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.

Plot
Captain Price and Captain MacTavish are chasing after General Shepherd in the Site Hotel Bravo cave system. Shepherd, who has some distance between Soap and Price, boards a Zodiac speedboat in the underground river. Soap and Price board another Zodiac and continue in pursuit of Shepherd. Soap drives the boat while Price fires on the Shadow Company soldiers on Zodiacs, and the OpFor on the land and bridges.

Price and Soap chase Shepherd through a cave, a lake with many rock formations, and finally, rapids. Near the end of the rapids, Shepherd boards a Pave Low that was waiting for him in the river. Price tells Soap to hold steady while he is able to successfully shoot it down at the rotor. The helicopter spins out of control, but the fast moving current of the rapids keeps Soap and Price from reversing, and their Zodiac goes over a nearby waterfall.

After a brief wait, Soap wakes up on the shore near the waterfall, but Price is nowhere to be seen. He gets up, knife in his left hand, and moves slowly towards the Pave Low's crash site. He finds Shepherd escaping from the crashed helicopter and runs, injured, from Soap into the sandstorm. Soap follows him, and finds him leaning against a car.

Soap takes the opportunity to kill Shepherd with his knife, but Shepherd blocks the stab and rams Soap's head on the car, causing Soap to fall on his back. Shepherd draws his own knife and stabs Soap in the chest. Shepherd briefly explains that he lost "30,000 men in the blink of an eye," referring to the nuclear bomb that killed the Marines in the Call of Duty 4 mission "Shock and Awe". He loads two rounds in his revolver, and takes aim at Soap's head.

However, before he is able to kill Soap, Captain Price intervenes, tackling Shepherd and making him miss the shot. After trading a few blows, Price kicks Shepherd's pistol away. Soap, seeing an opportunity crawls towards the discarded pistol, but when he is almost within reach Shepherd knocks Price down, kicks the pistol away from Soap, and stomps on his face.

Soap helplessly watches Shepherd and Price fight on the ground. Eventually, Shepherd knocks Price down and begins to beat him, repeatedly punching him in the head. Soap's attention is redirected towards the knife in his chest. He slowly and painfully pulls it out of his chest, and takes aim at Shepherd. Soap mutters "Shepherd," causing Shepherd to look up, and then Soap throws the knife, and it lands in Shepherd's left eye, killing him.

After a moment, Price coughs and gets up, and stumbles towards Soap, who is still lying on the ground. He bandages Soap's wounds, and at that moment a Little Bird lands. Price recognizes the pilot as Nikolai, and helps Soap to the helicopter. Nikolai exits the helicopter to assist, and mentions that he knows a place to take them to keep them safe. The mission ends and the credits roll.

Walkthrough
The player ("Soap" MacTavish) and Price begin the level in hot pursuit of the traitor, General Shepherd. They get into a Zodiac speedboat and chase him through the cave and down the river with Soap driving and Price firing at hostiles along the riverbanks (note that Shepherd 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 driving the boat. On higher difficulties, the OpFor in this early stage of the level can be a real problem, especially when they use Technicals, therefore taking them out is essential. Shepherd is not difficult to find, as his location is marked on the player's screen. However, if Shepherd gets too far ahead, the player will fail the mission.

Eventually, the player 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 not too hard on higher difficulties, but staying in the open will result in a quick death. 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 setting. 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, the player and Price make it to the rapids. Though rough at first, the river becomes more smooth as they progress. Hostiles will still attack you from Zodiacs, RPG's, and Little Bird helicopters. As they go along the river, they hear Shepherd and a Shadow Company U.A.V. Operator talking to each other on the radio. The player will then go under a bridge, and see Shepherd's Zodiac enter the cargo bay of a Pave Low helicopter. Shepherd is forced to cut his speed drastically to board the chopper, so much in fact that your boat almost collides with the Pave Low as it begins to take-off just a few feet above your head! Just when it appears that Shepherd will get away, the helicopter slows down and turns sharply to avoid flying straight into a sandstorm and hovers over a waterfall. With only a few seconds left before the chopper is out of range, Price tells Soap to steady the boat and fires three shots at the helicopter. The first two shots miss, but the third round hits one of the Pave Low's engines, this causes the helicopter to catch on fire and violently snap to the right, the Pave Low then begins to start spinning out of control toward the riverbank below. As the chopper disappears below the waterfall, Price tells Soap to back up but the current is too strong, and the boat tumbles over the waterfall, plunging into the river moments before the burning Pave Low crashes.

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 from the crashed helicopter in the distance. the player has the ability to knife the soldier, or let him crawl away and bleed to death. At the crash site, he sees another soldier lying in the Last Stand position. The soldier will attempt to fire his pistol, but to his misfortune, is out of ammo. the player can also knife this soldier or let him bleed to death.

After deciding the soldier's fate, the player will see Shepherd stumble out of the flaming wreckage of the Pave Low. He will glance at Soap and then run away into the sandstorm. (Shepherd cannot be killed at this moment.) Soap follows him and finds him leaning on a car.

If the player 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 couldn't do it". He then says you are "a good warrior but that you could never take that extra step to do what was absolutely necessary."

Once Soap attempts to knife him, Shepherd will block this attack and ram Soap's head into the car, causing him to fall. Shepherd pulls out his own knife and jabs it deep into Soap's chest causing him to black out from the trauma.

Shepherd is then heard saying: "Five years ago... I lost 30,000 men in the blink of an eye, and the world just fuckin' watched." Soap's 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, points it at Soap's face and says, "I know you understand."

Just then, Captain Price intervenes, tackling Shepherd and kicking the revolver out of his hand just before the player is executed. The player then needs to alternate betweed left and right triggers/mouse buttons to crawl towards Shepherd's pistol. Before the player can get to the Magnum, Shepherd kicks it away and stomps on Soaps face, who blacks out.

Soap wakes up a few seconds later to see Price and Shepherd engaged in a brutal fistfight. After a few brief moments, the fight begins to turn in Shepherd's favor as he punches Price in the face, causing him to fall to the ground. While, Shepherd is slowly and relentlessly beating Cpt. Price, Soap notices the knife still stuck in his own chest. The player needs to repeatedly press the "use" button to pull it out of Soap's chest, spinning it around in his hand. Then the player aims the knife at Shepherd and throws it (by pressing "shoot"). Shepherd looks up just before the knife pierces into his left eye, killing him.

To trigger the line where Soap says "Shepherd," the player must wait a moment before throwing the knife. The voice does not sound much like Soap does, because of the injuries he's sustained. This line is not subtitled.

Soap almost blacks out (due to the amount of blood he's lost in the past ten minutes) before Price wakes up and stumbles towards him. While Price attends to Soap's wounds, he notices a Little Bird helicopter land on the riverbank behind them. Price tells Soap that the bandages will hold for now and helps Soap to his feet. The pilot of the Little Bird comes to assist Price and Soap, who turns out to be Nikolai. He mentions that because of what they have done, that they'll be looking for them now. Price tells Nikolai that they need to get Soap of out there, and Nikolai responds by saying he knows a place to go, and the game ends as Price, Nikolai, and Soap are walking towards the helicopter.

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
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.

Video
thumb|400px|left|CoD:MW2 - Endgame, with an extended ending!

Trivia

 * This mission is actually made up of two missions, evident by the second loading screen and if the player pauses the games after going over the waterfall, the menu will read "0/0 Enemy intelligence found," when clearly there is an Enemy Intel on the dock in the beginning. Restarting the mission from this point takes the player back to when Soap wakes up from the waterfall crash, not the beginning of the boat chase.
 * You can see Soap's arms as he spits out water from the waterfall crash.
 * Though it may seem that Soap is crawling for an empty gun, this is not the case. Sheperd can be seen loading two rounds into his revolver, one for Soap and one for Price.
 * 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, as at that point, you can only control the camera, and the arm is always leveled at his face. This is slightly similar to One Shot, One Kill, as no matter where the player aims, they would shoot off Imran Zakhaev's 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.
 * The multiplayer map Rust is based on this level. Notice the background when the player kills Shepherd. It isn't possible to enter it, however. 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."
 * This mission has the structure of the final mission of Call of Duty 4, "Game Over":
 * The start of the mission involves a chase, but in "Endgame" the player is chasing after the antagonist, rather than escaping from the enemies.
 * The chase ends with a crash, and the characters are left on foot.
 * The survivors of the crash are executed, however in "Endgame" it is optional.
 * Soap kills the main antagonist while lying on the ground, and with a basic weapon (an M1911 in "Game Over", and a Knife in "Endgame").
 * Price helps Soap kill the antagonist in both missions.
 * The antagonist notices Soap right before he dies.
 * Price and Soap are 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.
 * 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 beginning of 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".
 * "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 "Team Player."
 * 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 the player tries to take out the knife from Soap, his mag pouches can be seen. There are always M4 type magazines in them, no matter which weapon you use in this level.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * After the boat crash, you cannot find Price on the ground even though he saves you from getting shot by Shepherd.
 * 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).
 * 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 steadily or unsteadily 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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. Shepherd's image also would not register on the thermal sight.
 * 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 scripted to do so.
 * The idea for a boat chase as a climax may have been inspired by the James Bond movie "Die Another Day". Both times, the heroes are British, they are chasing after a General that crossed them, and both involved a waterfall as the end of the chase. The only difference is that in "Die Another Day", the chase is at the beginning of the movie, not at the end.
 * If you try to get on the boat before Price and try to drive away, Price will always jump and get on before you speed away.
 * When you look at a friend on PS3 or Xbox 360 playing this level, it doesn't say Endgame. It instead says "The Ending" which may mean that the level was originally supposed to be called "The Ending".
 * The animation used by Shepherd when he is beating up Captain Price is also used by a Juggernaut in the "Museum".
 * Even if you crouch or go prone as you approach Shepherd, he will yank the player into a standing position and still beat his head against the truck.
 * It is unknown why, after Shepherd's Pave Low crashes, the sky turns misty red like after a nuclear explosion. For example. in Call of Duty 4, in the level Aftermath, Paul Jackson sees a sky covered in red after the nuke detonates.
 * Another possible explanation is that their views were both red and blurry because they were badly injured.
 * If you wait to long to throw the knife you will randomly die.
 * You can only throw the knife at Sheperd's eye even if you aim anywhere on his body.