Project Nova

"URA!"

- Viktor Reznov just before the fighting

Project Nova is a single player flashback level that details the events that led up to Viktor Reznov being incarcerated in Vorkuta.

Summary
The mission setting is in 1945, picking up right off from the end of Call of Duty: World at War. The player assumes the role of Viktor Reznov as he confronts Doctor Steiner who has defected from Nazi Germany. Dimitri Petrenko (The Russian player character from World at War) is also a main character in this mission. The Russian forces (including Kravtchenko, Dragovich, Reznov and Dimitri) look for Dr. Steiner, the Nazi Scientist defector, and the biological weapon called Nova 6 in a Nazi compound after World War II. After the Russian forces get to Steiner, the Nazi defector leads the men to an abandoned ship, where they find the Nova gas. Dragovich, wanting to see it's effects, subjects Dimitri and most of the Russian expedition to it, killing them all and sparing only three, including Reznov and another soldier named Nevski, who escape when the door to the gas chamber is blown open by a rocket launcher that came from the assaulting SAS. After the men escape the room they were put in, they fight against both Russian and British forces trying to obtain the gas. Reznov and Nevski activate bombs previously planted on V2 rockets stored in the ruined ship's cargo bay, destroying most of the original Nazi Nova Gas.

Trivia
Also in every building but one, the windows can break
 * There is a glitch at the beginning of the level. After beginning to head downhill, a large ditch is to the right. If the player dives to prone into this, the message 'You were killed by your own mortar strike!' comes up.
 * When you arrive at the hill and Dragovich tells you to kill all the Germans, he and Kravchenko will run off into the distance and not be seen for the rest of the level. If you attempt to follow them, a warning message will pop up saying 'You are about to leave your Comrades'
 * When you get the ability to throw smoke grenades to signal for a mortar strike you will find ammo for your smoke grenades glowing on the floor, the models for these smoke grenades are actually modern day flashbangs.
 * This level uses absolutely none of the new score for Black Ops, but completely uses World at War's soundtrack. Except for the use of the track "Panthers", which was heard when Dr. Steiner was found and when the Russians began to search the vessel for Nova-6.
 * This is the first time that the player fights 3 different factions in a single level. Germany, Britain, and Russia are all enemies at one point during the level. The Germans before you find Nova-6, Russians briefly after the player escapes from the gas chamber, and British Commandos for the rest of the level.
 * This is also the first time in the series where the British are enemies.
 * This is the second time the player goes into a flashback, and assumes the role of an important character to their game. The first time is with Captain Price in Call of Duty 4 in the missions All Ghillied Up and One Shot, One Kill.
 * Numerous parts of this level, like the weapons, are from Call of Duty: World at War.
 * The events in this mission are shown to be the reason Reznov was sent to Vorkuta.
 * When the player regroups with Dragovich outside the ship, if the player looks to the right, they will see Kravchenko executing German prisoners. When Kravchenko attempts to execute the last POW, he will find that he is out of ammo, forcing him to get the knife from the Russian that's with him. Kravchenko will then proceed to slit the remaining prisoner's throat.
 * This is the only level in the game the player can use the PPSh-41, MP40, Panzershreck, Mosin Nagant STG-44, and MG42, as well as the Sten and Tokarev. Also you start the mission with RGD-33 grenades.
 * This is also one of the only times in the entire Call of Duty series where the player can use German, Russian and British weapons all in the same level.
 * All MP40s and Mosin Nagants in the level have frost on them. It is also noticeable on the MP40's pickup icon.
 * The execution scene where the Soviet soldier is shooting the surrendering Nazis and runs out of ammo when he gets to the last Nazi is likely a reference to a similar scene in the film The Pianist. In The Pianist a Nazi soldier executes Jewish labor workers deemed to be unfit to continue working and he shoots them one by one in a line and is forced to reload when he runs out of ammo when he reaches the last one in the line.
 * If the player looks closely at the Russian soldiers, they hold their guns like they have pistol grips, even though their guns lacked them, and if you look at Steiner's rifle, you can see a pistol in his hand while he's holding the rifle.
 * The Mosin Nagant scoped has no sway when you scope in.
 * The Mosin Nagant scoped is also loaded with a stripper clip.
 * When you're walking through the ship's corridors towards the end of the mission, there will be a dead German hanging from the roof. You can shoot the rope holding him, doing so will result in him falling down.
 * Near the end of the level there is a glitch. When a Russian is in hand to hand combat with a British Commando, if you shoot the Commando he won't die until they've finished fighting.
 * During the scene between Reznov and Steiner, a P-38 can be seen in Steiners hand.
 * If British Commandos go into last stand, they will use Tokarevs instead of British or Western made pistols.
 * There is a very rare glitch present on the PC version of this level which forces the player into a limited noclip mode. They can only move forward and backwards, cannot move up and down and cannot use any weapons. While this glitch is active there is no way to turn off the game, only through turning off the computer is the player able to exit the glitch.
 * There is a funny easter egg right before you enter the ship. you can see Nevski jump out of the way of a clump of snow.
 * There is a very possible reason for the murder of Dimitri and the attempted killing of Reznov. When riding in the treaded vehicles, Dimitri asks Reznov about he and Dragovich's rivalry in Stalingrad. Reznov then says they use you and not to trust them. He says this while they pass the vehicle that Dagovich and Kravchenko are sitting in. Although very improbable that they heard him, it could be possible that they did and therefore felt that Reznov and Dimitri would interfere with their plans.
 * The SAS are invincible when sliding onto the deck of the ship.
 * The PPSh-41s have regular magazines instead of the World at War drum mags.
 * It is strange that although during Vendetta Reznov mentions that he has an injured hand and so cannot use his Scoped Mosin-Nagant, in Project Nova you (playing as Reznov) are able to use one with very little idle sway. However, it is just possible that his hand has healed.
 * According to a map found in one of the buildings, the base seems to be at Baffin Island in North Canada.