The return of the Russians as
Modern Warfare 2's primary antagonists wasn't always a given. In a new interview, writer Jesse Stern said that Infinity Ward considered a wide variety of foes for the sequel, including 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," Stern told GamePro.
"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."
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. The latter hit a "little too close to home," Stern said.
"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."
No zombies though. If you want to fight the living dead, you'll just have to go back to Call of Duty: World at War.