Endgame

"I thought I told you this was a one-way trip!" "Looks like it still is...they'll be looking for us you know..." "Nikolai, we gotta get Soap outta here..." "Da - I know a place."

- Captain Price and Nikolai

Endgame is the eighteenth and final level in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The objective is to kill Shepherd before he can escape.

Walkthrough
The player ("Soap" MacTavish) and Price begin the level in hot pursuit of the traitor, Shepherd. The player gets into a speedboat and chases him down through the cave and down the river with him driving and Price firing away (Note that Shepard is invulnerable until the end of the mission). Along the way, Shadow Company and OpFor will be taking potshots at both the player and Shepherd respectively. Price will gun them down using his M4A1 and occasionally M203, but the player can also return fire with a Mini-Uzi while piloting the boat. On higher difficulties, the OpFor in this early stage of the level can be a real problem, especially when they use Technicals; taking them out is essential. Losing Shepherd is not difficult, as his location is marked on the player's screen. If Shepherd gets too far ahead, the player will fail the mission.

Eventually, Soap and Price will follow Shepherd through a narrow cave, and into a wide open area. Price advises Soap to "Stay clear of open areas!". This area and subsequent areas are difficult on high difficulties. To avoid dying on this part of the mission, the player should keep their distance from the right shore and enemy Zodiacs (eliminate them if necessary). Enemy Little Birds and their miniguns appear and engage the player; they cannot be shot down so they must be avoided, and are extremely deadly on the Veteran difficulty. After avoiding the first Little Bird, enemies on bridges and occasionally the shores, will fire at the player with RPG's. They should be avoided as they do a great deal of damage if they hit the player.

Eventually, Soap and Price make it to rapids. Though rough at first, the river becomes more smooth as they progress. Hostiles will still attack the player from Zodiacs, on the shores and bridges with RPG's, and Little Birds. As they go along the river, they hear Shepherd and Shadow Company talking on the radio. Moments later, Shepherd's boat boards a Pave Low, that was waiting for Shepherd in the river. Price tells Soap to steady the boat. Price fires two shots that miss, followed by a third shot that hits the Pave Low's rotor, causing it to spin out of control. Price then tells Soap to back up, but the current is too strong, and they go over a waterfall.

After a brief wait period, Soap wakes up, washed up on the shore. He picks up his knife, and walks towards some flames in the distance. Moments later, he comes upon a Shadow Company soldier crawling away from a crashed helicopter a short distance away. Soap has the ability to knife the soldier, or let him crawl and bleed to death. At the crash site, he sees another soldier is a position similar to the Last Stand position. The soldier will attempt to fire his pistol, but to his misfortune, is out of ammo. Soap can also knife this soldier or let him bleed to death.

After deciding the soldier's fate, Soap will see Shepherd stumble out of the crashed Pave Low. He will glance at Soap and then run away into the sandstorm. Soap follows him, and finds him leaning on a car.

If Soap waits a moment, Shepherd will tell Soap to go ahead and kill him, although it won't change anything. If Soap waits another moment, he says that he "Knew you [Soap] couldn't do it". He then says Soap's being a good warrior but that he couldn't take that extra step to do what was absolutely necessary.

Once Soap attempts to knife him, Shepherd will block his attack, ramming Soap's head into the car. This knocks Soap down. Shepherd draws his knife, and stabs Soap with it. Soap fades out.

Soap then hears Shepherd say, "Five years ago... I lost 30,000 men in the blink of an eye, and the world just fuckin' watched.". His vision returns to see Shepherd standing over him, loading two rounds in his .44 Magnum Revolver, while saying, "Tomorrow, there will be no shortage of volunteers, no shortage of patriots," He cocks the hammer of the pistol, "I know you understand,".

Just then, Captain Price intervenes, and is able to save Soap from execution by attacking Shepherd. After trading a few blows, Price is able to kick Shepherd's Magnum out of his hand. Soap then crawls towards the pistol, (the player needs to do this manually by using the left and right triggers/mouse buttons) in hopes of taking it and using it to kill Shepherd. Before Soap manages to get the Magnum, Shepherd knocks Price down and kicks away the pistol, which was almost within Soap's reach. He stomps on Soap's face, and Soap blacks out.

Soap wakes up to see Price and Shepherd fighting. After a few brief moments, the fight begins to turn in Shepherd's favor as he knocks Price down to the ground. While Shepherd is beating Price, Soap notices Shepherd's knife in his chest. He painfully pulls it out of his chest, (accomplished by the player by repeatedly tapping the "use" button) and successfully throws it in Shepherd's left eye, killing him.

Soap almost blacks out before Price wakes up and stumbles towards him. Price bandages Soap's wounds, and notices a Little Bird land. While Price carries Soap to the helicopter, Nikolai, the pilot of the Little Bird, comes to assist Price. He mentions that "They'll be looking for us now,". Price tells Nikolai that they "Need to get Soap of out here,". To which Nikolai replies, "I know a place."

Weapon Loadout
If the player started this level from the previous level, the player will start the mission with the weapons they had at the end of the previous level. If the player did NOT start this level from the previous level, the player will start with a Mini-Uzi and an RPD. The loadout, however, is fairly useless since as soon as you enter the Zodiac you automatically switch to the Mini-Uzi, and never use another gun for the rest of the level.

Enemy Intel(s)
Intel No. 45: Right before you get on to the boat, look left, it's on the crate (with lights shining on it). This Enemy Intel is considered to be the easiest to find throughout the game, yet it may be surprisingly easy to miss due to the hectic pace and Price urging you to get on the boat.

Trivia

 * Sometimes when the player chases Shepherd too close, and he boards the helicopter, the player will be pushed to a rock and will be unable to steer.
 * It is strange how Shepherd and Price managed to survive the fall uninjured while Soap, and 2 Shadow Company soldiers were heavily injured from the fall, though it is possible that Price was injured in the fall and it was the reason he started to lose his fight with Shepherd
 * This is the only instance in the single-player campaign that a Throwing Knife can be used. In fact, its use is mandatory to win the game.
 * No matter where the player aims at Shepherd, the knife will always hit his left eye. Like with Imran Zakhaev, no matter where the player aims, he'll shoot off his left arm.
 * When Shepherd tells Soap about the 30,000 men he lost five years ago, he is speaking about the incident in Shock and Awe, since Modern Warfare 2 takes place five years after Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
 * This is the only instance where an in-game character survives a knife wound since Modern Warfare 1, minus old school mode.
 * The multiplayer map Rust is based on this level. Notice the background when the player kills Shepherd. It isn't possible to enter it though. But if you go into spectator mode on Rust, you can clearly see a flipped Zodiac near the shore and a downed Sea Knight where Shepherd's Pave Low would have been. The crashed Sea Knight model is the exact same as the one found on Crash in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
 * The player is once again playing in a wounded state, just like the end of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. At first, walking with severe injuries, as in "Aftermath," and then playing while lying on the ground, as in "Game Over." And like the first game, Soap kills the antagonist and is saved by a Russian Loyalist in a helicopter
 * After going over the waterfall, the player's knife will become dull and worn.
 * When playing on veteran, if you crash hard into the wall of the cave, then you will fall off the boat and die. This action is not possible when on Recruit, but it is fairly possible on Regular, and quite possible on Hardened.
 * The sound of Captain Price's M4A1 blast varies in several scenes. When driving the boat, the M4A1 sounds more like a SCAR-H, and when shooting down the Pave Low it sounds more like a M14 EBR.
 * After Shepherd loads the round(s) into the cylinder, he cocks the hammer, which spins the cylinder clockwise (from the player's perspective). As he attempts to fire at Soap, the cylinder spins counter-clockwise (as if an un-cocked double action).
 * In addition, Shepherd appears to only load one round into the cylinder (though if one looks carefully his thumb makes the loading motion two times meaning that two bullets went in) as he prepares to kill Soap, after discarding empty shells. This means that unless he used a speedloader, then the gun would be empty if Soap managed to get to it (the reason for this is that he actually loads two rounds, one for Soap and one for Price).
 * If the player goes straight towards the destroyed car where Shepherd is after going off the waterfall, they can hear the clicking of a trigger in the distance, while crawling towards the .44 Magnum. This is the Glock 18 that one of the injured Shadow Company troops had in his hand.
 * If the player doesn't get close enough for Shepherd to attack him, he opens a conversation with the player. He says: "You know what they say about revenge... you better be ready to dig two graves... Go ahead and end it. It won't change anything... Hmph... I knew you couldn't do it... You're a good warrior... but you could never take that extra step... to do what was absolutely necessary."
 * The above quote is a reference to one of the many quotes that appear whenever the player dies: "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. -Confucius".
 * It is unknown where the player gets the Mini-Uzi from, though it may have been on the boat or given to him by Captain Price. However, if you start the mission directly from the main menu, it will give you an RPD and a Mini-Uzi. However, the RPD is nearly useless because you can only fire it at the beginning of the level and eventually you lose both guns.
 * "Endgame" is a synonym for the phrase "Game Over", the last level in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
 * No matter how quickly the player tries to crawl to the discarded .44 Magnum Revolver, Shepherd will always manage to kick it away.
 * The .44 Magnum is the same revolver that Shepherd is loading at the beginning of the game in "Team Player."
 * This level may have been originally called The End, as when playing this level the player's status shows: "Playing singleplayer in The End". (PlayStation Network and Xbox Live)
 * Shepherd will slam the player into the car if he's close enough to him even if he doesn't attack him.
 * Soap seems to crawl on his belly toward the .44 Magnum even though he's got a knife in his chest. One possibility is that he is crawling on his side or with his chest raised.
 * If the player takes too long to throw the knife at Shepherd, he will beat Captain Price to death.
 * When Price shoots down Shepherd's Pave Low, if you hold down the reverse button early the boat will not go down the waterfall. Shepherd's Pave Low will still crash but you will fail the mission with the message saying "Shepherd got Away".
 * You cannot throw the knife unless the crosshairs go red.
 * Captain Price's name is abbreviated as Cpt. Price in this level.
 * If the player waits while holding the knife Soap took out of his chest, they can eventually hear Soap (in a harsh and strained voice) say what sounds like to be "Shepherd".
 * If the player stands behind the barrel Shepherd is standing next to, you can swing your knife and slash the General from the other side of the barrel without engaging the battle sequence. The same sound can be heard as if you were slashing an enemy, and blood can seen spraying from Shepherd. Obviously, it is impossible to kill him this way.
 * One of the injured Shadow Company soldiers will try to shoot the player with his pistol at the crash site, but will find to his dismay that it has no rounds. He will continue to uselessly pull the trigger until the player knifes him or he bleeds to death. Another one of Shepherd's men is seen crawling away from the flaming wreckage of the chopper. The player can cut short his attempts of escaping by slashing him on the ground. You can leave both of them alone, and they will both eventually bleed out and die.
 * Shepherd's boat is forced to slow down considerably to board the Pave Low, giving the player time to catch up. If the player can reach the Pave Low before it lifts off, you will pass right through it, revealing it is not actually a solid object (or because the player isn't meant to get on the chopper anyway).
 * It is unknown how Price knew where Soap was; maybe he was separated from the crash and saw his footprints or he went to the wreckage and saw Shepherd in the distance.
 * The "Good Guys" from this mission and Just Like Old Times are all from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
 * Price's ability to shoot down the Pave Low might have been a reference to the flashback mission "One Shot, One Kill" in which he and MacMillan are running from Zakhaev's men after their attempted assassination and at one point they shoot down an attack helicopter. However, in the flashback, Lt. Price and Captain MacMillan were shooting at the Rotor, but Captain Price seems to be shooting at the engine of the Pave Low as it was turning around.
 * No matter how steady or unsteady you drive the zodiac at the end when Price is shooting the helicopter, Price will always miss the first two shots, but always get a perfect third shot.
 * When Soap is trying to kill Shepherd with his knife, you can see Soap's arms. You will be able to see that Soap is wearing a wool jacket covered with dirt and mud because of the waterfall fall.
 * During the part where the player tries to take the knife out of Soap, if he fails to tap the button named onscreen, the player dies with an unfitting message saying, "Stay clear of open areas as much as possible!" If Soap takes too long trying to kill Shepherd with the knife, the same message appears. This is probably either a mistake by Infinity Ward or because it's the default message in this level when you're injured during combat.
 * The structure of the mission is similar to that of Game Over. Instead of running away from the enemy, however, you are chasing after him, and instead of the enemy killing the survivors of the crash, the player can, though it is optional.
 * If the player listens carefully, the Pave Low pilot says, "Sandstorm at 12 o'clock; we're taking the long way 'round," which explains why he turns around.
 * The way Shepherd dies is foreshadowed in the monologue by Captain Price at the loading screen of the mission Just Like Old Times. He says "We. Will. Kill him." while a knife is analysed in his inventory.
 * This is the only level in the game in which the word "fuck" is used, in the line from Shepherd: "Five years ago, I lost 30,000 men in the blink of an eye. And the world just fuckin' watched." Cpl. Dunn gets close when he says, "Sarge, did HQ just tell us to go 'F' ourselves?" in Wolverines!. Also in Wolverines!, when the roof of the restaurant is about to be bombed, Sgt. Foley tells James Ramirez to "Get the f... off the roof!" but the actual word is blocked out.
 * Surprisingly, when Shepherd hits Soap's head on the car, his vision gets better.
 * If the player stays close to the downed helicopter, he can actually get close enough to knife Shepherd as he is running away, but the knife goes through him and doesn't affect him.
 * The player can't kill Shepherd before he reaches the car, even if you knife him.
 * When Nikolai's Little Bird comes in to evacuate Soap and Price, there isn't a pilot in it before it lands.
 * The OpFor on the bridge where Captain Price warns the player about RPGs will just stand there after firing their RPGs. The Shadow Company on the boats will still fire on them, however.
 * Just as in "The Enemy of My Enemy," the player once again fights two different enemy factions that are fighting each other.
 * Though you are fighting OpFor and Shadow Company at the same time, when chasing Shepherd through the first few caves, the OpFor tend to focus more on the player than Shepherd, meaning that the OpFor may be halfway helping Shepherd escape, this may not be possible. This could also be that A.I. tend to target the player more often than they target others.
 * The blood splatters on Soap's gloves when crawling toward the .44 Magnum are completely identical.
 * If Soap dies while driving the boat, Price dies for no reason, even though the boat is still steady with no driver. His body also levitates above water, when he dies.
 * If Soap dies, the camera may still continue the chase in a set path that could be the same that Shepherd is taking.
 * It is unknown if Nikolai is also considered a "Wanted War Criminal", as he helped Price and Soap.
 * It is also unknown where Nikolai's hiding "place" is located at. It is likely to be somewhere away from Russia and America. It is also possible he is referring to Al-Asad's safehouse from the Modern Warfare level "Safehouse". The hideout will most likely be revealed in the unannounced but imminent Modern Warfare 3.
 * After the credits are finished, there is a picture of Task Force 141. It is possible that Roach is one of the men in the picture, or possibly the one taking it.
 * After waiting through the loading screen after the player goes over the waterfall, they can restart the mission and instead be sent back to when Soap wakes up.
 * It should have been impossible for Soap to spin his knife around to throw at Shepherd because his glove has a leather on the part of his palm that he uses to spin the knife on, unless he used his fingers.
 * At the part where the river widens and the first Little Bird appears, if you go near the left bank you can see a WWII-era German truck with the army cross.
 * Using PC cheats, certain weapons can be spawned in the section after Soap goes over the waterfall, including an arctic P90. Any spawned weapons can then be used on the injured Shadow Company and Shepherd, although to no effect on the latter.
 * The sound of Captain Price ripping open a bandage packet for Soap's wound is the same as the Xfire sound of a person messaging you while ingame.
 * The player can actually pull the knife out of Soap's chest before being prompted to. While Price and Shepherd are fighting, after the player is able to see Shepherd's knife, (i.e. when Shepherd kicks Price down) they can repeatedly tap the "use" button to start pulling the knife. Even though the player can throw the knife earlier, Shepherd will still be over Price beating him like he is scipted to do so.