History Awesome / ModernWarfare

** Yuri and Price storm the hotel where Makarov is hiding while Juggernaut armor and wielding PKP Pecheneg machine guns and M4A1 rifles with grenade launchers. After a full two games worth of feeling dread whenever one of those NighInvulnerable armored behemoths appear, now it's the bad guys' turn to run for their lives as their bullets bounce off harmlessly off of you while you rain a hail of death upon them with near impunity, the only tangible threats being the occasional RPG wielders that you can pick off with ease.

* The final mission, ''Dust to Dust''. Yuri and Price storm the hotel where Makarov is hiding while wearing Juggernaut armor. They reach the top, but a helicopter assault renders Yuri immobile, forcing Price to go after Makarov by himself. He reaches the helicopter and jumps on board, throws one pilot out, knifes the other, and then crashes the helicopter. Makarov and Price stumble out, and go for a pistol. Makarov reaches it, but then Yuri manages to reach the helipad and shoots Makarov up. Makarov guns Yuri down, but Price jumps on him, forces him down, [[{{NoHoldsBarredBeatdown}} beats the shit out of him]], wraps a cable around Makarov's throat, and smashes the glass they're laying on. End result: Makarov hanging like the criminal he is, and a dazed and battered Price staring at his corpse, before pulling out his lighter, lighting up a cigar, and having a good, long smoke. Pure awesome.

*** And the best part? When the name fades in and you're playing as Price. For the first time in two and a half games, you get to kick so much ass.
*** The clearing their name part begins to take effect earlier; during Bag n' Drag, the US get a positive ID on Price calling Sandman, yet they don't send anyone after Price (probably can't afford to at that point) and they actually ''listen'' to his Intel. Sandman can't exactly go after Volk on initiative, so Overlord had to know how he got that info, so he doesn't believe Price is guilty either, and lets Sandman return the call to set up Prague. Perhaps people are already beginning to realise that Shepherd's story has more holes in it than Zakhaev International Airport ''after'' the massacre.

** For the first part of the assault, you're wearing Juggernaut armor and wielding a machine gun. After a full two games worth of feeling dread whenever one of those armored behemoths appear, now it's the bad guys' turn to run for their lives.
** At the beginning of the mission: [''Objective: Kill Makarov.'' At the end, you've fought your way through hordes of Russians, lost Yuri to an armed Little Bird, duked it out with Makarov amid the wreckage of a helicopter, and now you're lying in the shattered hotel. The camera pans up, reveals [[NooseCatch Makarov's hanging corpse]], the player gets a moment or two to hold their breath, and then...

'''Outlaw Two-Five''': Roger that. [[FamousLastWords We know what we're getting into.]]

--->'''Shepherd''': We are the most powerful military force in the history of man. Every fight is our fight. Because what happens over here, matters over there. We don't get to sit one out. Learning to use the tools of modern warfare is the difference between the prospering of your people, and utter destruction. We can't give you freedom. But we can give you the know-how to acquire it. And that, my friends, is worth more than a whole army base of steel. Sure it matters who's got the biggest stick, but it matters a helluva lot more who's swinging it. This is a time for heroes. A time for legends. History is written by the victors. Let's get to work.

-->'''Command''': Copy, Two-Five. Be advised, you will ''not'' be at a safe distance in the event that nuke goes off. Do you understand?\\

*** Vasquez also gets an awesome line here:
---->'''Vasquez:''' We got ninety seconds, Jackson! Get the pilot! NoOneGetsLeftBehind!

** These two lines:

--->'''Price''': [[BadassBoast It won't help him.]] Take control of the lifts so he can't escape.
--->'''Nikolai''': I'm on it.

-->'''Price''': [''after knocking Roach down''] Soap?]]

* Along the same lines as the venerable Reznov, Sgt. Foley puts the badass into AuthorityEqualsAsskicking and then some. To start he's voiced by [[WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}} Keith]] [[Franchise/{{Halo}} Fucking ]] [[Franchise/MassEffect David]]. Then he's got a slew of awesome lines from "Get a grip, Corporal! Our weapons still work, which means we can still kick some ass!" when the EMP starts dropping helicopters down around them like hail and they're still outnumbered by the opposing Russians to "Take us up! If we're going down, we're taking those SAM sites with us!" when the chopper your squad is riding in is critically damaged, instead of trying to limp away. But the most awesome aspect of this truly awesome individual is how he takes his soldiers through one nightmare scenario after another and somehow manages to keep his men together and motivated throughout, and continually puts himself and his squad on the line to defend others. When a squad of Russians are bearing down on the weapons cache he's taken, and Command is telling him to get the hell out of Dodge, what does he say? "Forget saving ourselves, we're going to stay here and provide support for the fleeing civilians for as long as possible!" If Shepherd wanted to inspire the American people to stand up and fight, he should have just cloned a bunch of Sgt. Foleys and put them in command of every front-line unit;]] almost every moment in his presence is a Moment of Awesome.

-->'''Shepherd''': [[TheAce It's Price.]]]]

** Yuri gets a lot of disrespect, but he gets a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome right before and during the [[MoralEventHorizon "No]] [[KillEmAll Russian"]] flashback. He is being held by two Russian insurgents before Makarov pulls a gun on him. Yuri had [[HeelFaceTurn tried to tell as many authorities as possible]] what was going to happen at the airport, but Makarov found out and shoots him right before the airport massacre began.]] The CMOA comes in when Yuri, with a .50 caliber bullet in his upper torso, ''[[HeroicResolve gets the]] [[HeroicSecondWind hell]] [[TheDeterminator up]]'' and ''limps'' after Makarov as fast as he can, with the mission objective being simply "Stop The Massacre." He is unsuccessful, but damn if he didn't try.

* Sergeant Paul Jackson's [[spoiler:death in the middle of the nuclear wasteland]].

-->'''Command''': [[spoiler:Copy, Two-Five. Be advised, you will ''not'' be at a safe distance in the event that nuke goes off. Do you understand?]]\\
'''Outlaw Two-Five''': [[spoiler:Roger that. We know what we're getting into.]]
*** [[spoiler: They really didn't...]]

---->[[spoiler:"We got ninety seconds, Jackson! Get the pilot! ''No one'' gets left behind!"]]

*** It helps that the good Captain is ''not'' useless as in a stereotypical EscortMission; you can only walk if you're carrying him, but if you put him down he becomes a stationary turret, and once reaching the [[spoiler: Pripyat Ferris Wheel will no longer have to be carried, until your backup finally arrives, by which time the opposing gunmen should have been almost entirely neutralized]].

* ''Call of Duty 4''. "Game Over." [[spoiler:Cornered, surrounded, outnumbered, pinned on the bridge with an exploding gas tanker at your back. Enemy helicopters flying overhead, taunting you. Watching your squadmates killed one by one, executed by the BigBad himself, and then rolling over, seeing Captain Price sliding his sidearm out to you, giving you one last chance to kill the man he couldn't. And when the dust settles, the Loyalists arrive, and Kamarov is standing over you, frantically calling for aid and telling you "You are going to be alright, my friend!"]] So freaking badass.

* Speaking of Soap, he gets another Moment of Awesome while [[spoiler:chasing down Rojas, and NPC team mate Ghost calls out "He's getting away!" To which Soap calmly replies, "No he's not." And then, from above the player, Soap tackles Rojas through a window and onto the roof of a car, promptly getting to one knee with his pistol drawn.]] This man has [[TookALevelInBadass taken about twenty levels in badass]] since his last appearance.
* Okay, Private James Ramirez may not be as badass as Price or Soap, but he deserves some props for all the crap that went down in D.C. Saving "Raptor," protecting evacuees, taking out enemy anti-armor troops and even enemy armor, gunning down Russian troops while trapped inside a crashed helicopter, awesome. Then in ''Whiskey Hotel'', you manage to retake the White House ''without'' electronic supports (not even powered small arms optics), but have to ignite and frantically wave green flares atop the roof to (narrowly) prevent friendly air power from bombing your position. Anyways, as your squad gathers up on the roof and talks about payback (granted, they're all [[spoiler: [[UnwittingPawn pawns in Shepherd's plan]],]] but really awesome pawns at that) you look over the devastated city, and start to see green smoke rising over other famous D.C. landmarks; looks like Ivan may be in trouble, eh?

* "[[spoiler:PRICE]], DO YOU COPY? THE [[spoiler:SILO DOORS]] ARE OPEN, I REPEAT, THE [[spoiler:SILO DOORS]] ARE OPEN!"
** "Good."

** ''Oil Rig'' and ''Gulag'' are two of the better designed levels from ''Call of Duty'' that cleverly throw Riot Shield and Thermal Sight into play, making for more variety. [[spoiler:Then you get ''both'' of them combined in the final mission.]]

-->[[spoiler:'''Price:''']] Contact. Enemy patrol 30 meters to our front. Five men, automatic rifles, frag grenades. One German Shepherd.\\
'''Soap:''' Dogs... I hate dogs.\\
[[spoiler:'''Price:''']] These Russian dogs are like pussycats compared to the ones in Pripyat.\\
'''Soap:''' It's good to have you back, old man.\\
[[spoiler:'''Price:''']] Roger that.

* Soap's riot shield takedown: He runs up to the opposing baddie, smacks him down on the ground with the riot shield, and while the man on the ground is trying to recover, Soap takes out [[spoiler:Price's Colt. 45 from the last game]] and shoots him with it, looking very calm.
* [[spoiler: ''[[TitleIn "Of Their Own Accord"; Washington, D.C.]]'']]
* There's also the moment in the prison mission [[spoiler: where you find Captain Price alive.]] Doubles as a Crowning Moment of Funny.
-->[[spoiler: '''Price''': [''after knocking Roach down''] Soap?]]\\
'''Soap''' [''handing [[spoiler: Price]] a pistol'']: This belongs to you sir.\\
'''Worm''': Who's Soap?
** What makes this moment even better is that, as you will notice, that pistol is the 1911 [[spoiler: that Price passed to Soap so he could kill Zakhaev at the end of [=MW1=].]]
** Where did [[spoiler: Captain Price]] get his chain from? ''He was shackled with it.'' [[spoiler:After his prison is invaded, he takes the opportunity to choke his solitary guard, then when the breach occurs, moves him in front of the bullets without missing a beat if the player chooses to fire, then ''knocks the PC down'' and takes his gun. The subtitles going "Captain Price" is icing on the cake.]]

* Along the same lines as the venerable Reznov, Sgt. Foley puts the badass into AuthorityEqualsAsskicking and then some. To start he's voiced by [[WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}} Keith]] [[Franchise/{{Halo}} Fucking ]] [[Franchise/MassEffect David]]. Then he's got a slew of awesome lines from "Get a grip, Corporal! Our weapons still work, which means we can still kick some ass!" when [[spoiler:the EMP starts dropping helicopters down around them like hail and they're still outnumbered by the opposing Russians]] to "Take us up! If we're going down, we're taking those SAM sites with us!" when [[spoiler:the chopper your squad is riding in is critically damaged, instead of trying to limp away.]] But the most awesome aspect of this truly awesome individual is how he takes his soldiers through one nightmare scenario after another and somehow manages to keep his men together and motivated throughout, and continually puts [[strike:himself and his squad]] Ramirez on the line to defend others. [[spoiler:When a squad of Russians are bearing down on the weapons cache he's taken, and Command is telling him to get the hell out of Dodge, what does he say? "Forget saving ourselves, we're going to stay here and provide support for the fleeing civilians for as long as possible!" If Shepherd wanted to inspire the American people to stand up and fight, he should have just cloned a bunch of Sgt. Foleys and put them in command of every front-line unit;]] almost every moment in his presence is a Moment of Awesome.

* The ISS interactive cutscene. Remember how in the previous game, you watched [[spoiler: a nuclear explosion going off]]? Now, repeat the experience. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c8ZMlRfXYA In space.]]

** Possible CMOA goes to the original driver as well, Rook. Even though he's only driving a jeep against [[spoiler:Shadow Company technicals]], the fact that he can force vehicles so much heavier then the jeep without causing much damage to the jeep itself deserves praise.

* The [[BadassBoast speech]] given by [[spoiler:Captain Price]] in the opening cutscene of "Just Like Old Times", in response to [[spoiler:General Shepherd's betrayal]], is positively dripping with [[WarriorPoet poetic awesome]]:
-->"The healthy human mind doesn't wake up in the morning thinking this is its last day on Earth. But I think that's a luxury. Not a curse. To know you're close to the end is a kind of freedom. Good time to take...inventory. Outgunned. Outnumbered. Out of our minds. On a suicide mission. But the sand and the rocks here, stained with thousands of years of warfare...They will remember us. For this. Because out of all our vast array of nightmares, this is the one we choose for ourselves. We go forward like a breath exhaled from the Earth. With vigor in our hearts and one goal in sight: [[TranquilFury We. Will. Kill him.]]"
* [[spoiler: Price]] gets an indirect one in "Just Like Old Times".
-->[[spoiler: '''Shadow Company HQ''']]: Disciple Nine, you rear guard just flatlined!\\
'''Disciple 9''': Not possible. We just cleared that area. Nobody's that goo-\\
[[spoiler: '''Shepherd''': [[TheAce It's Price.]]]]

* Endgame, the climax. Your PlayerCharacter and his partner, [[spoiler: Captain "Soap" [=MacTavish=] and Captain Price]], who have been betrayed and tossed around by BigBad, [[spoiler:General Shepherd]], now branded as international criminals, finally gets one last chance of hunting him down and get their revenge. What follows is one of the most intense missions in the game.

[[spoiler:Shepherd]] will be a hero. 'cause all you need to change the world is one good lie and a river of blood.\\

** Immediately after that, the duo jumps into a mad, high-speed boat chase across Afghan river. They chase [[spoiler: Shepherd]], while taking fire from almost all directions. Nothing stops them as they dodge and evade rocket launchers and attack helicopters.
** Near the end of the river, [[spoiler: Shepherd]] manages to get himself on board a Pave Low helicopter. Does he get away? [[spoiler:Captain Price]] quietly expresses his disagreement...by shooting off the helicopter's fuse line, pretty much ''exploding'' the aircraft to the ground. This is even more impressive than how he shot down a helicopter back in [[spoiler:Prypiat]], considering that fuse line is much smaller than cockpit and that he was using only an assault rifle, rather than a sniper rifle. And he did this in just three shots. Unfortunately, they are unable to stop the boat because of the current and falls off a waterfall. [[spoiler:Soap]] wakes up, his vision all hazy and his guns gone. Even this does not stop him, who just coughs up a bit and gets his knife out and staggers his way to [[spoiler:Shepherd]].
** Now, [[spoiler:Shepherd]] deserves a massive props, not only surviving a helicopter crash, but also for when your character lunges at him, he proceeds to curb-stomp you, who are by now one of the deadliest soldiers in the world. Then he stabs you with his own knife, and gives a little speech while loading his revolver:
---> ''"Five years ago, I lost thirty-thousand men in the blink of an eye, and the world just fuckin' watched. But, tomorrow, there will be no shortage of patriots, no shortage of volunteers. I know you understand."''
*** While he is unmistakably the BigBad, the fact that he actually manages to execute his entire plan flawlessly [[spoiler: except for not surviving to see the results]] despite [[spoiler: Price]] throwing an honest-to-god SpannerInTheWorks is still damned impressive, even though we're not rooting for him.
** ''Just'' as he fires at [[spoiler:Soap]], [[spoiler:Price]] bodyslams him and kicks the gun off. [[spoiler: Soap]] crawls, ''with a knife still stuck in his chest'', to get the gun. Just as when he was about to get the gun, [[spoiler:Shepherd]] throws [[spoiler:Price]] off, kick the gun out of his reach and stomps him in the face.
** Then he proceeds to get into a fistfight with [[spoiler:Price]]...and ''overwhelms him.'' This is worth mentioning again: There is a character in this franchise who can actually beat up [[spoiler:Price]], who is shown, in all three games, capable of knocking soldiers out in one punch. ''This is the only time it ever happens in the entire franchise.''
** With [[spoiler:Soap]] lying helpless with a knife stuck in his chest and [[spoiler:Shepherd]] performing a facial surgery on [[spoiler:Price]] with his fists, all hopes seem to be lost. Then [[spoiler:Soap]] takes a look at the knife stuck in his chest. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw_htk-E1nk&t=46s With one of the most intense soundtrack in the game blaring]], he pulls the knife out of chest in a painfully agonizing way, with blood getting out of his body like a small red fountain. When he finally pulls it out, he gives it a playful twirl...and throws it at [[spoiler:Shepherd]]'s eyes, finishing him off for real. Let's repeat: [[spoiler:Soap]] just pulled out a knife out of his chest and killed the BigBad by throwing it at his face. Glorious.

* During the mission where you play as a Russian FSO agent, you [[spoiler: get into a zero gravity shoot-out with hijackers.]] ''Holy shit'' that is awesome.

* "Return to Sender" starts out as "fuck stealth, we'll kick in the front door before they can even react", and the absolutely ''massive'' firefight is a satisfying thing to see after [[spoiler:the chemical attacks on London.]] Price even drives that latter point home while interrogating Waraabe.
--> '''Price:''' Right then. [[AndThisIsFor This is for]] [[spoiler:the boys at Hereford.]]
** Fighting your way to the LZ before Waraabe's men kill you and/or the sandstorm overwhelms you? Eh, standard COD gameplay. Going to a secondary LZ? Seen this plot twist before. Wait a minute, did we actually see [[spoiler:Nikolai get shot down at the backup LZ]]? That was unexpected - OhCrap, now we've got to [[spoiler:get Nikolai out of there]] ''in the middle of the fucking sandstorm!''

* Price, after figuring out Yuri [[spoiler:worked for Makarov]] from [[spoiler:the now deceased Soap]], tells Yuri to open the door, spins Yuri around, and PUNCHES HIM DOWN THE ENTIRE STAIRCASE.

--->"[[spoiler: Soap]] [[BerserkButton trusted you! I thought I could too!]] So ''why'', in the bloody hell, does [[spoiler: Makarov know you]]?!"
** Yuri gets a lot of disrespect, but he gets a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome right before and during the [[spoiler: [[MoralEventHorizon "No]] [[KillEmAll Russian"]] flashback. He is being held by two Russian insurgents before Makarov pulls a gun on him. Yuri had [[HeelFaceTurn tried to tell as many authorities as possible]] what was going to happen at the airport, but Makarov found out and shoots him right before the airport massacre began.]] The CMOA comes in when Yuri, [[spoiler: with a .50 caliber bullet in his upper torso, ''[[HeroicResolve gets the]] [[HeroicSecondWind hell]] [[TheDeterminator up]]'' and ''limps'' after Makarov as fast as he can, with the mission objective being simply "Stop The Massacre."]] He is unsuccessful, but damn if he didn't try.

* In ''Down The Rabbit Hole'': [[spoiler: Team Metal's last stand. As a wounded Yuri fires at the hostiles, Grinch rolls over to dodge an RPG. Grinch drops his empty M14 and pulls out dual pistols and fires them at different directions. An RPG round nearly hits Sandman as he continues to fire. One hostile runs towards Truck, but Truck throws him over his shoulder and kills him. Another hostile runs towards Sandman, who takes out his knife and stabs him, and then throws it at another incoming hostile. He is wounded on his right arm, so he just e draws out his pistol with his free left hand and resumes firing. The fact that they all die really sucks, but they went out like total badasses]].
* The final mission, ''Dust to Dust''. Yuri and Price storm the hotel where Makarov is hiding [[spoiler: while wearing Juggernaut armor]]. They reach the top, but a helicopter assault renders Yuri immobile, forcing Price to go after Makarov by himself. He reaches the helicopter and [[spoiler: jumps on board, throws one pilot out, knifes the other, and then crashes the helicopter.]] Makarov and Price stumble out, and go for a pistol. [[spoiler: Makarov reaches it, but then Yuri manages to reach the helipad and shoots Makarov up. Makarov guns Yuri down, but Price jumps on him, forces him down, [[{{NoHoldsBarredBeatdown}} beats the shit out of him]], wraps a cable around Makarov's throat, and smashes the glass they're laying on.]] End result: [[spoiler: Makarov hanging like the criminal he is, and a dazed and battered Price staring at his corpse, before pulling out his lighter, lighting up a cigar, and having a good, long smoke.]] Pure awesome.
** Even the ''load screen'' for that final mission is awesome. In every other [=MW3=] mission using the Task Force 141 survivors [[spoiler: (even the one where Price is fighting alongside Sandman, instead of Sandman executing the "kill/capture" order still out on Price)]], the word "Disavowed" is superimposed over the old [=TF141=] emblem in the load screen, acknowledging their status as wanted men. In the last level, the [=TF141=] logo is shown ''unblemished''; Price has finally won. He's cleared their names. [[spoiler: If only Soap could have lived to see it.]]

*** [[spoiler: The clearing their name part begins to take effect earlier; during Bag n' Drag, the US get a positive ID on Price calling Sandman, yet they don't send anyone after Price (probably can't afford to at that point) and they actually ''listen'' to his Intel. Sandman can't exactly go after Volk on initiative, so Overlord had to know how he got that info, so he doesn't believe Price is guilty either, and lets Sandman return the call to set up Prague. Perhaps people are already beginning to realise that Shepherd's story has more holes in it than Zakhaev International Airport ''after'' the massacre.]]

--->'''Price:''' [[spoiler:This is for Soap.]]

--->'''Nikolai''': Makarov's got a small army in there!\\
'''Price''': [[BadassBoast It won't help him.]] Take control of the lifts so he can't escape.\\
'''Nikolai''': I'm on it.
** For the first part of the assault, you're [[spoiler:wearing Juggernaut armor]] and wielding a machine gun. After a full two games worth of feeling dread whenever one of those armored behemoths appear, now it's the bad guys' turn to run for their lives.
** At the beginning of the mission: [[spoiler:''Objective: Kill Makarov.'']] At the end, [[spoiler:you've fought your way through hordes of Russians, lost Yuri to an armed Little Bird, duked it out with Makarov amid the wreckage of a helicopter, and now you're lying in the shattered hotel. The camera pans up, reveals [[NooseCatch Makarov's hanging corpse]], the player gets a moment or two to hold their breath, and then...]]

*** The objective isn't marked completed until after [[spoiler:Makarov stops twitching]]. It's that little detail - Price [[MakeSureHesDead won't count the deed as done]] [[NoNonsenseNemesis until he makes sure it's done.]]

-->"The healthy human mind doesn't wake up in the morning thinking this is its last day on Earth. But I think that's a luxury. Not a curse. To know you're close to the end is a kind of freedom. Good time to take...inventory. Outgunned. Outnumbered. Out of our minds. On a suicide mission. But the sand and the rocks here, stained with thousands of years of warfare...They will remember us. For this. Because out of all our vast array of nightmares, this is the one we choose for ourselves. We go forward like a breath exhaled from the Earth. With vigor in our hearts and one goal in sight: We. Will. Kill him."

*** A bit of a CMOA for the chopper pilot at the end of the first level. After you shoot down the final Hind, the crashing Russian copter slams into your Black Hawk, which immediately starts spinning out, with alarms blaring and your character frantically trying not to get tossed out. But then, unlike every other example in this trilogy of a chopper you're in losing control, the pilot actually pulls the stricken Black Hawk out of its death spiral, stabilizes and flies you & your team out of the mission intact. Hell, the pilot himself is an unsung badass. He's the pilot of a ''cargo chopper,'' which is armed with naught but a pair of miniguns, and when a small formation of Hind helicopters (infamous for their well-earned nickname, "the Flying Tank") pounces upon him, he ''chases them down'', dogfighting them and trusting ''you'' to do the shooting. And he ''wins.''

*** A bit of a CMOA for the chopper pilot at the end of the first level. After you shoot down the final Hind, the crashing Russian copter slams into your Black Hawk, which immediately starts spinning out, with alarms blaring and your character frantically trying not to get tossed out. But then, unlike every other example in this trilogy of a chopper you're in losing control, the pilot actually pulls the stricken Black Hawk out of its death spiral, stabilizes and flies you & your team out of the mission intact.

*** And he's a character who '''runs''' at a Russian convoy of more than two dozen men to dive under a truck and '''not''' get noticed. Yes, that's right: [=MacMillan=] '''runs at a convoy of trucks surrounded by two dozen armed soldiers so that he can sneak under the vehicles, and does not get discovered'''. [[Franchise/MetalGear Solid Snake]] would be proud.

[[spoiler: '''Shepherd''': It's Price.]]
** The implication? [[spoiler: Captain Price is that good.]]

** Made even more awesome when a random NPC delivers the following simple line at the resolution of the above-mentioned Moment of Awesome: "So when we goin' to Moscow?" Corporal Dunn, who, up until this point, had been your obligatory DeadpanSnarker and apparent {{Expy}} of Hudson from ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', responds to that line with this one: "Not soon enough, man. But I know we're gonna burn it down when we get there." It's also a meta-CrowningMomentOfFunny for anyone who recognizes that Dunn's voice actor is Barry Pepper, whose last notable videogame role was [[VideoGame/{{Prototype}} someone who could single-handedly accomplish this in bloody fashion.]]

** Yuri gets a lot of disrespect, but he gets a CrowningMomentOfAwesome right before and during the [[spoiler: [[MoralEventHorizon "No]] [[KillEmAll Russian"]] flashback. He is being held by two Russian insurgents before Makarov pulls a gun on him. Yuri had [[HeelFaceTurn tried to tell as many authorities as possible]] what was going to happen at the airport, but Makarov found out and shoots him right before the airport massacre began.]] The CMOA comes in when Yuri, [[spoiler: with a .50 caliber bullet in his upper torso, ''[[HeroicResolve gets the]] [[HeroicSecondWind hell]] [[TheDeterminator up]]'' and ''limps'' after Makarov as fast as he can, with the mission objective being simply "Stop The Massacre."]] He is unsuccessful, but damn if he didn't try.

** With [[spoiler:Soap]] lying helpless with a knife stuck in his chest and [[spoiler:Shepherd]] performing a facial surgery on [[spoiler:Price]] with his fists, all hopes seem to be lost. Then [[spoiler:Soap]] takes a look at the knife stuck in his chest.[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw_htk-E1nk&t=46s With one of the most intense soundtrack in the game blaring]], he pulls the knife out of chest in a painfully agonizing way, with blood getting out of his body like a small red fountain. When he finally pulls it out, he gives it a playful twirl...and throws it at [[spoiler:Shepherd]]'s eyes, finishing him off for real. Let's repeat: [[spoiler:Soap]] just pulled out a knife out of his chest and killed the BigBad by throwing it at his face. Glorious.

For all its criticism, it's hard to deny that VideoGame/ModernWarfare trilogy had some of the most spectacular moments in modern FPS games.

* 'Crew Expendable' maybe the easiest mission bar the AC-130, but it's amazing - the setting on the horrible Bering Sea is brilliantly done, picking off the unaware and drunken crew, and that desperate escape from the sinking ship is pretty intense. Also sets up Price as the badass of the series, saving Soap twice in the space of two minutes.

* Speaking of [[spoiler:Soap]], he gets another Moment of Awesome much earlier while [[spoiler:chasing down Rojas, and NPC team mate Ghost calls out "He's getting away!" To which Soap calmly replies, "No he's not." And then, from above the player, Soap tackles Rojas through a window and onto the roof of a car, promptly getting to one knee with his pistol drawn.]] This man has [[TookALevelInBadass taken about twenty levels in badass]] since his last appearance.

* In "Cliffhanger", after meeting up with Captain Mactavish behind the hanger you sneak in. Suddenly Mactavish starts sprinting down the hall and body-checks a guard into the lockers at the far end, knocking him to the ground where the good Captain proceeds to knife him.

** ''Oil Rig'' and ''Gulag'' is one of the better gameplay design from ''Call of Duty'' that cleverly throw Riot Shield and Thermal Sight into play, making for more variety. [[spoiler:Then you get ''both'' of this combined in final mission.]]
* This exchange from [=MW2=]:

* [[spoiler: Price]] gets an indirect one in "Just Like Old Times".
-->[[spoiler: '''Shadow Company HQ''']]: Disciple Nine, you rear guard just flatlined!\\
'''Disciple 9''': Not possible. We just cleared that area. Nobody's that goo-\\
[[spoiler: '''Shepherd''': "It's Price."]]
** The implication? [[spoiler: Captain Price is that good.]]
* There's also the moment earlier in the prison mission [[spoiler: where you find Captain Price alive.]] Doubles as a Crowning Moment of Funny.

* The ISS interactive cutscene. Remember how in the previous game, you watched [[spoiler: a nuclear explosion going off]]?Now, repeat the experience. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c8ZMlRfXYA In space.]]
* The [[BadassCreed speech]] given by [[spoiler:Captain Price]] in the opening cutscene of "Just Like Old Times", in response to [[spoiler:General Shepherd's betrayal]], is positively dripping with [[WarriorPoet poetic awesome]]:
-->"The healthy human mind doesn't wake up in the morning thinking this is its last day on Earth. But I think that's a luxury. Not a curse. To know you're close to the end is a kind of freedom. Good time to take...inventory. Outgunned. Outnumbered. Out of our minds. On a suicide mission. But the sand and the rocks here, stained with thousands of years of warfare...They will remember us. For this. Because out of all our vast array of nightmares, this is the one we choose for ourselves. We go forward like a breath exhaled from the Earth. With vigor in our hearts and one goal in sight: We. Will. Kill him."

* Safehouse. When you breech the room the top floor, one final Ultranationalist will pop out after the "slow-mo" effects end. Occasionally, he'll even have you dead to rights. He is however then gunned down Scarecrow. Not bad for a MauveShirt. Even better in that Ghost didn't tell him to go up there with you, so his being there is a surprise.
* The start of Team Player. PFC. Allen is lying on the ground in a daze, and the first thing he sees is [[FourStarBadass General Shepherd]] calmly fighting on the front lines with nothing but a [[HandCannon .44 Magnum revolver]] when Shepherd notices the shell-shocked Allen. With [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z_4e678TNk this]] playing in the background, Shepherd promptly drags Allen back to consciousness and sends him in to start kicking ass with this quote. Welcome to ''Modern Warfare 2'', ladies and gentlemen.
-->'''Shepherd''': [[HeroicSecondWind Get up, Private Allen!]] [[BadassCreed Rangers lead the way!]] MOVE!
** The mission is introduced with a RousingSpeech from Shepherd that's guaranteed to win over any soldier (or player, for that matter).
--->'''Shepherd''': We are the most powerful military force in the history of man. Every fight is our fight. Because what happens over here, matters over there. We don't get to sit one out. Learning to use the tools of modern warfare is the difference between the prospering of your people, and utter destruction. We can't give you freedom. But we can give you the know-how to acquire it. And that, my friends, is worth more than a whole army base of steel. Sure it matters who's got the biggest stick, but it matters a helluva lot more who's swinging it. This is a time for heroes. A time for legends. History is written by the victors. Let's get to work.

---> '''Sandman:''' You should know Uncle Sam's got a Kill/Capture order on your head.
---> '''Price:''' [[BadassBoast Tell 'em to join the bloody queue]].

** Oh, Price doesn't just punch him down the stairs. He walks down the stairs after him cocking a pistol, then holds it to Yuri's head, saying the following:
-->"[[spoiler: Soap]] [[BerserkButton trusted you! I thought I could too! So ''why'', in the bloody hell, does]] [[spoiler: Makarov know you]]?!"

---> '''Yuri''': "I was a soldier of Russia. ''[[DefectorFromDecadence Not a taker]] [[NeverHurtAnInnocent of innocent lives.]]''"

*** [[spoiler: The clearing their name part begins to take effect earlier; during Bag n' Drag, the US get a positive ID on Price calling Sandman, yet they don't send anyone after Price (probably can't afford to at that point) and they actually ''listen'' to his Intel. Sandman can't exactly go after Volk on initiative, so Overlord had to know how he got that info, so he doesn't believe Price is guilty either, and lets Sandman return the call to set up Prague. Perhaps people are already beginning to realise that Shepard's story has more holes in it than Zakhaev International Airport ''after'' the massacre.]]

-->'''Price:''' [[spoiler:This is for Soap.]]

-->'''Nikolai''': Makarov's got a small army in there!
-->'''Price''': [[BadassBoast It won't help him.]] Take control of the lifts so he can't escape.
-->'''Nikolai''': I'm on it.

-->''Objective Completed.''

--->[[spoiler:"We got ninety seconds, Jackson! Get the pilot! ''No one'' gets left behind!"]]

*** As icing on the cake, that mission strongly implies that [=MacMillan=]'s legs have been fucked up permanently... until Modern Warfare 3 reveals that not only did he recover, he is now the ColonelBadass commanding the SAS, ''and'' he sends Price gear and intel to hunt Makarov.
--->'''Price''': "You still owe me for Pripyat. I'm calling it in."
--->'''[=MacMillan=]''': "Easy, son."

** Game Over was a crowning moment for the game as a whole. It's what set it apart from the other modern warfare games where everything has to end happily or narrowly. When's the last time you saw a disaster of this proportion happen?

-->'''SAS Operative 1:''' We go in deep, and we go in hard.
-->'''SAS Operative 2:''' Surely you can't be serious.
-->'''SAS Operative 1:''' [[Film/{{Airplane}} I'm serious, and don't call me Shirley.]]

---> [[spoiler:'''Price:''']] Contact. Enemy patrol 30 meters to our front. Five men, automatic rifles, frag grenades. One German Shepherd.
---> '''Soap:''' Dogs... I hate dogs.
---> [[spoiler:'''Price:''']] These Russian dogs are like pussycats compared to the ones in Pripyat.
---> '''Soap:''' It's good to have you back, old man.
---> [[spoiler:'''Price:''']] Roger that.

* [[spoiler: Price]] gets an indirect one in "Just Like Old Times"
--->[[spoiler: '''Shadow Company HQ''']]: "Disciple Nine, you rear guard just flatlined!"
--->'''Disciple 9''': "Not possible. We just cleared that area. Nobody's that goo-"
--->[[spoiler: '''Shepherd''': "It's Price."]] The implication? [[spoiler: Captain Price is that good.]]
* There's also the moment earlier in the prison mission [[spoiler: where you find Captain Price alive.]] Doubles as a [=Crowning Moment of Funny=].
-->[[spoiler: '''Price''': [''after knocking Roach down''] Soap?]]
--> '''Soap''' [''handing [[spoiler: Price]] a pistol'']: This belongs to you sir.
--> '''Worm''': Who's Soap?

-->This is for the record.
-->[[MeaningfulEcho History is written by the victor.]]
-->''History is filled with liars.''
-->If he lives, and we die, his truth becomes written - and ours is lost.
-->[[spoiler:Shepherd]] will be a hero. 'cause all you need to change the world is one good lie and a river of blood.
-->He's about to complete the greatest trick a liar ever played on history.
-->His truth will be the truth.
-->But only if he lives, and we die.

--->'''Shepherd''': "[[HeroicSecondWind Get up, Private Allen!]] [[BadassCreed Rangers lead the way!]] MOVE!"

-->'''Gaz:''' We go in deep, and we go in hard.
-->'''SAS:''' Surely you can't be serious.
-->'''Gaz:''' [[Film/{{Airplane}} I'm serious, and don't call me Shirley.]]

* The final mission of ''Modern Warfare 3''. Yuri and Price storm the hotel where Makarov is hiding [[spoiler: while wearing Juggernaut armor]]. They reach the top, but a helicopter assault renders Yuri immobile, forcing Price to go after Makarov by himself. He reaches the helicopter and [[spoiler: jumps on board, throws one pilot out, knifes the other, and then crashes the helicopter.]] Makarov and Price stumble out, and go for a pistol. [[spoiler: Makarov reaches it, but then Yuri manages to reach the helipad and shoots Makarov up. Makarov guns Yuri down, but Price jumps on him, forces him down, [[{{NoHoldsBarredBeatdown}} beats the shit out of him]], wraps a cable around Makarov's throat, and smashes the glass they're laying on.]] End result: [[spoiler: Makarov hanging like the criminal he is, and a dazed and battered Price staring at his corpse, before pulling out his lighter, lighting up a cigar, and having a good, long smoke.]] Pure awesome.

*** [[spoiler: The clearing their name part begins to take effect earlier; during Bag n' Drag, the US get a positive ID on Price calling Sandman, yet they don't send anyone after Price (probably can't afford to at that point) and they actually ''listen'' to his Intel. Sandman can't exactly go after Volk on initiative, so Overlord had to know how he got that info, so he doesn't believe Price is guilty either, and lets Sandman return the call to set up Prague. Perhaps people are already beginning to realise that Shepard's story has more holes in it than Zhakaev International Airport ''after'' the massacre.]]
** The loading screen features Capt. Price calling Makarov, and telling him [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge he's coming for him]]. Makarov is seemingly nonplussed, telling Price "I've destroyed your world... It's only a matter of time before I find you". Price's response before hanging up? [[TranquilFury A cool, almost detached "You won't have to look far...."]] The mission ''immediately'' starts from there, with the implication that Price made that phone call ''from outside the building''. Stealth be damned, one way or another, Makarov's time is up.

-->Price:[[spoiler:This is for Soap.]]

-->'''Yuri''': Makarov will have an army in there.
-->'''Price''': [[BadassBoast It won't help him.]]

--->'''Shepherd''': We are the most powerful military force in the history of man. Every fight is our fight. Because what happens over here, matters over there. We don't get to sit one out. Learning to use the tools of modern warfare is the difference between the prospering of your people, and utter destruction. We can't give you freedom. But we can give you the know-how to acquire it. And that, my friends, is worth more than a whole army base of steel. Sure it matters who's got the biggest stick, but it matters a helluva lot more who's swinging it. This is a time for heroes. A time for legends. Let's get to work.

** Is it Andrei Harkov in the Special Ops mission "Hostage Taker"? [[spoiler: If so, then doubly impressive, seeing as he was just shot twice by Vladimir Makarov... with [[HandCannon a Desert Eagle.]]]]
*** [[spoiler: Harkov was shot right by the helicopter, while our hero here is about 20-30 feet away from said helicopter, so it's likely not Harkov. Still, this unknown FSO guy still managed to get Alena out of danger while himself seriously wounded. Still Badass.]]

* How the battle of New York ends. America pushes the Russians back into the harbor, and sends Team Metal to board the Russian command sub. Sandman and Frost board the sub and kill everyone on board, and then ''launch the subs missiles at the rest of the Soviet fleet.'' Even better, you get to race through the harbor as their fleet explodes around you. This pretty much ends the Russian invasion of the US.

*** The objective isn't marked completed until after [[spoiler:Makarov stops twitching]]. It's that little detail - Price won't count the deed as done until he makes sure it's done.