Modern Warfare (series)

Modern Warfare is a sub-series of the Call of Duty franchise from Activision. Modern Warfare was created by Infinity Ward, and currently consists of two games, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Call of Duty 4 was released on November 5, 2007, being the first installment of the Call of Duty series set outside of World War II. Modern Warfare 2 was released on November 10, 2009. Treyarch developed a Wii port for Call of Duty 4, known as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex and released it on November 10, 2009.

After its release, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 grossed $310,000,000 in its first twenty-four hours in the US, UK and Australia, becoming the highest first-day grossing product ever. It went on to make $550,000,000 in the first five days of its release, making it the biggest video game money maker in all of entertainment history.

Plot
"This is for the record."

- Captain Price

Call of Duty 4
In 2011, a Russian Ultranationalist by the name of Imran Zakhaev is determined to return his homeland to the Soviet times. Zakhaev knows the United States of America would never allow this to happen, thus he funds a coup in the Middle East, organized by his ally Khaled Al-Asad, to draw public attention to the Middle East instead of Russia.

In the Prologue levels, players take the role of Sergeant "Soap" MacTavish in his initiation into the SAS. The players will meet the members of the SAS squad and go through a basic tutorial of the game play, which includes a basic shooting range and a time trial in a mock cargo ship set up. The player will then proceed on a mission to intercept the real cargo ship in the Bering Strait alongside Captain Price and Gaz. In the cargo hold, the SAS team finds a nuclear warhead draped in a flag with Arabic writing. The ship is subsequently attacked by MiG's, with the SAS team barely escaping from the sinking ship. Players then switch roles with President Al-Fulani of an unknown Middle Eastern country as he is executed by Al-Asad.

In Act 1, MacTavish, Captain Price and Gaz rescue a Russian informant code-named "Nikolai". They are supported by Russian Loyalists led by Sgt. Kamarov. While escaping with Nikolai, their helicopter is shot down, and they then flee from Ultranationalist search teams. Later on, the player takes control of the gunner of an AC-130H Spectre gunship that provides fire support for Captain Price and the surviving SAS members. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, Sergeant Paul Jackson, Lieutenant Vasquez and Staff Sergeant Griggs fight their way to the capital city of the country Al-Fulani was executed in. They first attack a television studio where they believe Al-Asad is broadcasting, but it turns out to be a recording. They then rescue a stranded Abrams tank called War Pig. Their efforts culminate in a massive assault upon the capital. However, a nuclear weapon is detonated, killing Jackson, Vasquez and 30,000 marines. Griggs was not present during the detonation.

In Act 2, MacTavish is tasked with finding and capturing Al-Asad in his safehouse in Azerbaijan. However, when it is found out that Zakhaev is supplying Al-Asad, Al-Asad is executed by Price. There is then a flashback mission where Captain MacMillan, a sniper team leader, and then Lieutenant Price are sent in to the first assassination mission issued by the British government since World War II. Their target is Zakhaev, then a rich Ultranationalist and arms dealer. As they crawl through the country side in ghille suits, silently sniping enemy patrols or letting them go, they reach an abandoned hotel where they get a clear view of Zakhaev exchanging nuclear rods for weapons. He is shot by Price, but only his arm is lost. Price and MacMillian, who gets his legs injured when a helicopter crashes, then contact an evac chopper and escape. Back in the present, the squad evacuates from the town on the Sea Knight "Big Bird", which has Griggs on it. Then, Soap and his SAS team, Griggs' Marine squad and Sgt. Kamarov's Russian Loyalists attempt to capture Victor Zakhaev, Imran Zakhaev's son for information. However, just when the strike force corners Victor, he commits suicide by shooting himself in the head to avoid capture.

In Act 3, MacTavish and his SAS squad, joined by an American sniper team and an American Marine squad, attempt to retake a launch facility recently captured by the Ultranationalists. Price knew Zakhaev was outraged by the death of his son and would threaten to launch ICBMs at the US. They first rescue Griggs after he misses the landing zone and then they knock out the power to the ICBM facility so the Marines can breach the perimeter. Then they meet with the American sniper team, but two ICBMs are launched at the US Eastern Seaboard, which could cause 40 million casualties. They enter the facility and after retaking it and aborting the launch, MacTavish, Gaz, Price, Griggs, and some other squad members escape in Russian cars. The Ultranationalists pursue them and an enemy helicopter damages a bridge vital to their escape. The men crash, stranding the squad without support. After a tanker explodes, all of the squad members are incapacitated, except Griggs, and Zakhaev comes to the bridge to observe. Griggs is shot in the head while trying to drag MacTavish to safety and Gaz is executed by Zakhaev. When Zakhaev is on the verge of killing Soap, a Loyalist Mi-28 destroys the Hind and distracts Zakhaev long enough for Price to toss MacTavish his M1911 .45, which MacTavish uses to kill Zakhaev and his guards. Russian Loyalists come to aid the men, evacuating MacTavish and attempting to revive Price, who appears to be unconscious (can be seen in MW2 ) when the medic attempting to resuscitate him becomes frustrated. A television news report is played mentioning the events of the game, but the newscaster dismisses the events as "struggles" and "nuclear missile testing", stating that the real events of the past six days were unknown to the public.

In the Epilogue, a bonus mission can be played titled, Mile High Club. This bonus mission is seemingly unrelated to the plot. In it, the player takes the role of an unnamed SAS officer (possibly "Soap"), and must make his way through a terrorist-infested double decker airliner, while safely securing a hostage VIP.

Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is set five years after the conclusion of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Despite the efforts of the Marines and the SAS, the Ultranationalists seize control of Russia and enshrine Imran Zakhaev, the deceased leader of the Ultranationalists, a hero and martyr. Meanwhile, Vladimir Makarov, one of Zakhaev's former lieutenants, begins a reign of terror against Europe by staging numerous terror attacks. The game begins in Afghanistan, where US Army Ranger Private Allen of 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment participates in an operation to retake an Afghan city from local militia. Impressed, General Shepherd recruits Allen as a CIA operative and places him in Makarov's organization as an undercover operative. Meanwhile, Soap and Roach infiltrate a Russian airbase to recover an American ACS module. Allen then participates with Makarov in a terrorist attack on a Russian airport. However, Makarov is somehow aware that Allen is an undercover CIA agent, and kills Allen before fleeing the airport. The terrorist attack was made to look as if done by Americans as Makarov and his squad speak English and use NATO weapons (i.e. M4A1 and M240). Allen's body is left behind for the Russians to find, which will be identified as American.

Angered by what they believe is an American-supported terrorist attack, Russia initiates a surprise invasion of the United States East Coast. The 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment is called upon to defend Virginia and Washington D.C. from the Russian attack. Meanwhile, Task Force 141 now shifts their attention to Makarov. They go to Rio de Janeiro to investigate an alleged contact of Makarov, Alejandro Rojas. After capturing and interrogating Rojas, the Task Force discovers that one of Makarov's most hated enemies, known as Prisoner 627, is being held in a Russian prison. However, the Russian invasion of the US has cut off aerial support for Task Force 141, leaving them stranded in Brazil. Nikolai is enlisted by Soap to extract Task Force 141 from Rio de Janeiro. Nikolai, piloting a Pave Low, manages to rescue Task Force 141 from the Favela gangs.

Soap believes that breaking Prisoner 627 from the Russian prison will draw Makarov out. General Shepherd orders Task Force 141 to link up with the 6th Fleet to lead a counterattack against the Russians near the Bering Strait. With assistance from the Navy SEALs, Marines, and American Navy, Task Force 141 break through oil rigs being used as SAM (Surface to Air Missiles) platforms and storm The Gulag to free Prisoner 627, who is revealed to be Captain Price. After a close escape involving a Pave Low and SPIE Rig, Price agrees to join Task Force 141 and help them track down Makarov. Price believes that something extreme must be done to end the war in the US. Task Force 141 temporarily goes rogue, infiltrating a Russian submarine base. Price then hijacks a Russian nuclear submarine and launches an ICBM at Washington D.C. However, Price programs the warhead to explode in the upper atmosphere, which destroys the International Space Station but spares Washington and creates a electromagnetic pulse.

The electromagnetic pulse cripples both the US and Russian forces in the city. Helicopters and other aircraft crash to earth, and Sergeant Foley and his squad discover that the Air Force has orders to carpet bomb Washington, D.C., as the US military believes that the city has been lost to Russian control. The only way to abort the operation is to set off green flares on the roof of the White House, which is still occupied by Russian forces, to signal that the friendly American forces have control of the city. Foley and his squad fight their way to the roof the White House and manage to set off their flares just as the bombers arrive, while green flares on the roofs of other D.C. landmarks signifies that the city remains firmly in American hands. Foley and the rest of the Rangers vow to take the fight to the Russians, burning down their capital just as they did to Washington.

However, Makarov is still on the loose. General Shepherd informs Task Force 141 that Makarov has two possible safe havens and orders them to split up and to secure both locations simultaneously. Soap and Price go to the aircraft scrapyards in Afghanistan, whilst Roach and Ghost raid Makarov's safehouse in the Caucasus Mountains. It is revealed to be a trap, but Task Force 141 fights their way through the safehouse and obtain vital intelligence to put an end to him for good. However, General Shepherd betrays them and kills both Ghost and Roach. He intends to take advantage of the crisis to become an American war hero and secure the support of the American population. Price and Soap manage to escape Shepherd's ambush, fighting both a new enemy, known as Shadow Company, and the last of the Ultranationalist forces at the same time, in the middle of a two-way battlefield. They convince Makarov to reveal Shepherd's location to them. In Afghanistan, Soap and Price decide to take revenge on him in one final, bloody suicide mission. They attack his base there, but he escapes on a boat. They chase him on a boat down an Afghan river and through some caves, guarded by OpFor, who are also engaging Shadow Company. Price shoots down the helicopter Shepherd tried to escape in, but he and Soap fall down a waterfall. The heavily wounded Soap stumbles through the crash site and chases Shepherd, attempting to stab him. The attempt fails and Shepherd stabs Soap. Shepherd eventually prepares to execute Soap, but Price tackles Shepherd at the last second. As Soap lays dying, Shepherd and Price fight. By ripping the knife out of his own chest, Soap manages to kill Shepherd with a knife throw to the head. Nikolai then arrives to extract them. Price warns Nikolai that they will be international fugitives for what they've done, but Nikolai insists he knows a safe place to take them. The game ends with this cliff hanger.