Global Thermonuclear War

Global Thermonuclear War is a hidden Multiplayer gametype in Modern Warfare 2. It may have been incomplete at launch or is going to be re-released as DLC. Each side fights to capture a Tactical Nuke in the middle of the map. Once a team has captured it, a countdown automatically starts. When the countdown ends, the Nuke explodes, killing all players on the map and winning the game for the team that captured the nuke. For a team to capture the nuke, players have to be in the area around the nuke. For every second in that area, a point is given to that player's team. Once 100 points have been scored by one team the countdown begins.

While an enjoyable game mode, this modes greatest flaw lies in the fact that many of the maps come with inbuilt advantages to one side when based around capturing the nuke. This is caused by the fact there is only 1 objective which is static thus tending to lead to a meat grinder with the odd flanking procedure before the need to gain ground prevents the losing team from doing anything other than throwing themselves at the objective.

On Rundown the side that spawns with the building overlooking the central building will inevitably win as it is easy to tube the opposition from the window on the second floor.

On Afghan the side that spawns near the irradiated zone will win as not only can they control the sniping point on the cliffs but can also openly tube through the open rear of the cockpit onto the nuke or control the concrete building overlooking the other spawn. The only difficulty is the spawning system which causes this team to spawn frequently on the cliffs however Commando Pro or a careful descent can solve this issue.

In all cases an early flanking maneuver can give a large killstreak as less experienced players throw themselves at the nuke in the hope it will grant an increase to the tactical nuke challenges while more experienced players camp the objective with a tube or a sniper rifle.



Trivia

 * The name of the gametype may be a reference to the movie War Games, in which a supercomputer plays a game of the same name on U.S. government computer networks, causing several U.S. leaders to believe that the events portrayed in the game are actually happening.
 * There is a Callsign Title called Global Thermonuclear War, which requires the player to call in two nukes.
 * One way to play it is in private match with a mod.
 * The Nuke appears as a black square on the minimap, this indicates that the mode was cut before a sprite was developed.
 * The nuke detonates at the same location where a Tactical Nuke would go off on that map, rather than the objective exploding. This suggests that the objective is not an actual nuke, but rather an IR beacon for the nuke to target or a control panel.
 * Capturing the nuke takes 100 non-consecutive seconds. When in a private match, it is recommended the whole team takes cover or at the same time to capture the nuke.
 * The nuke, if captured, will still launch during an EMP.
 * On certain occasions, the game may play out in slow motion, but this is not due to any kind of lag.
 * In the prestige edition of the game guide there are pictures and tips relating to Global Thermonuclear War.
 * 500 XP points are awarded to the player(s) who are at the nuke site giving the last points.
 * thumb|300px|rightSince it can only be played in a private match, players will not earn any Tactical Nuke related Titles/Challenges when playing this gametype.
 * This mode is the most useful for gaining the blast shield challenges, somewhat useless at the moment however as the chances of finding a modified game playing it are somewhat small.