The Coup

"Our noble crusade has begun. This is how it begins."

- Khaled Al-Asad

The Coup is the third level in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Plot
The Coup is largely a cinematic level, acting as the opening for the game. This level is used to introduce the player to the primary antagonists, as well as the opening credits. It is shown through the perspective of President Al-Fulani who is driven through a city captured by Al-Asad and his military force. During the drive, Al-Fulani sees Al-Asad's forces rounding up and executing people (these are likely supporters of Al-Fulani) At the end of the level, Al-Fulani is executed by Khaled Al-Asad with a chrome Desert Eagle after saying the words, "This is how it begins." to the camera.

Walkthrough
You cannot do anything besides looking around and watch as people flee Al-Asad's forces. Many soldiers are shown throughout the city exiting armored personnel carriers and helicopters, as well as chasing down and executing civilians trying to escape.

Transcript
See The Coup/Transcript

Trivia

 * According to the satellite imagery in the briefing, the level is set in a city of the Yemeni coast. If that is true, the country the Coup takes place in is more than likely Yemen rather Saudi Arabia.
 * In the beginning, Al-Fulani is dragged from a mosque, and not the presidential palace.
 * Zakhaev's son, Victor Zakhaev can be seen riding in the car that transports Al-Fulani to his execution point, with Imran Zakhaev giving Al-Asad the Desert Eagle he uses to execute Al-Fulani.


 * When Al-Asad executes Al-Fulani in The Coup, he walks up, cocks the pistol, and fires. When you see it on replay before Blackout, he walks up and fires without cocking, but a small fuzz in the screen before and the audience suggests that a frame (or a few) were skipped.
 * When Zakhaev hands the gun to Al-Asad, you see him pointing the gun at Al-Asad. Al-Asad hesitates as though surprised by a gun pointed at him. After a brief and awkward moment Zakhaev flips the gun around and hands it to Al-Asad with the grip facing him. It could be perceived as symbolizing Zakhaev's betrayal of Al-Asad; knowing that the execution of Al-Fulani would eventually lead to Al-Asad's death.
 * Using the noclip cheat if you go under the map you will see an AK-47 following the car underneath it.
 * The wooden post on which Al-Fulani is killed is already bloody, leading to the conclusion that other executions of public officials might have happened recently there.
 * This is one of the only levels in the game to contain a large amount of civilians, including dead ones. The only other level to feature so many dead civilians is Mile High Club.
 * In the middle of the car ride, Victor Zakhaev gets a cellphone call, and while he is on the phone, he takes a look at you. The caller was Imran Zakhaev wondering about Al-Fulani.
 * Obviously the camera changes during & after the execution. When you are looking at it at first it looks at you, then during the Blackout mission, the camera looks directly at Al-Asad executing him. Then on the TV's it looks 60 degrees up.
 * This is the first mission where killing occurs in slow-motion (second, third, and fourth are Sins of the Father, Game Over, and Mile High Club).
 * There is a pistol above Victor Zakhaev's head, in the shade flap, which appears to be his M1911 he used in Sins of the Father.
 * If you turn at a right angle when Al-Asad kills you, you can see a blood cloud appear. You have to look to the right. This is not physically possible, as Al-Fulani would die instantly after the bullet penetrated his head and would not be able to see his own blood.
 * When you look at the rearview mirror in the car, there is no reflection. Only a Drawn image of the driver in the mirror.Likely an excuse for no playermodels being rendered in singleplayer.
 * This is the only single player mission where the player cannot fail.
 * In the Modern Warfare 2 beginning cutscene the last parts of this level can be seen.
 * When you use the "give all" cheat in this level, the game crashes when you press the switch weapons button.
 * While Al-Fulani is being dragged to the car, several banners can be seen hanging with Arabic text on them. The black banner on the top left reads (إنفنيتي ورد), a transliteration of "Infinity Ward".
 * The time beetween Al-Asad shooting and the player's screen going black is noticeably longer on the Wii version of the game.
 * This is the only mission in which all three of the known Four Horsemen(Khaled Al-Asad|Khaled Al-Asad, Imran Zakhaev|Imran Zakhaev and Victor Zakhaev|Victor Zakhaev) are present.
 * When looking down while in the car, the player cannot see their feet.
 * When the player is tied to the execution pole, Al-Asad says "Just as they lay waste to our country, we shall lay waste to theirs." That could be foreshadowing to the war that will take place in the US in the sequel.
 * In some places, there are chickens. This is the only level with chickens in Call of Duty 4.

Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqNPeL16HcQ