Game news Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2: Who is Alejandro Vargas really? Our information in the interview
While the first-person Call of Duty license maintains an image of stress relief, it has more than once demonstrated its talent for creating believable, impactful stories. Last proof to date with the Modern Warfare reboot in 2019. The release of the sequel is fast approaching and also seems to show great promise from a writing point of view. We were lucky enough to speak to Brian Bloom and Jeffrey Negus – who are respectively responsible for the script and cinematics of the project. The opportunity to approach a new character, “Alejandro Vargas”! Here are their answers.
After the eventful finale of Modern Warfare (2019), Task Force 141 is about to return to duty. If you’re not comfortable with Call of Duty, know that it’s a special forces unit that brings together the biggest names in the franchise – John Price, Ghost, “Soap” – and will offer the services of in Modern Warfare 2 Newcomers including Alejandro Vargas. The man is straight out of the city of Los Almas, Mexican Special Forces. A great advantage for Task Force 141, which has to travel to the southern United States for its new assignment. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 will be available on October 28th on PC | expected brackets. To learn more, we were able to speak to Brian Bloom and Jeffrey Negus, who wrote about the project.
What kind of man is Alejandro Vargas? What does he bring to Task Force 141?
Jeffrey Negus:
“First of all, it must be said that Alejandro is not related to any other characters in the Call of Duty universe and that strictly speaking he is not part of Task Force 141 (…) He works with this special unit because, according to Kate Laswell, he is trustworthy ( a heroine introduced in the last Call of Duty ed.) and because he has a connection to the place where the story takes place”.
Brian Bloom:
“Alejandro Vargas was born and raised in Mexico, he is the head of the Mexican special forces (…) He is strong, inflexible and principled. He survived a lot of complicated situations. The members of his squad say the only thing that can kill Alejandro is Alejandro himself.”
“Although characters like Price seem cut out for leadership, there’s often a certain reluctance towards their leadership in Call of Duty (…) and I think there’s an exception here to the extent that Alejandro is a born leader . He is strictly bound by the rules of the law. One of the themes of our story is that in order to bring down the one we want to bring down, you have to become a bit like him, and Alejandro is against that.
Brian Bloom:
“Without going into too many details, Alejandro Vargas and other characters are opposed to the idea that people who know them well know about them and that this information can turn out to be harmful (…) Alejandro evolves in a world in of soldiers are highly valued by cartels, who often try to recruit them”.
Jeffrey Negus:
“To continue, in the last Modern Warfare our theme was ‘Find your way, war is not black | white, she is grey” and our new story builds on this base (…) Even if everything seems to be going as planned, we are never sure what strategy will choose the enemy and what form that enemy will take”.
With Task Force 141 already bringing together charismatic heroes, is Alejandro Vargas being made to create tension in the story and members?
Jeffrey Negus:
“What’s unique about Modern Warfare is that alongside the well-known heroes we have a whole new cast of characters that we’re trying to flesh out – to make it feel new and modern (…) I think the idea of friction, the inner conflict between the Heroes is to a certain extent implicit (…) They have a task to do and that connects them”.
Brian Bloom:
“In the special unit 141 there is friction overall. You see different personalities, different worldviews, different ideologies, different levels of maturity. Not everything is perfect (…) Unexpected narrative arcs emerge. Take for example someone like Ghost who seems like a lone wolf (…), while Alejandro Vargas is interesting when Ghost realizes he can’t do everything on his own and needs help, he looks at Alejandro first”.
Jeffrey Negus:
“Alejandro has become a kind of catalyst for others (…) a kind of cornerstone that brings the team together in a way because he knows the area well, because it’s an asset to Laswell.”
So, can we say that Alejandro Vargas is one of the main heroes of Modern Warfare 2?
Brian Bloom:
“Ah yes, Alejandro is very important to the story of Modern Warfare 2. He’s really central to our work in bringing these characters together and developing them.”
Will Alejandro Vargas be a playable character in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2?
Brian Bloom:
“Let’s just say there are places in this game where the player has to speak Spanish! Unlike films and series, there will be no English dubbing with a Spanish accent.”
You brought in actor Alain Mesa for the design by Alejandro Vargas. Can you tell us why you chose him and what he brought to the project?
Jeffrey Negus:
“For Modern Warfare 2, the casting was different. Normally we would have been in a room with someone to exchange ideas (…), but there were recordings. And when we saw Alain Mesa reading, we stopped the video after a few seconds and said to ourselves that he was definitely our man. When we exchanged views via Zoom, it was even clearer.”
“He’s someone who brought a lot of energy, a lot of preparation in his head, who not only managed to understand who the character is but also to inspire the other actors around him (…) I couldn’t be happier, to have Alain Mesa”.
Brian Bloom:
“For our characters, we are looking for our hero’s face, body and voice thanks to an actor. In some game projects this is not necessarily the case (the actor interpreting the voice may be different from the one lending his features, ed.). We decided to do it this way! Alain Mesa has an incredible presence, great physique and a strong and really interesting face. Not to mention his voice. His voice is solid and very recognizable in game. In short, he has everything!”
Does character creation need to evolve as a game develops?
Brian Bloom:
“The great thing about working on a video game is that it’s very iterative.”
Jeffrey Negus:
“Exactly, and through this iteration (…) it opens up opportunities to tweak things over time, if that’s possible (…) A big part of what we do is making sure we’re open to discovery and everything that goes into it.” can help change something, but change it to something closer to what it should be”.
“When we get our actors into the studio and the script is written (…) we look at the script, we have a very precise idea of what’s going to happen, but when there’s a discovery and that it’s working, we don’t hesitate , to go in that direction, to change things, because it can only get better if everyone feels part of the creative process.”
Any final word on Alejandro Vargas or Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 overall?
Brian Bloom:
“I just wanted to say we have the best military advisors in the world and they took us to some amazing people in Mexico (…) I ended up interviewing someone for hours to get to know their condition and spirit ideology (…) I have laid some of that material into the foundations of what Alejandro will become. In the game he will teach us about words, language and the history of Mexico.”
Jeffrey Negus:
“The last thing I have to say is that one of the most rewarding things about Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 was bringing Alejandro Vargas to life. I love the character.”
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