Loose Ends

"Do you have the DSM?" "We got it, sir!" "Good. That's one less loose end."

- General Shepherd and Ghost

This is a level of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The player takes control of Gary "Roach" Sanderson. The objective is to find Makarov at a safehouse. The first challenge is to make it past the minefield (quickly duck after the first one appears) and the troops advancing through the smokescreen. Upon reaching the safehouse, there are multiple breaching points; start with the basement as there is lighter resistance (and Ghost will take care of the larger, first floor for you). Lastly, breach the top floor, but beware of troops hiding to your right on the balcony. After fighting resistance and not finding Makarov, the player is ordered to download files from a computer in the main room of the safehouse. The player must then defend the computer as its files get downloaded. If it gets shot, its download speed slows. As the files download at varying speeds, it is difficult to accurately gauge how quickly the process takes. Once the countdown begins, the player has a limited amount of time to stock up and prepare defenses; the basement has a weapons room, ammo cache, and claymores, the last of which is very useful for slowing down the enemy. After completing the download, only Roach and Ghost are left. The player must then make a run to the helicopter, where General Shepherd takes the files and makes a remark about covering one of the loose ends. He then shoots Roach and Ghost fatally. Shadow Company troops promptly burn your corpses (lit dramatically by Shepherd's cigar).

Trivia

 * There are several sex dolls spread around the level, downstairs in the cubby looking thing across from the bar in multi player, and in the bathroom inside of the bedroom upstairs.
 * Shepherd's Shadow Company soldiers can be heard shouting "Go, go, go" and "Coming in hot". The audio is the same as that used in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ' s "Charlie Don't Surf".
 * The mines used at the beginning of the level are landmines. It is unknown why the player is protected from them by going prone, other than to avoid some of the shrapnel. And they will not detonate from being shot.
 * There is almost no way to keep the Task Force 141 troops alive, as most are scripted to die. The only troops that are not scripted to die is the player, Ghost, Ozone, and Scarecrow.
 * On Recruit, it is possible to save one or two Task Force 141 troops, but it is extremely difficult.
 * This level appears to have the most flashbangs thrown at you from enemy forces as they try to breach the house while you and Ghost defend.
 * It is unknown what happens to Archer and Toad (snipers) at the end of the level. It is possible they were extracted or they were hunted down by Shadow Company after Ghost and Roach are killed.
 * When Shepherd shoots Roach, the Magnum makes the gunshot sound of the Desert Eagle, but makes the Magnum shot when he shoots Ghost.
 * Shepherd might have two magnums because when he shoots Roach and Ghost, you can clearly see that he has one in his holster. This might mean that he had one hidden or just a mistake on the developers part.
 * In one of the upstairs rooms of the house is a poster of a Russian woman wielding a Thompson Submachine Gun. This is the same poster found in "All Ghillied Up" and the multiplayer maps: Derail and Vacant.
 * Throughout the level the player will see numerous M5 Sentry Guns laying around. However, none of them can be used against the Ultranationalist counterstrike.
 * Upstairs in the bathroom to the right, there is a Teddy Bear stuck to the wall with a Bowie Knife in its head.
 * The plans for the airport attack in No Russian can be found in the living room, including a blueprint of the airport and a readable newspaper report on the massacre.
 * When Shepherd dumps the gasoline on Roach you can hear Captain Price shouting through your comms system: "Roach! Come in, this is Price! We're under attack by Shepherd's men at the boneyard! Soap! Hold the left flank! Do not trust Shepherd! I say again, do not trust Shepherd! Soap, get down!--".
 * Many newspaper clippings can be seen around the main floor, revealing that Makarov was responsible for a bombing attack on London's Piccadilly Circus, as well as the GUM supermarket in Red Square, Moscow. It also confirms that Russia's Ultranationalist party leader became the president and that Vladimir held up photos of Bravo Six (Gaz, Griggs, Price and Soap) and declared they were responsible for the death of Imran Zakhaev.
 * In the safehouse living room, there is a table in the back left corner with newspapers titled "The Infinity Ward Times"
 * There are portraits of many American presidents around the house, including George Washington; this is likely another instance of models from earlier levels being reused to cut down on the game developers' workload.
 * Being that Ghost and Roach had discovered intel that implicated connections between Shepherd and Makarov inside of Makarov's safe house ironically makes them the literal loose ends within the mission "Loose Ends", which is why Shepherd eliminates them. Though it is strange that Shepherd didn't inquire on whether they had actually looked at the intel in any thorough capacity for if they hadn't he could have just kept them in the dark and spared them, but perhaps he was afraid that Soap and Price whom had also found similar intel would contact them sooner or later and wanted to preemptively remove any possible threats.
 * It is possible to kill Archer and Toad (snipers) using your claymores. If you plant one next to Archer and shoot it they will both die. Later on in the level, you hear Archer talking to Ghost about not seeing Makarov. If you run back to Archer and Toad's position they are still dead.