Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
=== Setting and characters ===
The story featured in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's Campaign mode serves as a sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare's Campaign mode, and is set in 2016. In the previous game, the player killed Imran Zakhaev, a Russian ultra-nationalist who sought to restore his country back to the glory days of the Soviet Union. Despite this effort however, ultra-nationalists seized control of Russia, and declared Zakhaev a martyr, straining diplomatic relations with the United States. One of Zakhaev's lieutenants, Vladimir Makarov, began a campaign of revenge against the West by committing acts of terrorism throughout Europe.
The player primarily controls Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson, a member of an elite counter-terrorist unit named Task Force 141. In addition to Roach, the player will also assume control of Private First Class Joseph Allen and Private James Ramirez of the United States Army Rangers. Several non-playable characters feature prominently in the story. John "Soap" MacTavish. serves as a senior member of Task Force 141, acting as Roach's superior officer. Another member of the unit is Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley, who conceals his face with a skull print balaclava. Sergeant Foley, along with his subordinate, Corporal Dunn, is initially Joseph Allen's squad leader, and becomes James Ramirez's squad leader later in the story. Lieutenant General Shepherd is the commander of the United States Army Rangers and Task Force 141.
=== Story ===
In 2016, Private First Class Joseph Allen participates in a military operation alongside United States Army Rangers stationed in Afghanistan, by assisting them in taking back a city from insurgents. Impressed by Allen's capabilities, General Shepherd recruits him into Task Force 141. While Allen prepares for an upcoming assignment, Captain John "Soap" MacTavish and Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson infiltrate a Russian airbase in the Tian Shan mountains to retrieve an Attack Characterization System (ACS) module from a downed American satellite.
Allen is soon sent on an undercover mission in Russia for the CIA, joining Vladimir Makarov in a mass shooting at an airport in Moscow. After leaving the airport, Makarov, who has been aware of Allen's true identity, kills him and leaves his body behind to spark a war between Russia and the United States. Outraged by what is believed to be an American-sponsored terrorist attack, Russia retaliates by launching a surprise invasion on the East Coast of the United States. With no evidence of Makarov's involvement in the airport massacre, Task Force 141 is sent to Rio de Janeiro to capture Makarov's arms dealer. They capture the dealer, and learn that Makarov's nemesis is being held in a Russian gulag. Task Force 141 assaults the gulag and rescues the prisoner, who is revealed to be Captain Price, a member of the British Special Air Service.
Price agrees to help Task Force 141, but insists that his priority is to end the war in the United States. After raiding a Russian port, Price launches a ballistic missile towards Washington, D.C. and sets it to detonate in the upper atmosphere. The resulting EMP blast disables all electronic devices across the eastern seaboard, causing both factions to suffer but giving the Americans a much-needed advantage. Soldiers fighting in Washington, D.C. narrowly avoid a bombing run of Russian-occupied strategic structures by the United States Air Force, when they light green flares atop the White House, showing that the city remains in American hands.
Meanwhile, Task Force 141 narrows Makarov's hiding place to two locations; Price and Soap travel to an aircraft boneyard in Afghanistan to intercept an arms deal, while Roach and Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley raid Makarov's safehouse on the Georgian-Russian border. Although Makarov himself is absent, Roach and his team obtain vital information on the antagonist; however, when they reach the extraction point, Shepherd betrays them, retrieving the intelligence and taking it with him, murdering Roach and Ghost and burning their bodies in the process. It soon becomes evident that Shepherd is the catalyst of the war between Russia and the U.S. with the intent of generating a massive wave of American enlistment, along with defense spending and production in a time of emergency. Shepherd sent Allen to participate in the massacre, fully aware that Makarov would set America up; he also allegedly provided the ACS to the Russian forces to be compromised, informed Makarov of Allen's identity, and eventually managed to secure a blank check from the government to fund his war effort, his endgame being to kill Makarov himself and usurp the glory, thus cementing his status as a national hero. Price and Soap learn of Shepherd's betrayal, and escape a battle between Shepherd's and Makarov's forces.
Price contacts Makarov on an open radio channel, where Makarov reluctantly reveals Shepherd's mountain base in Afghanistan. Price and Soap raid the base to take revenge on Shepherd in a suicide mission; during the infiltration, Shepherd attempts to escape on a boat, with Price and Soap in hot pursuit. At the climax of the pursuit, Shepherd sails into a helicopter, but Price shoots it down as he and Soap tumble over a waterfall. A dazed Soap stumbles towards the crash of the helicopter, and attempts to kill Shepherd, but is stabbed in the chest. When Price arrives and engages Shepherd in a fist fight, Soap pulls the knife out of his chest and throws it at Shepherd, killing him. Nikolai, who arrives to recover the duo, and Price evacuate Soap for medical attention.
violence, murder