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The 10 Best Call Of Duty Moments Ever | GamesRadar
GamesRadar
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2 months ago
Here’s the 10 best moments in Call of Duty history.
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00:00
Since the original Call of Duty the campaigns have been putting us in the boots of larger
00:11
than life soldiers in some of the most intense combat moments you could imagine. Now it's
00:15
time to reflect on some of the most memorable moments that have defined the series. Here
00:19
are the 10 best moments in Call of Duty history and, of course, there are spoilers ahead.
00:24
Hijacked plane sequence. Turbulence. Modern Warfare 3. And there we were thinking Modern Warfare's
00:30
breathless, aeroplane-based bonus mission Mile High Club was pretty special. But then Modern
00:35
Warfare 3's Turbulence comes along and takes in-flight combat to the next level. Protecting
00:40
the Russian President from hijackers in the claustrophobic space of a jet is high-stakes
00:45
stuff on its own. Then the engines stall and the dive sends you into a sequence of zero-gravity
00:50
shooting and a crash landing that rips the air fuselage in two. This is true action film
00:55
stuff.
00:56
De-Nazifying the woods. The forest. Call of Duty 3. A wonderfully paced rising crescendo
01:01
of a level. At first requiring a softly softly snipey snipey approach with the relative peacefulness
01:06
of the forest creating an edgy atmosphere. Then it kicks things up a notch with the battle
01:10
intensifying as it moves between tight burrow-like trenches and wide open spaces. Finally, and in
01:16
complete contrast to the cautious way the mission starts, you're given a mortar to play with,
01:20
allowing you to merrily blow apart any of Hitler's helmeted hobgoblins unfortunate enough
01:25
to still be lurking in the forest.
01:27
The Airport Massacre. No Russian. Modern Warfare 2.
01:30
Best is perhaps not quite the right word for this entry, but it's undoubtedly one of the
01:35
series' most effective, affecting missions. No Russian places you in the shoes of an undercover
01:40
agent in a terrorist cell. Quickly you'll understand just what that asks of you. You enter an airport
01:45
and are told to mow down everyone you see, regardless of who they are. It's a video game
01:49
mission that sparked protest, academic study and genuine soul-searching, and there's
01:54
very little else like it in the medium.
01:56
Beach Landing. The Battle of Pointe du Hoc. Call of Duty 2.
01:59
This starts with a fellow soldier in the landing craft having a fear-induced puke. Quickly followed
02:04
by the sound of bullets whizzing through the air, then clouds of red mist as those bullets
02:08
thud into flesh. Soldiers fall to the ground, spray from a near-miss explosion obscures your view,
02:13
then the ramp is down and you're running onto the beach. Cue the semi-deafened, shell-shocked
02:17
horror-of-war moment as you survey the scene around you. When you regain your senses, the
02:22
metaphorical implications of the vertical cliff face ahead of you become very apparent.
02:27
Your role to this point is one of spectator, but it's still a breathless couple of minutes.
02:31
Getting Revenge. Dust to Dust. Modern Warfare 3. Makarov haunted the Modern Warfare sub-series
02:36
from its first instalment, and Dust to Dust is the perfect send-off for the bastard. Playing
02:41
as mustachioed death merchant Captain Price, you stomp through his defences in a juggernaut
02:45
suit, hijack and crash his escape helicopter, wrap a cord around his neck, ride his body
02:50
to ground level through a shattering skylight, then enjoy a cheeky cigar while you wait for
02:54
Evac. And that is how you exact revenge.
02:57
Planting the Russian flag at Reichstag. Downfall. Call of Duty World at War. This ending has got
03:03
it all. Explosions. Shouting. Smoke. Patriotism. Edge of the seat tension. A surprise attack.
03:09
Rezanov wildly hacking a Nazi to death with a machete. A Russian flag flying as Berlin
03:14
burns all around you. Rousing music. Comradery. Victory. And cheering. It's a guaranteed vibrations
03:20
down the spine moment.
03:22
Crossing the Volgla River. Stalingrad. Call of Duty.
03:25
The first Russian mission in the original Call of Duty was a good indication of what developer
03:30
Infinity Ward was going to bring to the FPS table. Namely, shock factor. The boat trip across
03:35
the Volgla River is loud and chaotic, disorientating and terrifying. It's a masterclass in scene
03:41
setting, creating an unusual sense of powerlessness in the player, even before it eventually throws
03:46
you into the fray without so much as a rifle.
03:49
Betrayed by General Shepard. Loose Ends. Modern Warfare 2.
03:52
Whether you saw this coming or not, the moment General Shepard is revealed as one of the bad
03:56
guys is thoroughly, tangibly, affectingly bleak. Not for the first time, Infinity Ward
04:01
has landed us with a well done you survived the mission, but hard luck we're going to
04:04
kill you anyway, sucker punch. But it really doesn't lessen the impact when it happens.
04:09
The brutal, cold-hearted manner of betrayal, Shepard shoots Ghost and Roach point blank and
04:13
then sets a light to their bodies before nonchalantly strolling away, propels the player crazily
04:17
eyed with vengeance into the game's finale.
04:20
Nuclear Death. Aftermath. Call of Duty Modern Warfare. This is one of the most talked about
04:25
gaming moments probably ever, and undoubtedly Infinity Ward at its cinematic finest, with
04:30
the dev expertly hitting all the right notes on the shock scale. The frantic preceding shock
04:34
and awe mission ensures adrenaline glands are at full pump, and its apparent successful conclusion
04:39
is a fist-pumping moment, but the high is short-lived, cruelly blown apart with the force
04:44
of, well, an atomic blast. Then all that's left is to watch as Sergeant Jackson crawls from
04:50
the downed chopper, inevitably to his death in the dirt of the scorched wasteland.
04:54
Behind enemy lines with Captain Macmillan. All ghillied up. Modern Warfare.
04:59
Dressed like shrubbery for a slow slow quick slow slow dance deep in enemy territory, this
05:04
is tense, terrifying, nerve-wracking and arguably THE standout moment in the entire series.
05:10
Which is kind of funny as it's so completely at odds with Call of Duty's deafening
05:14
shoot-shoot and shoot some more signature style. You weave unseen through enemy patrols, stopping
05:19
occasionally to stealth snipe an oblivious soldier, or lie prone in the grass as a tank
05:24
rumbles just feet away from your position. It's genuine don't-forget-to-breathe, edge-of-the-sea
05:28
stuff.
05:29
And those, in our opinion of course, are the best moments in Call of Duty history. Do you
05:34
agree? Think we've gone mad? Haven't played a Call of Duty since Modern Warfare 2? Let
05:38
us know in the comments and don't forget to subscribe for more gaming news, reviews, previews
05:42
and features right here, on GamesRadar+.
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