emslie join the Bonus Round host “behind closed doors” to discuss everything from Modern Warfare 2 to what they’re doing next. (Part 2 of 4)

“Where did ideas for Call of Duty, both old and new, come from? In this episode of the Bonus Round, we go behind closed doors with the men behind one of the biggest franchises in video game history: Infinity Ward. From their work with EA on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault to their switch to Activision – we talk about everything from Modern Warfare 2 to what they’re doing next. All that, plus we take your user questions straight to the developer!”

Gametrailers embed feature can be a little temperamental at times, if the video wont play head here to view it http://www.gametrailers.com/episode/bonusround/310?ch=2

In episode 310 of Gametrailers Bonus Round, Geoff Keighley is joined by the Infinity Ward developers for a Modern Warfare 2 special. Robert Bowling, Fairfax S. McCandlish IV and Joel Emslie join the Bonus Round host “behind closed doors” to discuss everything from Modern Warfare 2 to what they’re doing next. (Part 1 of 4)

“Where did ideas for Call of Duty, both old and new, come from? In this episode of the Bonus Round, we go behind closed doors with the men behind one of the biggest franchises in video game history: Infinity Ward. From their work with EA on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault to their switch to Activision – we talk about everything from Modern Warfare 2 to what they’re doing next. All that, plus we take your user questions straight to the developer!”

Cole Hamels speaks out against grenade spam – “they are for pussies” – in this short Modern Warfare 2 comedy video from Infinity Ward… Fight Against Grenade Spam PSA!

Vince Zampella and Jason West

Speaking to Gameinformer, IW Head honchos Jason West and Vince Zampella had this to say.

“We’re just prioritizing the player experience above the modders and the tuners,” says West. He points toward the mounting feedback IW has received from PC fans of Modern Warfare who couldn’t find a decent server to play on between all of the cheaters, the insular communities, and huge skill level disparities that the original game’s community fractured into. “We thought maybe it would be cool if the fans could play the game,” he laughs.

IW says that gameplay concerns for the majority of MW2 players are the overriding reasons for the decision. Zampella downplays the obvious piracy prevention angle (IW has cited numbers of people online playing illegal copies of Modern Warfare up to 60 percent). “The Steam stuff helps with the piracy. I don’t know that the matchmaking stuff does,” he notes. West takes a shot at the motives behind some of the outrage, noting that there’s money to made by selling dedicates servers and adspace on them: “It’s a little dubious. Some of the people complaining are complaining with their pocketbook.”

Again and again during our conversation, West and Zampella hammer the point that hardcore PC players lose very little to this change relative to the returns that casual to moderate fans will see. Clans can set up private matches to do their training or what have you; all they lose is the ability to customize the game on a deeper level with mods and such. Infinity Ward sees the addition of solid matchmaking and community support like IW-run tournaments to the PC as a huge win, and not something that could be done under the old system.

Robert Bowling

Infinity Ward Creative Strategist, Robert Bowling, has tried to explain exactly how IWNet will work via his blog. He could have saved a whole wall of text and just said it will work exactly the same as the Xbox 360 version!

IWNET takes the benefits of dedicated servers and allows them to be utilized and accessed by every player, out of the box, while removing the barrier to entry for players unaware of how to maintain a server on their own.

How does it do this?

Matchmaking & Smoother Gameplay: When you want to player a multiplayer game on PC, in the past. You’d have to scroll through a Server Browser which listed every available server which was hosted by individual server admins. Each had their own private rules, mods, or ways of playing the game. Most players would also use the server browser to find just the best quality game (based on PING). With IWNET matchmaking, it takes all that into account for you. All you have to do is select the playlist (pre-set gametypes with custom rules) that fits the style of play you are in the mood for. When you do, it will automatically find you a game with the best performance, ping, and preferences based on your location and individual connection as well as matching you with players of your same SKILL. So you’re always guaranteed the best game performance for where you are and what connection you’re playing on as well as an equal game with other players of your same skill level, not rank, but skill level. It doesn’t mean you’ll just be thrown into a random game! It will put you in the game that will give you the smoothest gameplay possible without you having to manually find a server with the best ping.

Playlists and Private Matches: As I described above, Playlists are pre-set game modes and gametypes for public games. If you just want to jump into a public game of Search and Destroy or Hardcore Search and Destroy and you don’t care about fully customizing it, then you can utilize playlists to do that quickly for you. However, say you’re in a clan and you want to play a Clan match with another team, or you want to practice for an upcoming tournament that has specific rules in a private game. Then you can start a Private Match (which is essentially like running your own private server) where you have complete control over the rules, who can join, boot players you don’t want, and essentially control the entire game or tweak it to your liking. Once the rules are set, you can invite the other team in or just start it up with your clan to practice with the custom rules before the match. This now allows you to play custom games out of the box without the need to install mods, find a modded server with the rules you like, or worry about not being in control of the match.

Party System and Friendslist: Modern Warfare 2 on PC also makes it much easier if you want to party up with your friends, or again, with your clan for a match. You can utilize the friendslist to see when your friends are online, and invite them to your Party. A Party allows you to move from game to game as a group. It’s great for clan matches, because you can party of with your clan and move from public game to public game together. Or if you’re doing a scrim, party up and invite the other clan (who is in a party) and they’ll all join at once. Set up a private match together and play. It makes setting up scrims or games with friends easier and hassle free.

Cheat / Hack Free Games: The biggest benefit of using IWnet by far is the fact that you don’t have to worry about joining a server full of aim-bots, wallhacks, or cheaters. Or relying on the server admin of the server to constantly be monitoring, banning, and policing it. Modern Warfare 2 on PC allows us to control the quality of the game much more than ever before as well as utilizing the VAC (Valve-Anti-Cheat) system to keep games clean of hackers and cheaters.

All in all, IWNET adds a load of new features that the PC version of our games have never had before and allows us an infrastructure to continue to update and improve on the game post-launch.

So, it seems like IW will be sticking to their decision to not support dedicated servers for Modern Warfare 2……. No matter how many signature’s and canceled pre-orders!

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Here is the latest in the long line of Robert Bowling video interviews. It takes place with Gamespot UK at some point along the recent Modern Warfare 2 European promotional tour. In the seven minute clip Infinity Ward’s Creative Strategist talks all thinks Modern Warfare 2 and answers some fan submited questions in the run up to release.

After announcing that he would answer questions publicly, as you can imagine when you have 55,000 twitter followers, a lot of questions were put to him. You can see all the answers here, but we have gone ahead and sorted all the new information that has been confirmed from Bowlings answers.

• There will be snow, rain and dust storms in MP maps.
• LAN / Offline is very Tournament friendly. Full create a class and rank progression but separate from your online rank.
• If an enemy chopper is in the air while you’re in the AC-130 you can fire down on top of it to shoot it down.
• The will be a lobby mute feature.
• It takes two rockets to take down an AC-130 in MP. Meaning you can’t do it alone but can do it as a team.
• There will be snow maps in Multiplayer.
• There isn’t an option to search specific regions / countries when matchmaking, but there is improved matchmaking to auto-assist.
• “We’ll monitor community feedback closely post launch to see if the improved matchmaking benefits international users or not“
• IW are addressing modded controllers slightly different than the Rate of Fire cap they did in COD4 recently.
• Unique ghillie suits for each environment. Not only that, but enemy snipers look different than friendly snipers.
• The PC version of Modern Warfare 2 will have Prestige mode in multiplayer just like the console version.

Official Xbox Magazine (OXM) interview some of the Infinity Ward team to get the latest info on the upcoming shooter. You can watch the video from your Xbox dashboard or while your here why not check it out below.

A shot from the video seems to confirm that some of the game will take place in Pittsburgh, USA.

In-Game

Real World

In said interview we find out that you won’t be able to play online with 2 people on one console, bad news! Also within the article is news that there are a lot of improvements to the matchmaking system… good news! Maybe the most surprising piece of information Todd gives over is the fact that the Riot Shield can take unlimited damage!

There’s lots more to see, so check out the article below or read it on Joystiq.

There’s an upcoming Wii port of the first Modern Warfare. How do you guys feel about that being handled by somebody else?

It depends on what it ends up being, but I have actually played the Modern Warfare on Wii and I think it is really good. So as long as things aren’t being distorted and becoming things we don’t want them to be, I don’t think it bothers us.

What about the name? When this was originally announced, it was just “Modern Warfare 2.” Then, when we started talking about it again, it had the Call of Duty tag in front of it. For a while it seemed like this was going to go off in another direction and then Treyarch was just going to work on the Call of Duty games. Now it is back to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. What’s going on with that?

Well there are a lot of different factors involved, but we wanted to make sure, and I tried to state this at the beginning, that this is a different game. I mean it is not … it has got 2 on it obviously, but it is not just a sequel. It is not just another Call of Duty game. It is a big new thing and we want people to associate it with Modern Warfare 2. And it is the same story, so it is in the Call of Duty universe.

So messaging it both ways, I think it’s helpful. People that are in the know, know what Modern Warfare 2 is. People that know what Call of Duty is might not necessarily get it in a way, but establishing that identity and making sure that this is Modern Warfare 2. It is not just Call of Duty blah, blah, blah. It is Modern Warfare 2. And then having the Call of Duty … we are not denying it is Call of Duty.

But it seems like Infinity Ward would like to call it Modern Warfare 2.

We do call it Modern Warfare 2. It is still Call of Duty. But to us, that is how we refer to it. That is how we talk about it.

Obviously, with Infinity Ward and Modern Warfare, or Call of Duty, whatever you choose to call it, the expectations are very big. Do you guys ever have to sit back and just go, “Okay, how do we top ourselves?”

That is exactly what we did when we started working on this game. I mean how do you not? When we released Call of Duty 4, to us it was the best thing ever. Then it was like, “Oh yeah, let’s go to the next one. It is going to be hard.” But you have to figure it out. It was a daunting task but I think we were able to do it.

You embrace the challenge.

Yeah, if it is easy to do it is never that fun. And the fact that we were faced with this mountain and we were able to come out with something that is actually new and in the same universe, it was great.

How did you top multiplayer?

Multiplayer is definitely much bigger and deeper than before. There are just so many more elements and variables that make it different. I mean we are all big on customization, being able to let players tweak things. I mean we want everyone to play our game, obviously. We want it to be accessible. But we want every person to be able to have their own play style. There are things in there for people that love to snipe. There are things for people that love to use the assault rifles, that love to be sneaky, that love to use AC-130′s and shoot people from the sky.

There is even something in there for people that can’t shoot. I am not the guy that shoots; pointing a gun and making bullets come out is not my cup of tea, but you get the riot shield and your job is to help your team. It is a whole new element. It really changes the way you play the game.

Can anybody use that riot shield or is it just that class?

It is a primary weapon. So you can choose to take an M4 or you can choose to take a riot shield. What you are giving up with that is your primary weapon. So when you have the riot shield out, you can’t shoot. All you are doing is blocking. You can kill the other guy with melee, but it takes two hits. Like the knife is an instant kill; one hit, he dies. With the riot shield you bash him with the shield and then you bash him again. Then they die. So it is much harder to kill someone, but it is really satisfying.

Does that shield wear down after a while? Like if people are hammering it with bullets, does it eventually break up?

No.

So you can’t use the shield and a smaller secondary weapon like a pistol at the same time?

You can swap to another weapon. But while you have the shield out, you can’t fire. The shield has a slower swap because it is so big, which is another balancing factor of the shield. You can’t just go up to the guy and “bam bam” kill them. You have to swap it out, and they see what you are doing. And depending on what your secondary is, how fast you swap. They can stick semtex to your shield and blow you up.

There are different angles as well. I mean, to be truly effective with it you have to crouch because your feet aren’t covered unless you are crouching. But then you are moving slower. You are more vulnerable. It definitely is a unique experience. And also, when it is taking hits you actually get the visual cracks on the shield. So eventually, if you are really good with the riot shield, eventually you can’t seen anything anymore because there are nothing but bullet holes covering the shield.

Gears of War 2 added a horde mode, and then Halo: ODST has the Firefight mode. You guys have Spec-Ops. Is that sort of your version of that?

It is not a version of anything.

What are they? Timed scenarios?

When we are making Modern Warfare 2, we want to cover as much ground as possible. We want to have the coolest story that you could possibly have in a video game. We want to have the deepest, longest lasting multiplayer you could have in a video game. And then there is also that middle ground of people that may be intimidated by multiplayer or just have a friend they just want to play.

They don’t want to play other people; they just want to play the game and unlock things and work their way up and just have fun, and Spec-Ops gives you different ways to play the game. And it really adds to … you can play it by yourself or you can play it with friends, and there are so many different Spec-Op missions and different difficulties that will keep you busy for a while. It is a lot of fun.

Can you describe what spec ops is really quick?

Spec Ops is … you have your campaign, which is the story. You have your multiplayer, which is the online stuff. And then you have Spec Ops. These are like standalone missions that you can play by yourself or with a friend in split screen or over the Internet. This is the best analogy, Airplane from the last game, it is a short mission and there are just a lot of these. They are missions that aren’t tied to the story, but there are a great variety of different locations, different types of missions. You will do things that you can’t do in multiplayer and you can’t do in single player.

Will these take place in locations that don’t even appear in single player?

Maybe.

Is Time Crisis a bit of a better comparison? Fast-paced, just trying to get to the end of the level.

Some are. Honestly, every spec of mission is sort of treated as its own game. So it follows the rules of Modern Warfare 2, but everything is almost like a different minigame almost. It might be a time challenge or it might be kill all the bad guys. There is just a huge variety of different ways to play it.

So does your role include overseeing the DLC?

Yeah. I mean when we were doing the DLC on the last game right after the game shipped, so there is a lot of figuring out what the next thing potentially is. It is back and forth. Like, I am working on multiplayer some of the time. I am working on single player some of the time. I am working on DLC some of the time.

Do you guys bring the snowmobiles into multiplayer?

No, not that you can ride at least. They are there.

We saw a lot of problems not long ago appearing with the modders glitching in Call of Duty, and you guys were putting out patches to combat that. Are you guys going to implement any sort of team voting to kick a player out in the next one?

No. There is no team voting. We tried to fix the problem and not just the symptom. So if there is something really messing with the game, we just jump right on top of it and try to fix it.

Does the game already handle griefing? Like, if you have a guy who is team killing all the time.

Well, it’s only in hardcore mode. So if you are a griefer in hardcore mode, the more you grief, the more you are punished. There is a respawn timer that gets bigger and bigger the more you grief. But we have different ways that we handle that.

What about the matchmaking in the new game? Have you addressed any of the issues?

There are a lot of improvements to the matchmaking system. I don’t have any technical answers for you, but there are definitely new things in place to try and prevent that. But yeah, we know. We know exactly what’s going on.

Will you be able to play multiplayer with two people on one console, going online together?

No.

Have you guys announced how many multiplayer maps you’re going to ship with it?

No. There are lots.

Lots, okay. More than the original game came with?

Yes. Bigger in every way.

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