Top 10 Call of Duty Moments

The guys who make these games definitely watch a lot of movies for inspiration, and why not? When going for the cinematic effect, why not borrow a bit from cinema. Well, borrowing more than just a bit from the classic scene in Enemy at the Gates, patient players are treated to some good old fashioned revenge, Stalingrad style.

Performing a nice piece of fanservice, or just to make sure you’d been paying attention, after the tragic death of Soap in Modern Warfare 3, a very pissed off captain Price demands to know why your character knows Makarov. Flashback to the a different perspective on key plot points from the last two games, were we discover that you, or rather, Uri, has been there all along…

Infinity Ward is not very subtle when it comes to what movies inspired some of the set pieces in their games, and nowhere is it more obvious than MW2. Clearly, they have seen The Rock a few times. From the scuba entrance by the navy seals, to the shootout in the Gulag shower room, right down to the mad dash with the flair in the white house, Michael Bay might want to call his lawyer.

When COD4 came out, the franchise had grown stale in WW2, and many figured the foray into modern times was the last death rattle before the series died for good. This was not the case. Every mission was pulse pounding excitement and breathtaking novelty, delivering moment after moment that gamers had never seen before. And among those, the Gillie suit levels stood out. After running around like a maniac for hours, this level turned down the pace took things real slow. I don’t know about you, but I held my breath as the tank almost ran me over.

Remember how we said that the guys who make these games have definitely used a lot of movies for their inspiration? Well clearly the bad guys in this scene had seen Dear Hunter as well. After getting so mad his accent cracks, Mason decides he’s not gonna go out like Walken and takes action. Ditty Mao this, motherfucker.

Playing Russian Air Marshall, when hijackers try to capture the President and his daughter you’re the only one who can try to stop them, because you’re the only one who can trigger the linear checkpoints. Seriously though, this is a standout scene in game that was trying a bit too hard to be epic. I think that much gunfire would result in catastrophic loss of cabin pressure pretty much right away, but if it did, you’d never live to see this part.

Vehicle sections are rarely fun. They were cool back in 1999 when that was new, but nowadays they generally end up feeling like fluff and filler. Although “Death From Above” was borderline offensive for just how close it came to the real thing, your ride in AC130 was just another example of how COD4 consistently delivered the unexpected with every level.

You know you’re at the end of a modern warfare game if your character is on the ground bleeding to death (well, probably). After the epic final shot in MW1, and the completely over the top knife throw in MW2, where could they possibly go? Well, through the roof of course. I think he’s dead.

Clearly, the folks at behind call of duty think it’s pretty epic to jump off a rooftop into a waiting helicopter, because you do it in pretty much every game. Technically, the modern warfare franchise is bookended by helicopter jumps, as the first Mission from #1 and the last mission from #3 both include them, making the epic helicopter jump a series trademark.

As mentioned before, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was full of surprises. And this was the kicker. It was just so shocking. Not only does a nuclear bomb go off in your face, but your character is left crawling around helplessly before expiring completely. After this, you knew nothing was off the table; nothing was safe, nothing was sacred.

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