STACK #216 October 2022

GAMING FEATURE

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ADDITIONAL FORCE

The return of Task Force 141 in ModernWarfare II sees familiar faces joined by somebody new. Alvarez tells us more: “A key character we’re introducing is Alejandro Vargas, who’s part of the Mexican Special Forces. He’s an ally to TF 141 and guides them through several important missions throughout Mexico. He’s a favourite here at the studio, as he’s a very cool and meaningful addition to the team.”

This year’s Call of Duty: ModernWarfare II follows directly on from 2019’s campaign.We fired a few quick questions about it at Rick Alvarez, a producer at developers InfinityWard. Words Amy Flower

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is out on Oct 28

know players will have a blast with that feature.

to work toward weapon setups that share a common base, which adds a lot of options for players on that front.

Can you please give us the quick summation sizzle for this sequel? The Infinity Ward team has continued to innovate upon 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare . This game is our new take on classic boots-on-the-ground gameplay, so players will need to strategically consider the role of stealth, amphibious assaults, vehicular warfare, and much more across all our modes. Put simply, Modern Warfare II is the most ambitious game we’ve ever made. The narrative team draws inspiration from everywhere: movies, books, pop culture, etc., but at the end of the day it’s a piece of entertainment, as it’s a Call of Duty game. It’s action, fun and a deeply immersive narrative with cool, iconic characters. The Modern Warfare II story is about the Task Force 141 squad, new alliances, and finding your line. entry in such a popular franchise? We drive ourselves to make the best game we can, and we are our toughest critics. It’s an incredible opportunity to work on the series we all know and love, so we are just looking forward to getting it in the community’s hands. What sort of pressures come into play when creating a direct sequel to the best-selling What new weaponry will we get to play with this time out? We of course have tons of new weapons available this time around. Our weapons are now built around configurable platforms that allow a player Were there any specific real-world inspirations for the story?

With the new-gen PS5 and Xbox Series X|S around for a while now, how have you been able to harness their power? Across Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0 , our modes and maps continue to get more complex with each new game, and we continue to push the capabilities with our Ground War gameplay and Warzone modes. Bigger maps, more vehicles, A.I. agents – and that's just scratching the surface of what’s to come. We’ve had some wild cameo appearances in past Call of Duty games – from Lewis Hamilton to Jeff Goldblum through to Ronald Reagan. Pete Davidson popped up this year in early promotion, should we expect any cool cameos in ModernWarfare II itself? Can’t say yet, but keep your eyes open and ears peeled, you never know who could show up!

With the zombies taking a break this time out, what new outings are filling their void? In Modern Warfare II we of course have an action-packed single-player campaign and a thrilling multiplayer mode that everyone knows and loves, but our third mode consists of Special Ops Missions and a Special Ops Raid, so there’s a lot of game there. With big changes promised thanks to your new IW Engine, what do you rate as the most exciting new additions? Let’s start with water! We've got crazy new features built around the water in our game. You can swim, engage enemies, and there’s strategy with how you use equipment within water, so it’s added a lot of depth to the experience. We've also upped the ante on vehicle destruction. You can take apart every drivable vehicle down to the doors, so we

What’s your personal favourite mode in ModernWarfare II ? Invasion is definitely my favourite mode. This is a team vs. teamTDM style mode played in our Battle Maps, where players and A.I. combine forces to fight enemy teams. As the match progresses, vehicle reinforcements arrive, and A.I. become more difficult. It's definitely one to check out, as there’s a ton of strategy to this mode and it takes coordination with teammates, effective communication and more to be successful.

OCTOBER 2022

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