One Shot, One Kill

''This is about the level in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. For the bonus in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, see One-Shot Kill.''

"Nice Shot. I think you blew off his arm. Shock and blood loss will do the rest."

- Captain MacMillan, after the player snipes Imran Zakhaev

One Shot, One Kill is the fourteenth level of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. This is part two of the flashback of one of Captain Price's earlier missions. He and Captain MacMillan must escape to the extraction point.

Synopsis
Lt. Price and Cpt. MacMillan patiently wait on the top floor of the hotel with a Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle. While the assassination target, Imran Zakhaev, is attempting to sell Uranium to Russian Ultranationalists. Lt. Price takes the shot and dismembers Zakhaev's left arm, but MacMillan states "Shock and blood loss will take care of the rest." Their cover is blown when an enemy helicopter returns fire, the two rappel down the side of the hotel as the top floor collapses and continue to escape to the extraction point. They fight through Ultranationalist forces and attempt to lose them through apartment buildings. They are then spotted by another helicopter and they manage to shoot it down, but it crashes toward Price and MacMillan. MacMillan sprains his ankle and is unable to walk, so Lt. Price must carry him to the landing zone. When they arrive at the extraction point and wait for the chopper to arrive, waves of Ultranationalists retaliate. They hold off until the chopper arrives, then Lt. Price and Captain MacMillan are lifted to safety. The fate of Captain MacMillan is left unknown. However, in Staff Sergeant Griggs’ rap in the end credits, he says “This one’s for MacMillan, fifteen years you have relaxin'”, suggesting that MacMillan may have retired.

Walkthrough
The best bet is to shoot when the wind dies down as Captain MacMillan suggests. This chance presents itself at the very end of the meeting. Shoot when MacMillan panics, saying "It's now or never! Take the shot!". If you see the shot going too wide, try to correct the mistake and fire again. Keep shooting! Also, try to aim for the chest. If you aim for his head, you'll miss and hit the man behind him in the leg.

After you take out Zakaev a helicopter will hover in front of you. Shoot the pilot with your sniper rifle (he's an easy shot) through the glass of his windshield. Firing like crazy is an option if you get frustrated, and does work on the lower difficulties. After killing the pilot (and thereby the helicopter), get off the sniper rifle and start following MacMillan.

Too bad that your cover's now been blown! You need to get on the rope to rappel out of the hotel. From here, follow MacMillan until he reaches a road. All hell breaks loose here as waves of enemies on high alert enter the fight. Use your M21 right away and hopefully take most of them out before they get cover. If you can find a G3 from a dead enemy switch out your pistol for it, as the G3 and M21 share the same ammo type so you may get doubled ammo. If they get cover, either camp them with your sniper or run up to them with your pistol/other automatic weapon and shoot/melee them at close range.

When MacMillan tells you to bolt, sprint like crazy, using your compass to guide you to the apartment. Follow MacMillan as he weaves his way through the apartment. You will have to kill the dog outside the fence between the apartment blocks or it will come running after you.

Stop like MacMillan when you see the enemies outside. Switch to the Claymores and head over to the end of the room. Here there is the door outside; plant the Claymore and sprint back to MacMillan. After the Claymore goes off, run outside and follow MacMillan to an alleyway of sorts.

MacMillan will halt and the two of you will start to fire at the guards coming at the end of the alley. Just switch to your automatic weapon and take them out. Soon a helicopter will appear over the apartments and it starts to charge at you. Switch to your sniper rifle and start unloading bullets into its windshield; you don't get points for accuracy, but sooner or later you'll hit the pilot.

As the helicopter crashes to the ground it wounds Cpt. MacMillan and he can't walk, so you're going to have to carry him. Pick up the injured MacMillan and start walking. Your time should be about seventeen minutes left, but you have plenty of time, so no worries.

With MacMillan in your arms, head west to an alleyway. Drop MacMillan off at the busted car near the stairs and quickly get your sniper rifle out. If you're fast enough, you should be able to snipe the three hostiles running to you from the west. If not, use frags/automatic fire to kill them.

Three enemies will also engage you from the east, making this a two-front battle. Stay behind the staircase or the house wall for cover. When you're done with the troops on the west side, start with the ones on the east side. One should be an easy shot between the staircase and the house; the other is in the brush near a broken car; and the last is hidden in the corner to the left.

Pick up MacMillan and use the yellow indicator to guide you in the right direction down the alley. Instead of trying to kill the two enemies in sight out of the alley, opt to run through the brush and make a mad dash for the apartment.

Take the right doorway and use the debris slope to ascend to the second level. From here, make your way south to the other side of the building. When you get to the middle stairwell and MacMillan asks you to put him down, do so by the door (he can shoot through it) and enter the room.

Just stand still at the doorway and wait until a dog at the far end of the room starts to growl. Down him and try to take the door on the right. Some firing and growling will follow, so make your way back to the first doorway (where MacMillan is at) and shoot the second dog.

Continue infiltrating the base by playing this cat-and-mouse game. There should be one hostile and one dog left. MacMillan will give the "all clear." Run back, pick him up and head to the south part of the building. Exit and head southwest to another building.

Take the right door and go through the locker room/bathroom. Once you reach the pool, you have a couple of options on what to do with the dogs:


 * 1) If you put MacMillan by the side of the pool (not in the pool), the dogs will run outside and kill the two guards there.
 * 2) If you just head outside and pass by the dogs, later, in the beginning of the sniping part, the dogs will run out and attack the incoming enemies. You can use the second option to get a few quick kills as the dogs distract the enemies who are looking for you and kill some of them.

Place MacMillan in the center of the area in front of the wheel and place your last Claymores and put the C4 at the corner of the pool (you will receive MacMillan's equipment and finally get double Claymore and double C4). Claymore the up the area, plugging up the open spaces between the cars.

Run over to the Ferris wheel and you'll learn that a helicopter is coming "soon." It is not really "soon," as you have to wait for what seems like an eternity. Follow the yellow indicator and drop MacMillan off at the yellow glowing area. Claymore again, but put one in front of the door on the right (all whole group will be blown up when they open the door, you will find a laptop in it). In addition, keep a few Claymores and position them on the stairs going up to the Ferris wheel. But the most important is to use the cars as exploding devices.

Go prone at the top of the Ferris wheel and wait for the enemy. Take the first group with your planted C4. This is a long and extremely difficult fight, especially if you are not prepared with Claymores and aren't a good shot with the sniper rifle. Luckily the Claymores should hold off the enemy troops for quite a while from getting too close.

Basically this place is sniper heaven. Snipe and snipe and then snipe again. Kill as many as you possibly can. Inevitably they will start to get through and sometimes go around the Ferris wheel and try to attack you from behind - if that happens quickly switch to your secondary weapon and dispose of them. Another strategy used is to position yourself at the edge of the map at the bumper cars, as they can only come at you from one angle - the Ferris Wheel. Don't worry, the Russians can't see MacMillan. Other than that, snipe, snipe, snipe, and you should be good to go. If the going starts to get especially rough, throw a few flashbangs to buy you some time. The rails around the entrance to the Ferris wheel and the Ferris wheel car itself will provide excellent cover. If you are about to die hide behind the Ferris wheel car for a few seconds to regain your health.

Or, if you aren't the best sniper, and are playing on hardened or veteran, a good tactic is to place all of your Claymores and C4 around the bumper cars, retreat behind the bumper cars and aim toward the Ferris wheel with an AK or G3.

After the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter arrives, kill anyone in the ticket booth near the Ferris wheel and sprint on over to MacMillan and carry him. Luckily some of your allies will help you by consolidating the helicopter location with troops, so run over to the helicopter as fast as you can, using the booth as cover. When you're inside just fire at enemy troops a little more and the mission ends as you fly away.

Tips

 * When attempting to kill Imran Zakhaev, wait until he raises his arms in frustration (after the first helicopter pass), in a second the wind will drop which is the best time to shoot him.
 * If the wind is blowing completely left (the flag is perpendicular to you and blowing left), then put the dot on the horizontal line that is furthest to the left on Zakhaev's head and vice-versa for if the wind is blowing completely right, and you will get a direct headshot (although you will still only hit his arm.)
 * Only shoot the enemies you need to kill to allow you to get to the next stage.
 * When at the last part of the mission, put Captain MacMillan where he tells you to and go to the nearest booth to your left. It is pink with one window and a door. There is a small ledge on the side. Go prone under that and stay there until help arrives. All explosions will not affect you if you go all the way in. This tip will work on any difficulty. Confirmed for Xbox 360. It can work on PC, with some occations being immune, others times, not so much.
 * There is a trick allowing you to use your claymores and C4s twice in the final part where you have to survive until the helicopter arrives.When MacMillan tells you to put him down behind the Ferris wheel,put him down anywhere but the Ferris wheel and set out your explosives.After you set them up,put MacMillan in his spot and you will have 10 claymores and 3 C4s again allowing you to set up twice as many explosives.
 * Remember to place MacMillan in a good tactical position to give backup.
 * When at the Ferris wheel, allow Captain MacMillan to cover his side and you cover the other side.
 * Many enemies funnel up the stairs to the Ferris wheel. Make sure they aren't the ones who kill you.
 * The best tactic for Veteran difficulty is to plant all your C4 on the rise behind the Ferris Wheel (because many enemies go prone there and they are hard to see because of the grass), hide behind the bumper car ride, and when the helicopter arrives detonate the C4 and sprint to MacMillan. Before picking him up throw a flashbang to your right to blind any enemies attacking you from the Ferris Wheel. Also, be sure not to plant any claymores too close to the C4 blocks, because when they go off they will take the C4 with them.
 * One easy way to get through this level is hide behind the tree on the right of Macmillan, you can dodge a lot of gunshots there since the tree is thick enough, occasionally there will be one or two guys climbing up the stairs of the ferris wheel or approach from your far right side , but only one at a time, so it's fairly easy, just watch out for any grenades they don't often throw at you.
 * Another easy way to get through the end of the level, is to grab the AK-47 by the car directly in front of where you set down MacMillan, plant C4's and claymores around the ticket booth, hide as far back as you can in the corner in there, go prone, and keep your AK-47 aimed at the door. Close-by grenades (like at the doorway) won't kill you and some rare grenades that make inside will be easy to throw back. Just sit back and relax until the helicopter comes. About a third the time you are blinded by a flashbang an enemy may attack, but, if you keep your gun pointed out the door, you can easy shoot them, and Xbox-360 players may get the Daredevil achievement if an enemy is killed while blinded.
 * After placing Captain MacMillan behind the ferris wheel, a good place to hide (for Veteran difficulty) is in the opposite corner of the map, where you can crouch in a corner behind an apartment building. It is inadvisable to stay there for too long, as you could easily become surrounded, or trapped by grenades. When you get a good opportunity, run towards an alley next to the building with the pool. This alley is where the enemy would normally spawn, but they won't as long as you're there; they'll spawn from other places. This alley is a great place to take cover, as the enemy can only attack you from one direction, and MacMillan will kill a lot of enemies before they come to close to you.
 * If you do use the above tip, make sure you can get to MacMillan in time, as you will be very far from him. When the helicopter comes within 1000 meters, it's time to get moving. Stay cautious, as the last checkpoint was when the helicopter was around 6000 meters away, but don't be afraid to rush towards MacMillan. Once you've picked up MacMillan, your team should be able to hold off any enemy fire, and the mission should be complete.
 * If using the two tips directly above, it's important to note that it is possible to only move when the helicopter starts to hover above ground before landing, as this is when there is the least amount of enemies, but take caution the helicopter pilot means 30 seconds and they leave, with or without you. If you plan to hide in the alleyway behind the pool, be sure to have an AK-47 and an itchy trigger finger as enemies will know where you are and try to rush you. Place your C4 around the enemy spawn point and on some cars around this area and when you begin to go back for MacMillan after the heli arrives, blow it all to hell. This is handy for buying time and killing anything chasing you as you sprint for MacMIllan. If done with PERFECT timing you arrive in the helicopter right as it is trying to leave without you. Although this method is risky and not prefered, it is VERY funny to attempt with the combination of the heli-pilot's dialogue and drastic reduction of difficulty in the final stretch of the mission.
 * If you stay back in the alley for too long after the helicopter arrives, you may not be able to retrieve MacMillan in time to get to the helicopter before it leaves.
 * There is one glitch confirmed on the Xbox 360 that if you get behind Capt. MacMillan. Before he scoots back from when you dropped him by the Ferris wheel you can no clip inside of him. the enemies will run up on you and they can still kill you but for a moment they will be clueless as to where you are therefore you can kill them when they get near you.

Enemy Intelligence

 * Laptop 22 is located, like Laptop 21, at the top of a fire escape. It is after the building where you have to sweep the three rooms for enemies. When you exit, immediately turn right and there will be a ladder.
 * Laptop 23 As soon as you drop Captain Macmillan and plant your claymores, stand in front of the place where enemies pour out, when Macmillan says “tangos in sight”, wait until you hear gunfire behind you and rush forward and take a right to find an opened door. The intel is in there, no waiting for helicopters required. The fastest and safest way is to drop MacMillan when you drop down from the pool at the end of the level and throw your C4 around the alley behind you place MacMillan behind the Ferris Wheel and head back over towards where you placed your C4, once he says "Tangos in sight" turn around and head for the door it will be open immediately with only two or three enemies to deal with.

Xbox 360 Achievements

 * Piggyback Ride is obtained by successfully completing this mission on any difficulty.


 * The Shot is obtained by successfully completing this and "All Ghillied Up" on Veteran difficulty.

Gameplay footage compilation
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Transcript
See One Shot, One Kill/Transcript

Trivia

 * You can destroy the helicopter before you kill Zakhaev.
 * Rarely, the helicopter that lands on MacMillan will be frozen in mid-air moments before hitting the ground. After a few seconds, the game will blackout. The only known way to fix this is to unplug the PC/Console, and replug it in.
 * The helicopter that picks you up is labeled "Marines."
 * The area of the nuclear power plant where Zakhaev's meeting takes place is actually several kilometers away from the town of Pripyat.800px-Pripyat01.jpg
 * No matter which of the Mi-28s operators is shot, the helicopter will always go down, even though the pilot is seated higher up, while the gunner is seated lower.
 * If you complete All Ghillied Up and swap out your pistol or M21 for a RPD, G3 or Dragunov (before starting this mission, it (they) will be carried over. For other weapons though (Stinger missiles, G36C, P90) it would be changed to an AK-47 instead.
 * The silencer and ghillie cover from the player's M21 has been removed since the last mission. However, if you start the mission with the pistol it will still have the silencer on it.
 * This level seems to take place about three days after "All Ghillied Up", as you see time "fly by" during the cut scene.This seems highly dangerous considering that staying to much time in pripyat will cause you to be irradiated
 * The dogs in the empty swimming pool in the building on the way to the fairground will attack enemies during your defense of the fairground as long as you do not enter the pool before calling for pickup.
 * 'One Shot One Kill' is the motto of the U.S. Army Sniper School.
 * The M82 has a double bipod. The normal in the folded position with the second holding the rifle up.
 * When sniping Zakhaev, even with a clean head-shot, the bullet will still rip off his arm.
 * On Game Over, Zakhaev wears the same suit that he wore during the negotiation. He always seems to wear this outfit of a pale brown battle jacket, green work shirt, bivouac pants and combat boots.
 * If you look into the CH-46 Sea Knight, you'll see that there is no pilot.
 * In the apartment complex where you clear the room of enemy troops and dogs, if you toss a grenade, MacMillan will shift himself away from it.
 * At the end of the mission, when the helicopter is waiting for you to get in, it will take off and leave you and MacMillan stranded if you take too long.
 * If you try to board the Sea Knight without carrying MacMillan with you and the time expires, you will clip through the floor of the chopper when it takes off.
 * If you run to the helicopter without MacMillan, one of the SAS troopers will shout at you, "Where's MacMillan?!"
 * There is a claymore placed by the door in the hotel room at the beginning of the mission, presumably by MacMillan or Price as you cannot set it off.
 * There is another flag on top of the building behind where Zakhaev is having the meeting, however, it just blows in one direction. This may be because it is higher up, and wind speeds sometimes differ at different altitudes. However, it is unknown why this does not affect the shot, as Price fired from a very high altitude.
 * The vehicle Zakhaev gets out of never has anyone in the backseat, even when driving up to the meeting point, which means he spawns behind it. If you miss your shot and alert the Ultranationalists, Zakhaev goes back into the vehicle and there is still no one in the back seat as it drives away.
 * If you play your cards right, you can shoot through Zakhaev and also kill the soldier behind him by the car as well as the man in front of him who opens the breifcase. If you have the "bad year" cheat on for the Xbox 360 and the PS3 the soldier explodes into tires but Zakhaev does not.
 * The player does not actually have to shoot the helicopter that breaks MacMillan's leg to bring it down. Macmillan will do it on his own.
 * Even though MacMillan notes multiple variables that would affect the shot, such as the Coriolis effect, the only variable that actually takes effect is wind. Though the Coriolis effect does actually come into play with longer shots, it would barely come into effect here.
 * If you glitch outside of the map using the 'noclip' cheat, if the player flies over to the place where Zakhaev is shot, you can see Zakhaev is frozen but his blood keeps spraying, and 2 enemies which will not shoot you on sight, but you can kill them.
 * On the Xbox 360, you can glitch out of the level . If you look closely at Zakhaev's dead body, you can see that he spawned grenades when he "died" just like any other enemy. However, you cannot pick up the grenades. You can also see his severed arm laying on the ground. If you are playing on HD, you can see the brand of suit Zakhaev is wearing by looking closely at the buttons.
 * If you glitch out of the map by using either of the ways above, you can travel to places at the beginning of the level and the end of the previous level. If you go there, you can die of radiation if you aren't careful enough.
 * When sniping with the M82 if you look behind the target area you can see part of the multiplayer map Pipeline.
 * When Macmillan orders you to snipe the helicopter, if you don't have a sniper rifle you will pull out a M21 and use it for the rest of the level. This also happens when he tells you to plant claymores.
 * When you get near the pool before the ferris wheel and press start, the dogs at the bottom of the pool are painted as allies on the HUD, like Cpt. MacMillan. These dogs will not attack you, unless you jump into the pool.
 * It is impossible to shoot down the Mi-8s that appear near the end of the level, even with an RPG (except on the Wii version of the game).
 * There is a writing on the tail of attack helicopter, that blocks the players view. The writing reads "Горячий цыплёнок" (Hot chicken), possibly the callsign of the chopper. This is also a pun because helicopters are sometimes called 'birds,' and when you shoot the window, the attack helicopter starts burning.
 * If you stare at the fence behind you when the enemy helicopter crashes, you can see that it is closed with a gate. Do not take your eyes off of it and head backwards to pick up Captain MacMillan. The game will then forcefully make you face MacMillan and now when you get back to the fence the gate is magically gone.
 * A comment above says Price and Macmillan spent 3 days in Pripyat since the time flies by. If this is true, Price and Macmillan will have minor radiation posioning since the maximum time someone can spend in Pripyat without being affected by radiation is 3 days.
 * When you put Macmillan down in the helicopter, he makes the same gesture (holding his knee in pain) as the Cobra pilot in Shock and Awe.
 * If the player curves the bullet around the car and hits Zakhaev he will do a squirm/crawl movement until he's behind the crates.
 * When going through the apartment doors they have no doorknobs but MacMillian still opens them as if they had doorknobs.
 * The fairground is based on an actual fairground which was scheduled to open on May 1, 1986 but never did due to the explosion.
 * If you immeadiately zoom your scope back out after you have shot Zakheav and watch the warehouse on the left, the helicopter that you will have to shoot down will sometimes fly through the building as it is not a physical object in the game.
 * It is unknown how Macmillan and Price obtained the M82 as it was not seen strapped to Macmillan in All Ghillied Up and it is unlikely Price could do some of the things he did in the previous level with an M82 strapped to his back. But it is possible it was disassmbled and they both carried half the weight and reassembled it there.
 * It is odd that the power plant at the start seems so close, because the plant is 2.06 miles away from the hotel where the two observe the exchange.
 * In the apartment building next to the fair grounds there is a swimming pool with 6 dogs eating a dead russian.
 * This is the only mission in any Call of Duty (indeed the only time at all in Call of Duty) In which multiple factors for sniping are taken into account. Bullet travel time, windspeed and wind direction.
 * If you look closely, Macmillan was never hit by the helicopter, but was still injured.