Takedown (mission)

"Follow the shell."

- General Shepherd

Takedown is a level set in in Rio De Janeiro in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The objective of Task Force 141 in this level is to capture an associate of Vladimir Makarov known as Rojas, an arms dealer protected by the local militia. They first injure Faust, an associate of Rojas and continue on to capture him.

Overview
The level begins with Roach, Soap, and an American Task Force member together in a car in the streets of Rio de Janeiro. They tail a white van that makes a stop in front of a hotel. An associate of Rojas named Faust is approached by two local Gunmen from the van while he is being watched by Soap MacTavish, Roach, and other TF 141 members. Faust produces a Desert Eagle from a concealed location and kills the two gunmen at point-blank range, and a third that appears from the other side of the van. Faust takes a rifle from the one of the men he just shot and fires at the TF 141 members. Roach's driver is killed, while Roach quickly dives under the dashboard.

Faust notices Ghost, Meat and Royce on the opposite side of the street and open fires on them, causing many civilians to run away, this causes cars to also swerve and skid to avoid others causing a massive pile up at the cross roads, once the gunfire ceases, Soap runs ahead, followed by Roach and Ghost.

The three commandos chase Faust down the street and into an alleyway, where Soap instructs Roach to shoot him in the leg, after which the screen fades to black. Shortly after, the screen fades back in again to show the captured Faust being prepared for interrogation. MacTavish instructs Royce, Meat and Roach to move on and capture Rojas. The squad ends up in a residential area, where the player must distinguish between civilians and hostile militia. The area acts as a very large maze, with militiamen hiding in every nook and cranny, some even climbing on top of the low roofs and running across makeshift bridges. Meat is killed by enemy gunfire, leaving only Roach and Royce. As Roach progresses, Royce is eventually overwhelmed as the militia surround him. At one point Roach encounters an enemy machinegun nest that pins him down in an alleyway; the default weapon has an M203 attachment, allowing Roach to quickly take out the nest and advance to Rojas's stronghold.

The stronghold is a large multi-story building guarded by several militiamen on the roof. Rojas is visible at this point, with a large "capture" icon above his head. If Roach shoots even to wound him, it is a game over. Roach must pursue Rojas to the end of the level, where he runs into a building and holes himself up. Just when Roach and Ghost think he has gotten away, Soap dives out of a window, taking Rojas with him, and the two land on top of a car. Soap holds his sidearm on Rojas and reports that the target has been captured.

Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atjrKs_NWHQ

Trivia

 * The militia in the level appears to be based on local gangsters, as the city of Rio is known to have a serious criminal element. They are supposed to be armed civilians, though their political affiliation with the Ultranationalists is unknown other than that Rojas does business with Makarov.
 * The militia are mostly armed with FAL battle rifles, which are locally manufactured, though being phased out for more modern rifles. Their other weapons are imported, popular 'criminal' weapons such as the AK-47 and Mini-Uzi.
 * The nature of the slums allows for very dynamic vertical gameplay; players will need to watch enemy movement from every direction, including from behind. There are a few opportunities for sneaking up on enemies lying in wait.
 * Dogs appear briefly within the slums, they are first visible behind a wire fence. The player can easily kill them to avoid having them jump on him.
 * The chase sequences of this level are reminiscent of the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare level Sins of the Father, where you had to pursue Victor Zakhaev.
 * At the beginning scene where the two men come out to Faust, the scene comes from the Worldwide trailer.
 * In the trailer, Faust was using a Desert Eagle to kill the first two people he sees; two shots for the first guy, three for the second, and two shots to the head on the third guy that comes from behind the van in the game. He then fires eight more shots towards the player's car, killing the driver. A Desert Eagle only has a magazine clip of seven bullets, somehow he fires a total of 15 shots. The Desert Eagle could however be a M9 which would make the larger clip size more feasible as there are only 3 extra shots fired, which could easily be explained by an extended magazine.
 * Oddly enough, the driver is seen having an Australian flag on his cap while he has an American flag on his shoulder.
 * It seems you have the Marathon Perk on while you're chasing Faust, because you will have unlimited sprint. It is then removed for the rest of the level.
 * If you reach Rojas too early before he is tackled by MacTavish, the intended script and its timing can be mixed up.
 * If you fire your gun before Meat jumps down, you can scare away the civilians before Meat does.
 * The favela is actually a real place in Rio de Janeiro, it is one of the favelas in a group of favelas called Complexo do Alemão (Portuguese for German's Complex).
 * If the player looks up when they reach the favela, they can see the famous statue Christ the Redeemer, a statue of Jesus Christ, standing upon a hill far off in the distance. In Portuguese the statue is called O Cristo Redentor, which is also the name of one of the Special Ops missions.
 * The hot weather gear that Task Force 141 wears in this operation looks almost civilian, i.e denim trousers and a short sleeve t-shirt, the only parts of the clothes that are militaristic are the vest, the kneepads, and the various holsters.
 * In the area of the level where you encounter dogs, after clearing all enemies, you can look up at a window to the left and see a Brazilian civilian gesturing at you and waving you in the right direction.
 * Both Faust and Rojas are armed with AK-47s, but they will make no attempt to defend themselves with the guns.
 * Although Ghost says Rojas was carrying a duffel bag, when you see him for yourself, all he has is his rifle. He may have dropped the bag to make better speed, or was carrying the rifle in the bag to begin with.
 * When chasing Rojas, Ghost offers to "put one in his leg," similar to how Griggs offered to shoot Victor Zakhaev in the leg, in the first Modern Warfare.