History VideoGame / CallOfDuty4ModernWarfare

* ExcusePlot: The entire directive of the Marines side of the campaign is a bunch of tangential skirmishes in their hunt for Al-Asad. It's never explained ''why'' they're effectively invading an entire nation for one man besides his coup d'état that executed an allied leader on national television. This is intentional; their very first mission mocks their lack of solid intel going in that led to an empty lead of a broadcast station, and [[spoiler:Al-Asad was [[DirtyCoward never present to begin with]], allowing him to kill 30,000 Marines and devastate the region while rendering their entire sub-plot a tragic AllForNothing.]] The SAS, and eventually a joint task force with the Marines, are the ones pursuing the real plotline the entire time.

* ExcusePlot: The entire directive of the Marines side of the campaign is a bunch of tangential skirmishes in their hunt for Al-Asad. It's never explained ''why'' they're effectively invading an entire nation for one man besides his coup d'état that executed an allied leader on national television. This is intentional; their very first mission mocks their lack of solid intel going into the mission, and [[spoiler:Al-Asad was [[DirtyCoward never present to begin with]], allowing him to kill 30,000 Marines and devastate the region, rendering their entire sub-plot AllForNothing.]] The SAS, and eventually a joint task force with the Marines, are the ones pursuing the real plotline the entire time.

* ShortLivedAerialEscape: Has it twice for the heroes. First, the SAS's extraction chopper gets shot down in the Russian countryside after rescuing Nikolai, then the Marine protagonist's heli gets knocked out of the sky by a nuclear blast wave, [[KillEmAll killing everyone on board]] including the player character [[ShootTheShaggyDog and the pilot they just rescued]].

** The opening sequence of "Charlie Don't Surf" depicts US Marines flying into combat aboard Blackhawk helicopters, however the Marine Corps is the only branch of the the US military that does ''not'' operate any version of the Blackhawk. Interestingly, later levels depict them using CH-46 Sea Knights, the actual helicopter used for troop transport by the Marines at the time the game was released.

** The game's multiplayer experience is also heavily modified in its sequels. It features three fixed killstreaks (UAV, bombing run from jets, and attack helicopter), equippable night vision goggles, and an equipment system that was heavily reworked in sequels (the first perk in ''Call of Duty 4'' just gives you extra equipment like an RPG or claymores, for example). The system for attachments is also much more bare-bones, with much fewer options than later games (the only options are any one from the list of a red dot sight, ACOG, suppressor, foregrip, or GrenadeLauncher), many specific to or restricted from certain weapon types (only machine guns and shotguns can get the foregrip, while neither can use the suppressor and sniper rifles can't use anything except the ACOG) and some reacting with the perk system in ways they don't in later games (the grenade launcher and grip are counted as extra equipment, thus taking away your first perk). [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Also]], the AK-47 is one of the first guns unlocked, rather than being restricted until hitting the final rank - here, that honor goes to the [[BlingBlingBang Golden Desert Eagle]].

* FadeToWhite: Happens twice: at the end of "Aftermath" when [[spoiler: Sgt. Paul Jackson]] dies, and once [[spoiler: Soap]] loses consciousness in the final mission, "Game Over", while being lifted into a helicopter.

* ShotForShotRemake: The 2016 recreation is called a "Remaster", but is more of a complete remake, given that it was completely rebuilt from the ground up with new code and assets but remaining completely faithful to the original's story and gameplay. Improvements include modern graphics, support for modern features such as 4k and ultrawide resolutions, gameplay improvements such as the addition of (optional) hit markers, and the addition of certain subtle details tying into the plot of later games in the series, such as the ability to [[spoiler: kill Makarov and create a ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3''-style Time Paradox]] in Pripyat.

* ShotForShotRemake: The 2016 recreation is called a "Remaster", but is more of a complete remake, given that it was completely rebuilt from the ground up with new code and assets. Improvements include modern graphics, support for modern features such as 4k and ultrawide resolutions, and the addition of certain subtle details tying into the plot of later games in the series, such as the ability to [[spoiler: kill Makarov and create a ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3''-style Time Paradox]] in Pripyat.

** ''[=CoD4=]'' is noticeably different from the later two games, the last bit of refinement before ''Modern Warfare 2''. Most obviously, it was sold under the title ''Call of Duty [[NumberedSequels 4]]'', which was later [[ArtifactTitle mostly phased out]] due to [[ExecutiveMeddling the franchise's split between Treyarch and Infinity Ward]]. Its campaign switches between little more than [[{{Ruritania}} the Russian countryside]] and [[{{Qurac}} a hostile, unnamed Islamic country]], as opposed to [[UsefulNotes/{{Brazil}} the]] [[SlippySlideyIceWorld more]] [[InvadedStatesOfAmerica varied]] [[DarkestAfrica environments]] of the series' later two installments. This, combined with their heavy use of RuleOfCool, may explain why some of ''[=CoD4=]''[='=]s gritty realism feels lost in its sequels. It also featured "Arcade Mode" and unlockable campaign cheats, which were nowhere to be found in later installments.

* ZeeRust: In the years since its release, many things in the game are not so "Modern Warfare" anymore, such as the CH-46 Sea Knight, which has been retired by the USMC, and the Interceptor Body Armor vest worn by the USMC in game was suceeded by the Modular Tactical Vest the year after the game's release.

** Zahkaev's forces use the N variant of the Mi-28 Havoc for air cover in the Chernobyl missions, despite them taking place in 1996, a few months before the prototype for that variant saw its first flight. Strangely, in the rest of the game where the Havoc actually existed in enough numbers for the Ultranationalists to have a few, they're the only non-playable faction that ''doesn't'' have them.

* WarIsHell: The part where you play as a soldier crawling around just before dying from the aftereffects of a nuclear explosion to show just how terrible war can be. The worst part of that one scene hits so much harder because of the level before, and the reason you're not at a safe distance. You stick around to rescue a downed pilot, because "NoOneGetsLeftBehind", and [[HopeSpot it seems like things will turn out well]]. And then '''''NUKE''''', ruining any hopes of a happy ending. [[HopeSpot Despair hits so much harder when it has hope to contrast with.]]

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The game takes place in 2011 (four years after it was released in the real world).

* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: In the last act of the game, you [[spoiler: save at least 15 million people, kill a major international figure, and watch your friends die. It's written off as missile tests and minor skirmishes between the Russian government and the ultranationalist faction. Only you and a handful of others, either in the highest echelons of NATO or on-site, know the truth.]]

* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: Our playable characters Jackson and Soap are members of the U.S. Marine Corps' Force Recon and the British S.A.S, respectively.

** In "Hunted," the informant Nikolai will have to be escorted through a wilderness; fortunately, he's good enough at defending himself with his AK-47u and gains GameplayAllyImmortality (not too shabby for an emaciated guy captured for God-knows-how-long). In the "One Shot, One Kill" mission an injured Captain's support fire is apparently quite effective... however, he can be killed, and he is immobile; he can't move around unless you carry him, leaving you unable to do anything except walk around (no sprinting) and putting him down.

* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: In the last act of the game, you [[spoiler: save at least 15 million people, kill a major international figure, and watch your friends die. It's written off as missile tests and skirmishes. Only you and a handful of others, either in the highest echelons of NATO or on-site, know the truth.]]

* LevelInReverse: "Heat", uses the same level data as the previous "Safehouse", only during daytime and for the most part played backwards.

* {{Qurac}}: The "small but oil-rich" country" in the Middle East Al-Asad takes over. The pre-mission briefings show where in the Middle East various missions take place, but they take care to spread them over the geographic locations of several different real-life countries. For example,the unnamed capital city that you spend much of the first half of the game fighting in is either on the west coast of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain (on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula), near Riyadh in central Arabia, or the Iran-Iraq border. Its overthrown president, Al-Fulani, is named the Arabic equivalent of "John Doe".

* SinkingShipScenario: In the first mission, the cargo ship you're raiding is bombed by enemy planes and you have to run through the flooding and collapsing cargo hold to get topside, where you must make a LeapOfFaith to a helicopter.

* ANuclearError: In the last few levels, two RT-2UTTH Topol-M ballistic missiles are launched from a facility in southern Russia in the Caucasus Mountains, and the SAS and USMC race against time to disable the missiles in flight before they impact targets in the U.S. and kill 41 million people. However, by the time the abort codes are entered, the missiles have already jettisoned their first rocket stages and the delivery vehicle has already split into their individual warheads, with each warhead already in the terminal phase. The nature of ballistic missiles does not allow them to be disabled or aborted once launched; once the authorization codes have been entered, launch protocols executed and missiles have launched from their silos, all communications are automatically cut off in order to prevent hacking or disabling by enemy forces; there is ''no'' way to transmit abort codes or self-destruct orders. The only way to stop an ICBM once it has launched is to intercept with fighter aircraft and destroy it before it hits the boost phase. Since the Topol-Ms have already long exited boost phase and have entered the terminal phase of their launch sequence, there is nothing stopping those 12 550kt MIRV warheads from striking their targets.

* OutrunningTheFireball: Averted. When the nuclear warhead in Al-Asad's headquarters is detonated, the US Marines are unable to outfly the resulting blast in their helicopters -- let alone outrun it -- and they all die in the process.

* UnexpectedGameplayChange: "All Ghillied Up" and "DeathFromAbove". The former is largely a StealthBasedMission where going in guns-a-blazing will quickly you killed, the latter has you controlling an [[GunShipRescue AC-130 gunship]] and its weapons.

* DummiedOut:
** Hackers have found a surprisingly large amount of abandoned content, including different reticule images for every rifle scope (in the released version, all rifle scopes use "scope_overlay_m40a3," but there are ''seven'' others, including two for the M21), [[http://callofduty.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Call_of_Duty_4_Cancelled_Levels several abandoned levels]] including one where the player would have controlled an attack helicopter, and the [=AT4=] rocket launcher, which is in the game but never accessible without cheating.
** There are other clues about the developer's original intentions hidden within dummied-out weapons - two, the "Brick Blaster" and "Select a location", seem to indicate that QuickMelee would have still involved bashing people across the face with your gun rather than the newly-added knife.

In the year [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2011]], a civil war breaks out in Russia between its government and Ultranationalists led by Imran Zakhaev, who seek to restore Russia to its Soviet-era glamor. At the same time, a separatist group seizes control of a Middle Eastern country through a coup d'état. You play as two characters; a [[SemperFi U.S. Marine]] named Paul Jackson and a British Special Air Service operative named John "Soap" MacTavish, taking part in these conflicts.

In the year [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2011]], a civil war breaks out in Russia between its government and Ultranationalists led by Imran Zakhaev, who seek to restore Russia to its Soviet-era glamor. At the same time, a separatist group seizes control of a Middle Eastern country through a coup d'état. You play as two characters: a [[SemperFi U.S. Marine]] and a British Special Air Service operative taking part in these conflicts.

* UnexpectedGameplayChange: "All Ghillied Up" and "DeathFromAbove". The latter is largely a StealthBasedMission where going in guns-a-blazing will quickly you killed, the latter has you controlling an [[GunShipRescue AC-130 gunship]] and its weapons.

In the year [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2011]], a civil war breaks out in Russia between its government and Ultranationalists who seek to restore Russia to its Soviet-era glamor. In the meantime, a separatist group seizes control of a Middle Eastern country through a coup d'état. You play as two characters: a [[SemperFi U.S. Marine]] and a British Special Air Service operative taking part in these conflicts.