The Gulag/Trivia

Approach

 * The level is set two hours after the raid on the oil rig. There is strong evidence that the helicopters have stopped in between the oil rig and gulag.
 * On the previous level, there were six people on the Little Bird, including Roach. At the start of the mission only Roach, MacTavish and two other soldiers are on the Little Bird.
 * Even though the player left the oil rig in the mission "The Only Easy Day...Was Yesterday" sitting on the right side of the chopper, in the beginning of "The Gulag", they sit on the left side of the chopper. This is probably for the player to get a better sniping position
 * During the cutscene there are three Little Birds, but during gameplay there are four. It is possible that another Little Bird came in just after the cutscene. This could also be a reference to Bob Marley's song, Three Little Birds.
 * At the start of the level, Hornet Two-One is a MH-6J Variant, which does not have missile pods. Later on, it becomes an AH-6J Variant equipped with missile pods.
 * After passing through the smoke on the Little Bird, it is possible to see another Little Bird firing at the tower in front of Roach. The pilot at this time says "Guns, guns, guns. Guns, guns, guns."
 * At no other time does smoke react to any other force (such as explosions).
 * The Russians running on the walls of the Gulag at the beginning of the level look something like the Ultranationalists in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. They are always carrying UMP45 and always die in the same way then fall through the ground.
 * There are gas tanks on the towers which the player can snipe to eliminate most and possibly all of the hostiles.
 * If the player kills the enemies in the towers really fast Worm will tell them "On the target"
 * On one of the towers there is a SAM site covered in a blue sheet. The sheet will be pulled off, whether or not there are enemies alive to pull it off.
 * The player can advance without doing any sniping while on the Little Bird, even on Veteran difficulty.
 * After the destruction of the third castle tower, just before landing, MacTavish and Ghost complain to Shepherd about the "Yanks" bombing the gulag too early. However, when MacTavish can be seen to the right of the player during the latter half of the conversation, his lips are not moving. This happens throughout the game with all characters.
 * Ghost's complaint about the "Yanks" being their supposed allies foreshadows the end of the game where Soap has to fight Shadow Company.
 * Before entering the gulag when the player sees two enemies running in front of them, to the right there is a place for executions.
 * The F-15's at the beginning of the level have "IW4" and a skull painted on their tail fins. "IW4" is a popular Easter egg throughout the series that indicates Infinity Ward. This is also a reference to the number of Call of Duty games Infinity Ward has made.
 * The windows at the Gulag's walls are always lit, as it's purely for cosmetic purposes (evidently there are no bullet holes on the walls, and windows do not shatter).

Insertion

 * A Little Bird carrying 6 soldiers lands before the player does, and when the player touches ground, the first 6 soldiers disappear.
 * If standing too close to the Little Bird after disembarking, it will kill the player while taking off.
 * After getting off the Little Bird and running to the artillery trucks, Hornet Two-One's (the AH-6J Little Bird attacking enemy troops) minigun barrels don't spin while firing of revving as they should.
 * In the courtyard just before entering the gulag, it is possible to find an enemy soldier with the same character model as an OpFor sniper, but in winter camouflage.
 * Once you touch down, there will be RPG-7s scattered around the landing zone.
 * In the area in front of the gulag, there is a gallows complete with with stairs and a trap door, however, there is no noose on the rope. The player can climb onto the platform.

Inside The Prison

 * In the armory, there is an M93 Raffica. This is rare to find in Modern Warfare 2.
 * As with any single-player and Spec Ops mission, regardless of whether the player picks up another undamaged riot shield in this mission to replace a bullet-damaged one, they'll still end up with a damaged riot shield. Also, if the player dies with a damaged riot shield that was damaged before the last checkpoint, the riot shield will be completely undamaged upon respawning.
 * If the player runs ahead and reaches the armory before Soap, the room will be bare. The weapons will spawn when Soap asks "See anything you like?" Gulagshelf.PNG
 * The part where Roach and MacTavish wait for Ghost to open the cell door is similar to the part Soap, Griggs, and Price wait for Gaz to open the door in "No Fighting In The War Room", in that both Ghost and Gaz don't appear in the action and only their voices are heard at the time. It is also similar because both teams have to wait until the door is opened.
 * It is strange to note that when Ghost says about having trouble opening the doors, the player can tell that he is straining his voice, as if he were physically trying to pry the heavy, old doors open. It is strange because he is opening the doors via a computer controlling the electrical system that opens/closes them.
 * When at the armory, if the player keeps looking at MacTavish, they will see a Riot Shield spawn directly in his hand.
 * The player does not actually have to pick up a Riot Shield in the armory.
 * After the door at the armory is opened, if the player still has a Riot Shield when the player exits, MacTavish will tell them to use it to draw enemy fire. If the player dropped it before exiting the armory, MacTavish will say he'll draw their fire and tells the player to take out the enemies.
 * If the player gets the M93 Raffica, and then rappels down, the player will have 3 hands, 2 with the M93's, and 1 on the rope.
 * Occasionally, a glitch will occur when MacTavish gives the order to pick up a riot shield: one of the non-Soap NPCs will pick up a riot shield but will have their weapon poking through the shield, similar to the multiplayer glitch involving changing to a class with a riot shield and mounting a mini-gun.
 * Soap will swap out his M4A1 for a MP5K after picking up the Riot shield, just like enemies that use the riot shield will use one.
 * Oddly, there are no other prisoners in the entire Gulag other than #627.
 * This map is also used as a level for the Special Ops mission Breach & Clear.

Lower levels

 * When the player activates night vision, Task Force 141 troops will have laser pointers on their MP5k's. If the player kills one and takes his MP5k, there will be no laser.
 * Debris in the lower areas (especially around the shower room) may cause dropped weapons to be unobtainable, as the weapons fall inside the geometry of the debris.
 * When the Navy bomb the Gulag after abseiling down, all Riot Shields will disappear.
 * Before breaching the shower room, if the player goes to the door next to it, Soap will say, "Roach forget that door, plant the breaching charge over here." Just standing around will cause him to yell at the player to put the charge on the wall.
 * When breaching the shower room, there is a scripted Russian stood at the wall who will fly backwards. There is also always another Russian to the left of him. Shooting the Russian in the air will do nothing, as he is already dead, but if the player shoots the Russian to his left, the slow motion will end.
 * If the player shoots the Russian in the air, as depicted above, the bullets will go right through him.

Escape

 * If you manage to knife Price right before he punches Roach in the face, you will get the message: "Friendly fire will not be tolerated" and the player has to start from the last checkpoint again.
 * No matter how many Task Force 141 members are with the player and MacTavish before they breach the final wall, it will always be Worm only after breaching. Even if Worm is not with the player, he will always appear eventually.
 * When Price calls MacTavish by his nickname, "Soap", Worm asks "Who's Soap?"; apparently MacTavish never told the other soldiers his nickname.
 * The above could also be a reference to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, when Price says "What the Hell kind of name is Soap anyways?"
 * If the player runs far ahead of the TF141 soldiers at the end of the level and breaches while the others are still by the shower room area, the room where Price is in will not be loaded yet and after breaching the wall, the player will just fall out of the gulag without encountering Price, requiring the player to restart the level as the Task Force need to be close before they get to the final breach.
 * Sometimes there's a soldier that looks like Worm but has a random name. However, after the breaching and Price knocks the player down, the soldier's name will always be Worm.
 * If the player sprints to the end of the 2nd 'segment' of the Shower Room directly after clearing the 1st and throws a flashbang at the soldiers with riot shields the instant they come out, he/she would be able to jump over the stunned Russians and sprint into the hole in the ground without firing another round.
 * If the player runs past the Shower Room and through the hole in the floor, leaving the rest of the Task Force 141 members behind (including Soap), Soap will still appear near Price when the room is breached, despite being far behind.
 * The Riot Shield is nearly ineffective after breaching the last wall. The breach mechanic forces the player to use a gun, and prevents the riot shield from being raised against Price. The shield also does not protect against any of the falling debris, especially when scripted to knock Roach out.
 * Although nearly all of the Russian troops in the Gulag are wearing cold-weather gear, the soldier that Captain Price is strangling is wearing the urban camouflage that the Russian troops invading the United States wear.
 * Regardless of how much the player shoots the guard that Price is strangling, he will remain alive until Price finishes strangling him and throws him towards the player.
 * When Price is strangling the Russian soldier, if the player attempts to stab Price at the last moment, he/she will be able to see their gun for a second when they are knocked down.
 * Price holds a rifle to the player's face before the reunion. When he's given the pistol, the rifle suddenly hangs off his arm. This may be due to the fact the game engine does not render weapon slings.
 * Pricesoapgulag.png leaving the Gulag, if the player looks down towards Price when attaching on, one would notice he latches on to nothing, nor did he have a harness to latch with.
 * Soap apparently pulls the M1911 he gives back to Price out of nowhere, as he can be seen with an M9 in his thigh holster throughout the level. It is possible that the pistol was hidden away by Soap.
 * Oddly, after Price strangles the Russian soldier, if the player looks around the room after he knocks them to the ground, the Russian is nowhere to be found.
 * If the player goes to the second extraction point (the room that TF141 are extracted in), some rocks will fall on Roach and then Price will move the rocks away from Roach to allow him to see the falling SPIE rig. However, no matter where the player is in the room when the rocks start falling, the player will always teleport to the exact same position to be rescued by Price because the position that is used is a good view of Soap and the SPIE. This is also humorous, as that if the player goes somewhere else, when Price pulls the debris off, it is the fact that he pulled the player to the position while the rock is on his face.
 * During the Reveal Trailer, Ghost is the placeholder or was to be in Prisoner 627 (Cpt. Price)'s position on the SPIE rig. Ghost was featured in the trailer as the soldier running on the left of the squad in the tunnel, before Price was put in that spot. Also, Ghost is seen carrying an AK-47 just like Price does as they leave the tunnels.
 * It is possible to take a shortcut at the end of the level by running straight to the 2nd extraction point.
 * After the player leaves with Captain Price, an enemy will spawn behind the team if the player follows them to the end of the hallway. The enemy is unarmed and seems wounded. He won't spawn if the player waits by the fork instead of following everyone down the hallway. If he survives the falling rocks, he walks forward and sits down.
 * The dazed enemy moves like the wounded Army Rangers in "Of Their Own Accord".
 * Together with The Only Easy Day... Was Yesterday, this is the only mission that Soap will say something like "Roach is down!" or "Roach!" when the player is killed. He only does this because he is scripted to do so when Roach is knocked out by the fallen debris.
 * No matter where the player stands, the scraps will always hit them.
 * It is unknown where the other Task Force 141 soldiers go when Soap, Roach and Worm go down in hole in the locker room.
 * If the player switches night vision goggles on right before Roach is hit by debris and Soap fires the flare, the player cannot turn them off and must complete the mission with them on.
 * No matter where the player is crushed from debris in the cafeteria he will always move to the same position when Price removes the debris.
 * When the team is waiting for the SPIE rig, Worm pushes Soap's head out of the way of falling debris.
 * If the player doesn't hook onto the SPIE rig, Soap, Price, and Worm will leave Roach behind and he will die.
 * The explosion at the end of the level is likely caused by the bomb in the final room the player left before the SPIE rig was dropped to rescue everyone. The same bomb penetrated through the floors above, making the SPIE extraction possible.
 * The bomb in the final room seems to be a UXO; UXO's are known to explode with any slight movement, sound or spark, killing everyone in the immediate blast radius. Soap seems oblivious to this fact as he fires an illumination round right on top of the bomb. It is not known if the bomb is fused but most likely it is fused as it was dropped from an unidentified plane.
 * It is unknown how Ghost managed to escape the gulag. He most likely backtracked to the team's insertion point in the courtyard and was picked up by a helicopter.
 * The player doesn't have to hook up on the SPIE rig until the last second. Waiting until Soap starts moving means that the player will skip the hooking animation and fly upwards without being connected to the rope.
 * It is possible that Worm is killed by the explosion as Roach is likely burned from the explosion and Worm, being below him, is unlikely to still be alive although either way his body would be extracted by the SPIE rig. He does not appear again, but has not been confirmed to be killed.
 * It may seem strange that the military is shelling/bombing the gulag when they believe that there are prisoners (especially a prisoner they are trying to rescue) inside. However, the gulag is a substantial enemy stronghold which would need to be taken out as part of an invasion. The Navy is unlikely to trust a small force like TF141 to take out and occupy the whole facility alone, and would want to eliminate the building to continue their assault. Shepherd does indeed mention that 'one man in a gulag doesn't mean much to the Navy at this point'.

Miscellaneous

 * Especially in regards to the interior of the level, the gulag appears to be designed like a classic panopticon style facility.
 * The Special Ops mission "Breach & Clear" is based on the shower rooms.
 * This is the last level in which Roach and Soap are seen fighting together. Thereafter, Soap only speaks to the player over the comms in "Contingency" and goes with Price to Afghanistan in "Loose Ends." After those missions, the player will control Soap.
 * It has been noted as strange that Shepherd would expend resources to extract Price, given his (Shepherd's) betrayal of Task Force 141 in "Loose Ends".
 * This is the first (and technically only) time that Soap and John Price Price are seen together on screen. In "Loose Ends " Price and Soap are only heard over the comms, and in the following levels the player plays as Soap.
 * It appears that Soap did not know that Price was Prisoner 627, as he asks in a questioning tone if it really was Price. This is odd, as it makes it seem that a full-scale attack was waged to save an unknown man. However, Shepherd did not know Price was Prisoner #627 either, but he did know that the the Russians wanted to keep him, which means that Shepherd wanted him back.
 * It is evident that none of them are aware Price is Prisoner 627 because during various cutscenes they mention "hanging him from a tree" and using him as "meat" to draw Makarov out. They apparently believe Prisoner 627 is a nobody or possibly dangerous terrorist/criminal of no importance to them other than to get Makarov's attention. If the Task Force had been aware that the Prisoner was Price, then it is possible that they would not have been so ready to extract him purely to use as bait.
 * Although Soap stated that the Gulag was "filled with living casualties of the last war," Price appears to be the only prisoner in the entire facility, as all the other cells have no prisoners in them. Most likely, the guards in the facility killed them all, believing that the attack was an attempt to rescue a POW inside, but were uncertain as to which, this is supported by the fact there are bloodstains in some of the cells. Although it doesn't explain where their bodies are, it explains why Price is seen attacking a Russian guard upon breaching his cell. Strangely, though, if this logic is followed, then Price should have been executed as well. (Maybe that's where the Russian Price strangles comes from.)
 * After the F-15s strike the Gulag too close to the helicopter and MacTavish tells Shepherd to have the fighters cease fire, Shepherd says that "One man in a gulag doesn't mean much to the Navy at this point." However, the U.S. Navy does not fly F-15s: only the Air Force does. Furthermore, the F-15 is not capable of carrier catapult launches. The only way this would be possible is if a U.S. Air Base in the Pacific Region scrambled the jets, which is actually quite possible because the Kamchatka Peninsula (where the Gulag is located) is well within range of Yokota Air Base in Japan. As for why Shepherd only refers to the Navy, it may be because the Navy was overseeing the operation, even if the Air Force was involved as well.
 * The F-15 pilots incorrectly say "Good tone, Good tone. Fox 3, Fox 3," when they fire the HARM air-to-ground missiles. Both of these sayings are incorrect. "Good tone" is used by NATO pilots only when firing AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking air-to-air missiles, referring to the tone that sounds in the pilot's headset indicating that the missile has a lock. Similarly, "Fox 3" is used by NATO pilots only when firing active radar-guided air-to-air missiles, which would imply that the pilots had fired AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles. The correct brevity code for firing HARMs would be "Magnum".
 * The F-15's at the beginning of the level have the Jolly Roger insignia on the vertical stabilizer. This is the insignia for VFA-103 a Navy carrier based squadron which flies F/A-18F Super Hornets, Not F-15's
 * On the F-15's is the abbreviation IW4, which could be a reference to Modern Warfare 2 being Infinity Ward's fourth game or possible reference to Modern Warfare 2's game engine, IW 4.0.
 * Almost all the Task Force 141 troops will have MP5Ks.
 * There is a SPAS-12 in this mission that has snow camouflage and an alternate firing sound, much like the M1014's.
 * This mission features the rare White Tape Camouflage, only on the French FAMAS
 * Soap seems to carry a lot of weapons in this level. In the beginning on the Little Bird, he starts off with the M14 EBR. When they land, he is seen with an M4A1 Grenadier with a Red Dot Sight and Arctic Camouflage. When they reach the armory, he grabs the Riot Shield and the MP5K. And when they escape from the gulag, at first he has an M4A1 with no attachments, but when he fires the flare, it suddenly changes to a M4A1 Grenadier with an ACOG sight.
 * Soap appears to be wearing field pants patterned in Crye MultiCam. This type of camouflage has used frequently used by the British and New Zealand SAS in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 * The SPAS-12 is used extensively by enemy troops before the showers and the M1014 is used frequently by enemies in the shower rooms.
 * In the armory the player can find two sets of akimbo M9 pistols. This is one of the few times that akimbo weapons are available in the single player campaign.
 * During the armory part, the player doesn't have to take a Riot Shield, any weapons can be grabbed. It will be tough to survive, but is possible. MacTavish may also start telling Roach to pick up a Riot Shield until the door is opened.
 * In the beginning approach, the title "IW4" can be seen on one of the F-15s passing by the helicopter.
 * This is the only level that the player spawns with a sniper rifle that is not silenced.
 * This level contains a glitch. Before the entrance to the Gulag, where two guards go up to the stair, jump on the railing and look at where the direction of the door on the staircase, then jump. It will say: Press "X "to jump for PS3, Press "A" to jump for Xbox 360, Press "space" to jump for the PC on the roof press it and the player will suddenly go up the roof. There is an enemy ammo crate where the player just goes through and he can go to a different roof beside the one he jumped on.
 * In the end where Price is strangling the Russian he is strangling him with the cuffs that are locked on both his hands but as he gets close to Roach he hits him with his right hand by stretching it quite further from the left hand which would be impossible because his cuffs are not that long.
 * Originally there was going to be a multiplayer map called "Gulag" based off this level.
 * In the Japanese version of the game, the level was renamed "収容者#627" ("Prisoner #627") instead of using the Japanese for gulag ("グラグ").
 * This is the only level where all three types of Ultranationalists(snow, Makarov's Ultranationalists and urban camouflage Ultranationalists) appear