Hi all! I’m Stephen Rhodes, Narrative Manager for Call of Duty: Vanguard. With me is Robert Lo, senior narrative designer at Sledgehammer Games. We’re excited to be able to give PlayStation players an even deeper insight into the human element that is at the heart of Call of Duty: Vanguard., especially since the game’s release is fast approaching on November 5th.
Below, we give a look at some of the main characters in Vanguard’s single-player campaign, which will also be playable in multiplayer: Arthur Kingsley and Polina Petrova. Next, we kick off a few characters from Vanguard’s multiplayer that we haven’t detailed yet anywhere else: Daniel Take Yatsu and Padmavati Balan. We will also present for the first time the Operator Bio videos of these four characters.
With that, let’s go in.
Humanity at the heart of Call of Duty: Vanguard
The Vanguard campaign is the story of a diverse group of soldiers who put aside their differences for a common cause: to stop a secret Nazi plot in the closing days of World War II. Their mission also represents the origins of a new type of combat unit that moved and fought like none of them before: Special Forces.
Even though this is a larger-than-life story, at the heart of Vanguard is a universal experience that many of us have had: finishing a tough job with a group of colleagues you didn’t choose. and forging real friendships and lasting bonds along the way.
Writing the Vanguard campaign has been a meaningful and rewarding experience for all of us on the storytelling team. I’ve always had an interest in WWII, and it was exciting doing in-depth research with our fantastic historical consultant Marty Morgan. With his unlimited knowledge, we were able to uncover many lesser-known stories and heroes that we can draw inspiration from.
As writers, we also had the opportunity to write the distinct voices of characters who came from very specific places at a specific point in history. For our British characters, that meant we had to delve into the Britishisms of the time, and for our Australian lead character, Lucas Riggs, it meant exploring the really wide web of the Australian language. Each of our heroes has a unique way of speaking that uniquely resembles them, and it is the result of careful research and careful listening.
Our aim was to tell a unique and refreshing story set in the conflict. While there may be elements of the story that you are familiar with, this is a story unique to Call of Duty.
Today, we’re extremely happy to share details with you about some of Vanguard’s characters and give you a taste of how we’ve created their distinct personalities. We’ll discuss who these characters are, what they mean to us, and how they fit into Vanguard’s overall narrative.
We will be focusing our time on four of our heroic operators. Two that you will meet during the avant-garde epic campaign, and the other two can only be found in our diverse multiplayer roster. Let’s get started!
The stories behind four multiplayer operators
Arthur
Arthur Kingsley is the leader of the Special Task Force sent to Germany to uncover the truth about Projekt Phoenix. What is exceptional about Arthur as a leader is not his ability to commit acts of violence or kill people, but rather his unwavering dedication to the mission and his compassion for his fellow soldiers. He takes his leadership role to heart and believes his responsibility is to make sure everyone comes back alive. Fear of losing soldiers under his command made Arthur reluctant to lead, but the importance of the mission led him to accept his role and embrace his true calling.
It was important to us that Arthur was the main protagonist and that you lived Vanguard’s story through his point of view. We wanted him to be smart and charismatic, as well as courageous and heroic. His background is unique and we have worked with many cultural and historical consultants to give Arthur a distinct origin. Born in Cameroon, educated in England and serving as a British paratrooper for most of the war, Arthur is truly a man of the world. He was the character we first designed and what is at the heart of his character was present from the start.
Also, as a warning to anyone already playing Black Ops Cold War and Warzone, if you Pre-order Vanguard, you will have immediate access to play as Arthur in these two titles *.
Polina
Another member of the task force sent to Germany is Polina Petrova, but there is more at stake for her than just completing the mission. An infamous sniper of legend, Polina was feared by the Nazis and idolized by Russian soldiers who fought to defend their home. Polina’s story is distinct in that she’s the only character in our story who hasn’t enlisted and left home to fight. War has come to her.
There are a lot of intense emotional threads that run through Polina’s story. Her story isn’t just a revenge for what happened to her home and family. It’s a story of loss, displacement, mourning, but also prejudice. Throughout her story, we learn about Polina’s origins as a nurse who wanted to fight, and we experience this character transformation in a way that we don’t do with any other character.
During our pre-production research, we heard about the women who fought on the Eastern Front, and in particular the incredible female snipers who brought the Nazis to hell as they advanced. across Russia. We knew we wanted to present a character who is inspired by all the brave women who fought and died to protect their home. Once we settled on Stalingrad as the backdrop for its levels, Polina’s character began to take shape.
When we think of war, we often only visualize highly trained soldiers with weapons on a battlefield. We forget that this war has affected the whole world, especially those on the home fronts. Polina grew up in Stalingrad as a girl from a calm family – compassionate, strong and loving. She was never elevated to the rank of a soldier, but embodied the tenacity of a soldier, always eager to participate in the war effort when needed. While we meet Polina as the most direct, vengeful, and bloodthirsty member of Vanguard, it reminds us that the war has stolen the innocence and happiness of so many. Polina was just one such victim and is determined to make her enemies pay for their wickedness.
Daniel
In the movies there is often the classic archetype of the cold, unresponsive sniper, calmly sending targets one by one. Daniel is no slouch as a sniper, but we wanted to portray him as a protector who uses his marksmanship to support his comrades. Its story is also deeply rooted in one of the most shameful chapters in American history: the internment of Japanese citizens in American concentration camps during World War II. Daniel’s entire world was torn apart when his family was sent to the camps, and like many Americans of Japanese descent, he was drafted into the military to protect a nation that did not view him as an equal citizen. . Daniel’s feelings about the war and his nation are deeply ambivalent, but he still fights to protect his fellow soldiers and for the nation he believes America could ever be one day.
Padmavati
Padmavati is a woman who has lost her homeland twice: once to the colonialists, then to the fascists. Her story is that of a woman whose hope and opportunity for a normal life suddenly vanished when relentless conflict became a fact of her life. Her character is defined by this duality between combatant and peaceful civilian: Padmavati is a fierce soldier, adept at jungle warfare, but also a combat-weary nurse who enjoys playing poetry and music. Because she understands the true costs of spilled blood, she avoids a romantic view of war, but won’t hesitate to show courage and leadership on the battlefield when called upon. She dreams of an India whose fate is determined by the will of its own people and is convinced that it will one day win.
These four characters are just a few of the many that Vanguard highlights in both its Campaign and Multiplayer modes. Our aim was to give a backstory to the faces that made up the world’s greatest conflict and to show their humanity as they fight to save it.
We’re excited that PlayStation gamers can experience these stories for themselves when Vanguard launches in a few weeks on November 5th. Go up on all fronts.
* The content and availability of the offer may vary by region and are subject to change. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War / Call of Duty: Warzone on PS4 or PS5 required to take advantage of offer, sold / downloaded separately. Must be redeemed by November 5, 2022.
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