Contingency (mission)/Trivia

Trivia

 * The events of the level "Of Their Own Accord" and the beginning of "Second Sun" take place at the same time as this mission, 11:22 at Petropavlovsk, Russia, and between 18:35 and 19:00 at Washington D.C.
 * Though the enemy weapons have tac-lights, once the player acquires one of these guns, the flashlight disappears.
 * It also seems that the light beam comes out of the barrel of the gun, instead of from the side.
 * This is the second level in Modern Warfare 2 in which all of the main Task Force 141 members participate. Price, Roach, Ghost and Soap (although he is not seen, he provides support by sending in a Predator drone and his voice is heard).
 * Soap's line, "AGM missile is online" is grammatically incorrect, as AGM stands for "Air to Ground Missile". It is redundant; it should be "AGM is online". His later line, "AGMs are offline", is correct.
 * This is one of two levels in the campaign where the player slides down a hill with Captain Price. This is done after the Predator is blown up and Captain Price says "Soap, we need another Predator!". The other level that the player slides down a hill with Captain Price is 'Just Like Old Times', after the player takes down the first two enemies (and the canine, if the player is quick enough).

Insertion

 * The three helicopters you see at the start make no sense at all, as they fly past you but if you track them through the trees as they turn they basically fly a horseshoe. They also have their navigation lights on the wrong side of the aircraft.
 * The outfit used in this mission appears to be the "Loose Ends" outfit, but all the colors have been replaced with a snow camouflage pattern.
 * At the beginning of the mission, if one shoots the first patrol right away, the patrols in the trucks will get out and stay in the area and never leave until the player shoots them (meaning the user needs to reveal oneself at this part).
 * When the player gets to the bridge, Captain Price will shoot the two men that are smoking if the player shoots randomly in the air just as he stops talking. This tells the player that Captain Price had lost his patience and had just killed the guys himself.
 * The dialog spoken by Captain Price during the opening section of this mission is very evocative of the dialog spoken by MacMillan during the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare mission "All Ghillied Up." Several of Price's quotes ("Good night," "Beautiful," "Don't do anything stupid," etc.) sound the same as MacMillan's.
 * During the stealth part of the mission, if the player compromises their position, Price will say, "Roach, we won't get far if you give away our position." If the player gets spotted again, he will say, "Roach we can't afford to keep giving away our position like that." Once more, he will sound angrier and say, "What the hell was that? You trying to get us killed?" Once more, he will say, "Does the word 'stealth' mean anything to you?" (another copied quote from MacMillan).
 * The Veteran spawning of the patrols will be different from the Spec Ops patrols on Evasion. This can make it easier. However, they still respond as they do on Spec Ops.
 * Soap also comments, "Dogs. I hate dogs." This is humorously referring to the many attack dogs the player had to face in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. There is also the possibility that it is a nod to Dog Soldiers, a film in which Kevin McKidd, the voice actor for Soap, appeared (and who ironically played a character who had a strong love of dogs). This could also be a reference to the Indiana Jones movies, in which Indiana Jones states, "Snakes. I hate snakes.".
 * Most of this mission, Price's mouth does not move when he talks, however this could be explained if he was using a neck mic.
 * The player can run up to the BTR and not be spotted. However, the player will eventually die because they never followed Captain Price.
 * Price says, "These Russian dogs are like pussycats compared to the ones in Pripyat," directly referencing the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare mission "All Ghillied Up," in which, if you killed the dog near the hotel, 20 more dogs would come and attack the player and MacMillan.
 * When Price says there is a patrol of three after evading the four guards he instructs to not engage, he actually means a patrol of two.


 * In the first area of the level after the trucks pass by, when the player and Captain Price run up behind the guard rail to snipe the other two groups of guards, sometimes Price will crouch and fire right into the guard rail. If this happens, he will not take out the two guards he is scripted to kill. The player will need to finish them off themselves, as Price ignores them as if he had killed them.
 * It is possible that Captain Price will say "Impressive" or "Well done" when he instructs the player to take out the dog patrol or try to slip past them. Just kill them all one by one. However, the player must let Captain Price finish his dialog before taking them out. They must also not let Price kill even a single member of that dog patrol. If there are any double-kills when the player takes them out he will just get up and say nothing. To achieve this start shooting them with the M14 EBR as soon as Price has finished his line, because Price would only not join the shooting if he does not have a good line of sight from the ridge.
 * The moment of the mission in which the player is running with Price in the woods trying to avoid the BTR's bombardment fire and the falling trees is very similar to the first mission of Call of Duty: United Offensive, that takes place in Bastogne (and furthermore to the relative episode of Band of Brothers miniseries).
 * After running from the BTRs and eliminating the search team, if the player goes right instead of following Price, there is a shortcut which will let them avoid all enemies leading up to the large group.
 * The player can be killed by a falling tree shot by the BTR, but the bullets themselves will rarely hit the player.
 * There are stone crosses scattered through the forest, which appear to be tombstones.
 * When encountering the large dog patrol, if the player takes out the back group without alerting the front group, Price will take the front group; lines: (Takes out handler) "Got one." (kills dog) "Down boy."
 * This spoken line may be an homage to SSgt. Griggs saying "Down boy" when the player kills the dog in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare mission "Sins of the Father."
 * As Roach and Captain Price are crossing the bridge leading up to them being spotted by the BTR a street sign to the left of the beginning of the bridge gives a reference to America's Army 3, as it shows the national symbol of Czervania (a Lion with three stars in front of it), the antagonists of the game. The same sign also has a misprinted Russian flag, with the colors arranged white, red, & blue from top to bottom.
 * If the player runs from the BTR's, and into the woods until they stop shooting, go left and back to the road (this takes a while). The player can keep going until the map ends.
 * If the player does not take out the group of "large patrol" but instead slips past them, (this is possible by staying to the left), and then proceeds to the next area without killing the group of dog patrol, Price will take out the group of "large patrol" himself, but without shooting the dog, yet the dog is not alerted. If the player then goes to the ridge directly, Price will just walk in front of enemies yet not alerting them.

Outer Perimeter

 * When on the slope with Captain Price, the player is commanded to take control of the first Predator drone, but this gets shot down by a SAM battery (the player can still get a shot off if they are quick enough) and Soap is forced to send in a new one. However, after sliding down the slope, the Predator missiles are again available, even though the second Predator drone has not arrived or been announced yet.
 * If the player somehow manages to destroy both SAM sites before they fire, the dialog for the Predator drone being shot down may continue, even though it's still flying overhead. In this situation, Price will sometimes not move.
 * Alternatively, the level may proceed without the shot down dialog. Price may mention, "good work on those SAM sites," when the player passes the wrecked machines.
 * The Predator drone, while scripted to be shot down, can be saved if the player acts quickly. As soon as the player takes control of the drone, fire off a missile at the SAM site that usually will destroy it. Completion of this depends solely on the location of the Predator drone when first accessed. This trick can be incredibly helpful on Veteran, in which numerous hostiles attack the team.
 * After the Predator is destroyed the player can find an M240, it has a Heartbeat Sensor and a Red Dot Sight, but it just says on the pickup text 'M240 Heartbeat'. This same weapon with the same pickup text is available at the rooftop weapons cache in the Spec Ops level "Sniper Fi".
 * Destroying both SAMs can be done easily with a little luck and a trigger happy finger. At the ridge, bring up the Predator drone control rig as fast as possible. Then fire a shot off as quickly as possible. When the AGM is online, quickly set the aim to somewhere between the two SAMs and press the "Fire"-button again. This will cause the missile to travel much faster, and detonate the SAMs before they notice.
 * If the player destroys the two SAMs in the town, Captain Price will compliment Ghost about them, even though he did not do a thing, that is because Ghost usually fires an AT4 at both SAM sites.
 * Price will use an AUG HBAR later in the mission.
 * In the area directly after the slope, as the player fights uphill, there's an open iron gate near where the SAMs were. If the player does not walk into this iron gate, but around it and over the wall to the right, the enemies streaming from there will not notice the player. When Price reaches the road out of the area with snow-covered houses three friendly A.I's would spawn from behind the building and run out to "secure the perimeter".
 * If the player stays at the top of the slope, the village attack will not start until the player slides down the ridge. Also, the player can look where Ghost and the rest of the team came from but nobody will be there.
 * Even if the player fires the Predator Drone at a point off the map's playable area, Soap will say 'They're Down' or ' Five plus K.I.A's, good hit, good hit', regardless of the amount of enemies the player has killed.
 * It is possible to destroy the BTRs after destroying the SAMs with the AGMs. However, if the player tries to go back to the BTRs, they will die at about 40 meters from them.

Inside The Base

 * When the player alerts the submarine base, a timer will appear starting from 2:00 minutes when played on Veteran and 3:00 minutes on Hardened. On other difficulties, the player can take their time killing the opposition.
 * If the player fires Predator Missiles at their allies, Soap will continue with his dialog as if the player killed enemies.
 * Sometimes in the first person view the red box will still show locked on an enemy vehicle after having used the Predator, it may be a minor glitch (Xbox confirmed).
 * It is possible, but not easy, to take out the helicopter using a RPG.

Rooftop Holdout

 * If the player does not destroy the Mi-24, it explodes when they are ordered to defend the submarine from atop the guard house. If the player is on the rooftop before the Mi-24 explodes, they can see that Ghost throws a Semtex at it.
 * When guarding Price, a Stinger missile spawns on top of the dock house in front of the player and flies against the Predator, destroying it.
 * It is possible for the player to survive being on the submarine when the missile fires, but they must be standing at the very front of the submarine, meaning they would have to go up to the guard house to trigger the checkpoint, then run all the way down the guard house, along to docks, onto the submarine, and to the bow before the missile launches. However, if the player is anywhere else on the sub during the launch they can and will die. The same applies if you climb out of the sub after helping Price clear it.
 * It is possible to fall through the map (but die) by walking on top of the submarine and then jumping into the water on the other side of it. The player will die on contact but while the death quote is displayed, the player will be under the map until they respawn.
 * If the player fires a Predator missile towards the ocean, the missile will go through the ocean and under the map and explode a short while after. All of this can be seen from the Predator control laptop. This is extremely unrealistic and probably overlooked by IW developers (PC confirmed).
 * If the player follows Captain Price to the submarine, he will sometimes yell, 'Go back to the rooftop, Roach! Guard Me!'.
 * There is a unique keyboard on the console inside the submarine with English and Russian letters mixed into a very strange arrangement. This is just like the keyboard with "hold to use" in the level "No Fighting In The War Room" and "Just Like Old Times".
 * Only one of the submarine's silos actually contains a missile; the rest look like they are just lids on top of the submarine's hull.
 * In the game, the R-39 Rif SLBM had its rocket engine ignite as it left its launch tube (or "silo") on the submarine, as if it were a land-based ICBM. This is inconsistent with modern SLBMs, which in a process called "cold launch", are forced out of their launch tubes with compressed gas. Only after the SLBM has cleared the launch tube does the rocket engine fire.
 * Firing a grenade (from a grenadier weapon) on the missile when it launches will cause the missile to apparently explode, seeing as one dies and the missile will not be seen.
 * It is not possible to board the submarine with price because of Death Barriers.
 * When using the noclip cheat you can see the interior of the submarine.

Miscellaneous



 * The achievement/trophy "Ends Justify The Means", based from the quote of Niccolò Machiavelli, is earned by completing this level on Veteran difficulty, which refers to the warhead launched from the sub and explodes in space that triggers the EMP, saving the lives of the Americans.
 * The Submarine is 155 meters long (roughly 508.5 feet) and appears most similar to a Delta IV class submarine. However it seems more similar to the American Cold War George Washington class submarines. This is not possible, because the George Washington subs have been long since deactivated and scrapped.
 * This is the only campaign level in the game where the player has to fight an Mi-24 Hind; the rest of the game features Mi-28s as the main enemy helicopter.
 * On missions before this one, Soap's name appears as "Captain MacTavish" in the subtitles. For this mission he is labeled "Soap". This is possibly because until this mission, Roach did not know that Soap was MacTavish's callsign until the encounter at the end of the gulag level. However, he is no longer seen as an NPC, so the player never sees Soap with his callsign when he is in sight.
 * It is unclear what the original mission of the team was, as they are all surprised when Price launches the nuclear missile from the Russian submarine, even though it was clearly their intent to secure the submarine or at least the submarine base. Their mission may have been to destroy the submarine and deny a Russian nuclear asset, one which can be used against the U.S., however the reason why Price did not tell his team that he was going to create an EMP is not mentioned in the game and strange. (It can be explained that Soap might have known what the mission was since he created the up-link and if listening in, would have understood the mission, and Ghost is the one alarmed by the silo doors opening - but still most of the team was unaware of the real purpose of the mission).
 * It is also not clear what the purpose for the EMP was - it is credited above with saving the Americans' lives (by knocking out the Russian helicopters and gunsights), but it is not clear whether Price was intending this or just making it obvious that the war could escalate into a nuclear conflagration if not ended now (implied by his later comments "I thought we ended the war yesterday"). It is also not clear if Price had any real knowledge that America would not launch a retaliatory strike possibly before the missile hit when they knew a Russian (presumed) nuclear missile was targeting Washington D.C.
 * It is likely classified, but it is commonly thought that on American ballistic submarines, no one individual has access to the targeting and launch keys for the nuclear missiles. One would hope the Russians would have similar security and it is not explained how Price/Task Force 141 would have obtained the info to target and launch an SLBM.
 * How Price comes looking for Roach could be a reference to how Price comes looking for Soap in Hunted as he looks at them directly and both times occur after a hard landing.
 * When the player regroups with the team, one team member is British, another is American and final one comes from Australia. However if the Australian soldier dies before reaching the base, an American or British person will replace him, but if the Australian soldier dies during the attack on the base another Australian will replace him.
 * It is possible, while moving ahead of Price and looking at him completely from the front, to see the glint off of his rifle's scope (like the giveaway for snipers in the Special Ops level).
 * Regardless of what the player hits, Soap will say "Direct hit" or, "He's down"
 * There is also no missile in the silos, and the missile spawns out of the first silo only.
 * There is a very rare glitch in the village where if the player back pedals into a certain snowbank, they will fall through the ground about 30 feet to their death.
 * It seems that only Soap and Price were in on the plan to launch the EMP as Soap does not make any reaction to the launch, where as Ghost is shouting that there has been a missile launch.