Call of Duty and Battlefield games bring some of the best gun gameplay to the gaming industry. While Call of Duty is heavily inclined towards its campaign and story, BF is literally a large-scale battle arena with players going for each other’s throats. The BF franchise features a lot of heavy-hitting titles but one game from the series takes the lead in providing the best experience and that is Battlefield 4.
The title was crafted by a former Call of Duty writer and although there is lively competition between both the production houses of the games, this legendary narrative designer does not see the rivalry at all. Let’s delve deeper and find out who he is.
Battlefield 4 was co-written by former COD writer
Battlefield 4 was released back in October of 2013 and however the campaign of the game failed to captivate the players, the multiplayer mode was met with extremely positive reviews. The title became a commercial success selling more than 7 million copies by May 2014, becoming the second best-selling game in the United States.
The man who was behind this masterpiece is Jesse Stern, the co-writer of Call of Duty Modern Warfare games and he was also the former co-executive producer of a popular drama series, NCIS. In a 2013 interview between Paul Semel and Stern, he revealed how he never thought of himself as a very important addition to both franchises.
I don’t know. I don’t consider myself that much of a lynchpin of either series. I think they do exceptionally well without me.
Stern had left NCIS before working for DICE, the development team of Battlefield games, and he owes his thanks to the director of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Jason West who while talking to DICE about BF 4, mentioned Stern.
I had just left NCIS and was actively looking for video game gigs. Around that same time, a couple of the guys from DICE ran into Jason West. They wanted something that was more linear for Battlefield 4, something more cinematic, and they asked Jason how they had done it with the Modern Warfare games. Jason’s always very nice to me, and always gives me more credit than I deserve, so he told them everything they had done, and then said, “And we had Jesse.” To which the DICE guys said, “Who the hell is Jesse?”
This interaction was the reason why Stern got the opportunity to work in Battlefield 4 and made the story a legendary one. Later when Stern was nervous to reveal his new position to Respawn, the development team of Call of Duty, Jason West replied that he was the one who got Stern the job.
Great story writing can even transcend rivalry
Jesse Stern’s contribution from writing for TV to shaping the narrative of both Call of Duty and Battlefield is a testament to his expertise in storytelling. Despite his humility towards his work in both games, he defined how action games should immerse the player into the world and give them the experience of a lifetime.
While the rivalry between COD and BF will be constant, Stern’s work proves that great storytelling can even transcend competition. His role in Battlefield 4 added a very unique touch to the game’s campaign and although the title is famous for its multiplayer, his contribution to the story of the game remains an important element in the game’s legacy.
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