Cliffhanger (mission)/Trivia

Climbing

 * When the player has climbed to the top and is getting up from the cliff, Roach's shadow is visible. From this it is shown that he is wearing a boonie hat just like John "Soap" MacTavish is, however the shadow will disappear as soon as the player stands up.
 * At the start of the level it is possible to pass Soap on ice by just sliding past him.
 * No matter where the player positions themselves before the first climb or where they land on the second, they will cling onto a pre-set game path as they climb.
 * On the first jump, if the player hesitates to jump when Soap does, he will start climbing, stop and wave to Roach to jump. He will keep doing that until Roach attempts the jump.
 * When Soap tries the ice out, you can go past him. However, a barrier blocks you from moving and when he climbs the ice, you will be unintentionally pushed off to your death.
 * If Roach does not start climbing after Captain MacTavish rescues him, he will fall to his death and the quote "Hold on for dear life" appears on the screen instead of a usual death quote.
 * If the player presses the melee button while holding the ice picks both ice picks will swing, as if they were a melee weapon.
 * The player can hear Roach yelling if he falls of the mountain. This is the only time Roach's "voice" can be heard.
 * This is the first mission where Soap speaks, as well as the first one in which he appears as an NPC.

Approach

 * Should the player decide to not shoot either of the two-man guard patrols after climbing up, Soap will do it while chastising the player for not helping out, saying "I guess I have to do everything?" (a possible reference to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, where the player, as Soap, had to do almost every major action). The second time, he is a bit more agitated and replies with "This would be a lot easier if you do some of the work."
 * Should the player instead kill both guards, Soap will give his standard lines as though the player had taken them down together as normal. On other occasions he will not say anything at all, and continue as if nothing happened.
 * If the player were to go ahead of Soap and shoot one of the enemies in the second pair, and damage but not kill the other, Soap will kill him and say "This is the reason we brought silencers."
 * Soap says he will help Roach with a Thermal Scope, sniping enemies. However, his M14 EBR has the default scope attached.
 * If the player attempts to kill a guard with the USP .45, Soap will say, "That was sloppy."
 * If the player kills a guard first when Soap says "He's mine", he will reply after the player has killed him "Then again, maybe not" or "Never mind".
 * If the player reaches the fueling station fast enough, sometimes Soap's script will mix around out of order.
 * If the player does not kill or alert any enemies while sneaking through the base to the fueling station after separating with Soap, they will receive the Ghost achievement/trophy, and MacTavish will comment, "No kills, no alerts. Impressive, Roach."
 * If the player destroys a jeep when there are no enemies around (or are unaware of your location) MacTavish will comment "Wow, I wonder if they'll notice a flaming wreck in the middle of the road", although the subtitles say "Gee, I wonder if they'll notice a flaming wreck in the middle of the road."
 * If the player goes to the hanger with the intel before they meet up with MacTavish, there isn't anyone in the hanger. But when the player does meet up with him, there are two guys in orange uniforms repairing a MiG-29. Killing them will have no effect on the mission, and even if you miss they won't pay attention to you.
 * As soon as the player meets up with Soap, turn around and go back the way the player came, and the player can notice all the enemies have disappeared.
 * This is a very good level to get the "No Rest For the Wary" achievement. As soon as the player enters the blizzard, go to the right and sneak up behind the guard. Do it quick before he turns around and crouch while doing this.
 * Soap does not spawn behind the barrel before the player steps into the alley behind the hanger where the ACS module is located.
 * Strangely, Soap won't cover the player if his/her cover is blown, but instead will tell the player that "you've alerted a guard, stay out of sight."

Hangar

 * Roach's gloves appear to say "Snowfinity" in the hangar if the player takes out the USP .45 and looks at the hand holding the Tactical Knife. This is a reference to Infinity Ward.
 * If the player moves up to the window where the ACS module is, look at the APC as soon as the intel is collected and the APC will vanish.
 * If the player gets seen on the way to the hangar and leads guards to the area where Soap is hiding, he will comment, "Brought some friends with you?"
 * Once the player enters the hangar, the ice covering Roach's goggles and ACR seems to melt away.
 * In the opening to "Wolverines!", it is seen that the ACS module is part of the US Attack Characterization System, which would normally give accurate early warning of impending assaults based on satellite intelligence.
 * If Roach shoots the guard before MacTavish assaults him, MacTavish will stop and take up a shooting stance, even if the guard is dead. The sounds of Soap taking down the guard and stabbing him still play.
 * The guard in the hangar starts to bleed before Soap stabs him.
 * If Roach shoots Soap when he enters the hangar, the guard will not appear and Soap will just walk normally.
 * When Soap is about to be killed after retrieving the ACS module, if the player is quick enough when Soap dies, he drops a AK-47 with no attachments at all.

Cover blown

 * The hangar part of this mission is possibly a reference to "Goldeneye", when one of the two men gets captured by Soviets in an Arctic air base, and are to be executed after a countdown, resulting in a very large explosion as the good guys escape over a large ravine.
 * If the player will use a GP-25 and shoot the enemies in front of Soap, a few seconds later Soap will just fall to the ground without anyone shooting him. This is because Soap is scripted to die if the player shoots, even though the enemies that would normally kill him are not alive.
 * After the player retrieves the ACS module if you go look out the window you can see the guards spawn outside the hangar.
 * In the Modern Warfare 2 trailer they have an overview of Soap being executed by Major Petrov's troops.
 * If the player gets caught multiple times before they reach the fueling station Soap will comment "You're not very sneaky Roach."

Snowmobile

 * If the player gets on the snowmobile and just so happens to hit Soap with it when driving off, the message "MacTavish was run over." is displayed.
 * If you take too long to get on your snowmobile, MacTavish will unintentionally splatter you with the snowmobile he is riding on.
 * When the player is close to jumping over the giant gap at the end of the level, they will hear the music from the mission "Crew Expendable" in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
 * If the player were to hit the brakes on the snowmobile hard just before the large jump, it is possible to end up in a spot inches from the end of the cliff in which the player cannot move.
 * While driving the snowmobile down the large hill at the end, hitting Soap's snowmobile from behind will kill the player and send them flying.
 * If the snowmobile goes too fast and hits a tree, the player will die instantly.
 * If the player is killed when driving up a large hill, the camera will still go over the jump.
 * When at extraction, Kilo Six-One will say "We're at bingo fuel," but the subtitles say "We're getting close to bingo fuel."
 * If the player turns to the left after jumping across the gap and does not go straight the path to the LZ, the player can go around the barrier making the player slow down the snowmobile, meaning the player can then drive as fast as he wants at the LZ, though it will only last for a few seconds.
 * By using the glitch stated above, the player can see that the Sea Knight is not a solid object.
 * The player can also attempt another glitch by going to the far right of the map after the ravine jump. He/She can drive the snowmobile through the woods, and either run over the landing crew, or enter the Sea Knight from the rear ramp before the cutscene appears.
 * Just before boarding the helicopter the player can see that the extraction teams character models are that of the Marines in Russia in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
 * This part was referenced in the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 mission "No One Gets Left Behind", in a conversation between Haggard and Sweetwater in a quad-bike race, with Sweetwater saying, "If this was a snowmobile race, I'd take you down!" to which Haggard responds, "It's not a snowmobile. snowmobiles are for sissies!"
 * If the player stopped the snowmobile and drove back up the hill, the helicopter chasing the player would stop at the top and shoot.
 * This is the first time the player uses their left hand to shoot.
 * After the player makes the jump, the two buildings next to the player randomly explode.

Miscellaneous

 * In the movie Abduction, it is seen Nathan playing this level or could be the Special Ops mission Race, and when he pauses it, it doesn't goes to the pause menu.
 * Oddly enough, the player's ACR has three attachments, instead of the two limit as in Multiplayer. The player has a Red Dot Sight, Heartbeat Sensor, and Suppressor. An ACR with the same attachments, but a black camouflage can be found in "Just Like Old Times". It also has above normal ammo capacity.
 * The ACR has more zoom on the Red Dot Sight. This is easily noticed when the player compares it against a AK-47 Red Dot Sight.
 * In the E3 2009 demo, the player's objective is to download data from a computer, but in the final version of the game it is to retrieve the ACS module which are both on the same table. Also in the demo, Soap has a timid English accent rather than a loud Scottish one. This could mean that in conceptual stages Soap was English or Infinity Ward hired an uncredited English actor for the demo before hiring the true cast. Also, the background music while being stealthy is from Call of Duty 4.
 * Back during the E3 2009 demo, the tactical knife on the silenced USP .45 that Roach has as a sidearm looks like the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare melee knife instead of the normal Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 knife, and slashes the knife instead of stabbing with it.
 * This was the first level of the game revealed, played by Infinity Ward's Jason West back at E3 2009. Early reports gave the mistaken impression that the game had multiple routes through levels, due to Soap's mention of "Plan B".
 * In the early development of the level, Captain Price was scheduled to be with the player and the player would control Soap, rather than Roach.
 * The name of this level is a reference to the Sylvester Stallone movie Cliffhanger, which involves him as a rock climber trapped at a Ski lodge controlled by terrorists. Interestingly, the film also featured Michael Rooker, who would later be a playable character in the Zombies level Call of the Dead, and Craig Fairbrass, who would later voice Gaz in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Simon "Ghost" Riley in Modern Warfare 2 and Wallcroft in Modern Warfare 3. Additionally, Rooker's character killed Fairbrass' character during the course of the film. Furthermore, Rooker would return to voice Mike Harper in Black Ops II.
 * Throughout Battlefield: Bad Company 2, many references are made to Cliffhanger, such as "Snowmobiles are for sissies!" and "No, no, no! He [General Braidwood] will just send some special ops douchebags, with pussy-ass heartbeat monitors on their guns instead of us!" This would be apparent because when DICE would be making the game, Infinity Ward had released the level Cliffhanger as part of the E3 (Autumn/Winter) Demo, and it would be the only level known about at that time.
 * In the 2009 E3 demo, intel 2 does not appear.
 * If give ammo cheat is used, the player could notice that the ACR is special not only for 3 attachments and unique camouflage, but also for 840 capacity instead of usual 630.
 * If Roach crouches near a heater, the frost around his goggles will melt. When the player leaves, frost will appear on the goggles again.