In an interview with GamePro, Jesse Stern (a writer collaborating with developers Infinity Ward) has revealed that while thinking about topics to cover in their (at the time) next game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, a large number of subjects cropped up before settling on the themes of war and invasion, including the idea to do a game about aliens and zombies:

“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,” said Stern.

“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.”

Eventually the team settled on themes and subjects that were more contemporary, and would hopefully have a greater resonance with people living in a world where stories of terrorism and invasion show up in the daily news:

“Some of the real-life events that occurred during Modern Warfare 2’s development included the Russian invasion of Georgia (the country), and the terrorist attack on Mumbai,” continued Stern. “The latter hit 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.”

In the end, Infinity Ward wanted to provide players with an experience that would place them in situations they would never normally find themselves in, in real life:

“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.”

You should read the full interview with Jesse Stern over at GamePro to gain more insight into, not only the writing process on Modern Warfare 2, but the thinking behind that airport level.

Source: GamePro