Campaign
Unlike the first game, where they prioritize gritty realism with sparing bits of levity here and there, this game balances out the darker bits with lighter moments. Nearly every mission has at least one or more chuckle-worthy moments.- Kill or Capture
- As the team is under heavy fire in the fields from the safe house, they request a moderate amount of barrage from the chopper to get some guns off their backs a little bit. It's even punctuated that they "DO NOT. LEVEL. THE BUILDING." because Hassan might still be in there. The chopper duly complies; and all but levels the structure anyway.
- Ghost and Soap even wonder if they could identify what would be left of Hassan had he been killed there.
- As the team is under heavy fire in the fields from the safe house, they request a moderate amount of barrage from the chopper to get some guns off their backs a little bit. It's even punctuated that they "DO NOT. LEVEL. THE BUILDING." because Hassan might still be in there. The chopper duly complies; and all but levels the structure anyway.
- Wetwork
- Price and Gaz don wetsuits to stealthily infiltrate the docks. Price, despite providing no tactical advantage whatsoever, still wears his Boonie hat even when in the water.
- After Price and Gaz enter the barge, they proceed towards the lower deck, the entrance to which is basically a tight, small corridor, with Price already occupying the only place that provides cover. The fact that he opens the door without warning has made at least some players scream, "What the hell, Price?"; especially in the higher difficulties.
- Tradecraft
- Gaz knocks out one cartel member by inconspicuously jabbing him with a syringe and putting him on a bench, pretending that the poor bastard is too drunk and needs assistance.
- Borderline
- When you encounter civilians, you’re given a button prompt to deescalate conflict with them. That button prompt? The same as aiming down your sights.
- Hardpoint
- Crosses over Black Comedy and Video Game Cruelty Potential: In the previous AC-130 mission, you are strictly instructed to not fire upon buildings unless explicitly told to do so. In this mission, as soon as you wipe out the initial ambush and the ground team has taken refuge in the restaurant, you can level nearly every structure in this mission without any repercussions. That includes the marketplace, the gas station, an entire village up the hill, a school, and even the cemetery at the top of the hill. The only exceptions are the restaurant (duh) and the church.
- Hassan will not shut up with his spiel, much to the annoyance of everyone:Graves: Bravo 7-1, you are cleared hot to shut Hassan the hell up.
- Recon By Fire
- One of the optional dialogue choices is to ask Laswell how she and Price met. She starts trolling him by claiming they met near a street food vendor in Lebanon. Then she says it's a lie. She claims they met at an airport in Lisbon... and even that was a lie when Price hints it to Gaz. So, how did the two actually meet? She was trying to recruit him for an operation during a soccer game in London. And how did she get his attention? By repeatedly calling the game "soccer" instead of "football". Which annoys Price to no end.Price: [irritated] Football, Laswell...Laswell: Works every time.
- How Laswell likes to tell how the Op went down would make Big Boss proud. Apparently, Price placed a cardboard cow in the middle of the road, the enemy vehicle stopped to check, and the Captain just up and pulled the target out. Price calls out how oversimplified that version of the story is. This implies that it all still happened (cardboard cow and all) and there are still things left out from the story.
- Crosses with Heartwarming, but just the general chemistry between Price, Laswell, and Gaz emits pure family energy with the lighthearted banter. The above dialogue is akin to a kid asking his mother how she met his father. Bonus points for the culture clash jabs between the British Price and American Laswell, such as the soccer/football terminology and how the Brits didn't really do much cross-country running compared to their American counterparts.
- If you missed your shot during the sniping section, Price will quip if you've had your eyes checked recently.
- After taking out the guards outside the warehouse and hatchery, Price will instruct Gaz to go down and check the interiors, while he provides overwatch from a safe distance. All the dialogue options have Gaz try to weasel out of it. No matter what you pick, Price will still order you to do so anyway.
- After clearing the first building, five Heavily Armored Mooks will converge on your position. Price will count them as you or he kills them one by one.
- One of the optional dialogue choices is to ask Laswell how she and Price met. She starts trolling him by claiming they met near a street food vendor in Lebanon. Then she says it's a lie. She claims they met at an airport in Lisbon... and even that was a lie when Price hints it to Gaz. So, how did the two actually meet? She was trying to recruit him for an operation during a soccer game in London. And how did she get his attention? By repeatedly calling the game "soccer" instead of "football". Which annoys Price to no end.
- Violence and Timing
- When the helicopter Nikolai is piloting is hit with a missile, Gaz falls off to what is probably certain death had he not been strapped to a safety cable. Nikolai reports to Price that Gaz has died, only for Gaz to reply through the radio that he is hanging underneath the helicopter. Nikolai's reaction sells it:Nikolai: [in Russian] HOLY SHIT!!
- Gaz's reaction throughout the whole ordeal is to askew his usual British stuffiness and start cussing at the top of his lungs. An understandable reaction when during the sequence, he nearly gets taken out several times, including barely missing a box truck by a hair, not helped by ULF fighters wrecking AQ vehicles that (unintentionally) come too close for comfort, all while screaming at Nikolai to gain altitude and dealing with AQ shooters with just a pistol before he cuts himself loose onto a truck.
- When the helicopter Nikolai is piloting is hit with a missile, Gaz falls off to what is probably certain death had he not been strapped to a safety cable. Nikolai reports to Price that Gaz has died, only for Gaz to reply through the radio that he is hanging underneath the helicopter. Nikolai's reaction sells it:
- El Sin Nombre
- It wouldn't be Modern Warfare if someone didn't make fun of Soap's name at some point. And in this universe, it's actually the Las Almas Cartel that get in on it!Diego: [laughs] ¿Quién vergas se llama jabón?Translation
- Even Valeria gets her licks in, too:Diego: Su nombre es jabón. El nos buscó.Translation
Valeria: ¿Jabón? No mames.Translation
- Even Valeria gets her licks in, too:
- It wouldn't be Modern Warfare if someone didn't make fun of Soap's name at some point. And in this universe, it's actually the Las Almas Cartel that get in on it!
- Dark Waters
- One of the achievements involves killing a poor unsuspecting schmuck of a soldier while he's in the crapper. The level it takes place in just so happens to be called "Dark Water". But the name of the achievement itself? "A Crappy Way to Die".
- The fact that the containers are not secured properly and will start sliding back and forth across the deck makes one wonder who was the safety officer in charge and why it was given the all-clear to sail.
- The containers can accidentally kill enemy NPCs as well.
- Alone
- This might be the darkest mission of the reboot series so far, but Soap and Ghost's banter gives it a bit of levity. Highlights include:Ghost: What has two legs and bleeds?... Half a dog.*later in the mission*
Soap: I'm in the coffee shop.
Ghost: [over the radio] Get us a tea.
Soap: Fuckin' Brits. - Soap vocalizes what every player has been thinking when he encounters Heavily Armored Mook:Soap: [irritated] Give me a bloody break!!
- This might be the darkest mission of the reboot series so far, but Soap and Ghost's banter gives it a bit of levity. Highlights include:
- Prison Break
- As you are guiding Ghost through the cameras, you get him to a high position with a guard directly below him. How does he deal with it? By jumping on the poor sod and knifing him. Seems Ghost likes to play Assassin's Creed in his spare time.
- It's not like there's a tactical advantage to it over just shooting the guard. He just wanted to show off in front of Soap.
- As you are guiding Ghost through the cameras, you get him to a high position with a guard directly below him. How does he deal with it? By jumping on the poor sod and knifing him. Seems Ghost likes to play Assassin's Creed in his spare time.
- Ghost Team
- Depending on your skill and luck (or if you picked an RPG earlier), you can end the entire boss fight in just under 40 seconds, unintentionally making this an Anti-Climax Boss.
- Another unintentional example: Graves doesn't change his affable diction during his tank boss battle, no matter how much damage you caused beforehand. You can kill him anytime with enough damage, so it can unintentionally sound like he died mid-rant.
- And now we know why: he was never in the tank in the first place.
- Depending on your skill and luck (or if you picked an RPG earlier), you can end the entire boss fight in just under 40 seconds, unintentionally making this an Anti-Climax Boss.
- Countdown
- The achievement you get when you clear out the 3 floors while rappelling without getting spotted? Must Be The Wind.
- Price's reactions if you accidentally hit him with a flashbang.Price: Bloody hell, your aim is shite!
- In the epilogue, TF141 and Laswell are having a much-needed R&R in a bar. Everyone is in normal civilian casuals... except Ghost, who is such an edgelord, he still has his balaclava on (with a hoodie too). One has to wonder how he intends to drink and eat with that mask on.
Multiplayer
- Some of the friendly fire quotes.
- König: WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO SHOOT?!Hutch: Don't make me take that gun away!Roze: You failed basic?! Check fire!Calisto: Don't shoot me! Idiot!Zimo: Shoot them, not me!Gaz: Shoot me again, I return the favour!
- The inspect animation for the Bizon shows the character comically struggling to put the magazine back into battery. Further escalated with Season 5's Guardian where they get so mad that they angrily slap the magazine
back into place. - The KV Broadside is the first shotgun to support mounting underbarrel weapons. While it might make sense to have an underbarrel grenade launcher with your shotgun, it's a little more ludicrous to be able to fit your shotgun with an underbarrel shotgun◊...
- The inspect animations for the new Season 5 Reloaded pistol, the 9mm Daemon, have a lot going on. When there's still a round in the chamber the user will eject the round with the gun held sideways and the unfired round will land right on top of the slide before they stylishly flip it back into the chamber. If you've got no more rounds left then the user instead grabs the magazine in a reverse grip in their left hand and holds the pistol over it in the other hand, which imitates the hand positions of the Tactial Knife combo from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. They even playfully jab it a couple of times before reinserting it into the gun.
- If you empty inspect the TR-76 Geist the operator will perform a bunch of chamber checks (way more than necessary to ensure the weapon is unloaded) then give it a chef's kiss.
