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Here’s the 10 best moments in Call of Duty history.
Transcript
00:00Since the original Call of Duty the campaigns have been putting us in the boots of larger
00:11than life soldiers in some of the most intense combat moments you could imagine. Now it's
00:15time to reflect on some of the most memorable moments that have defined the series. Here
00:19are the 10 best moments in Call of Duty history and, of course, there are spoilers ahead.
00:24Hijacked plane sequence. Turbulence. Modern Warfare 3. And there we were thinking Modern Warfare's
00:30breathless, aeroplane-based bonus mission Mile High Club was pretty special. But then Modern
00:35Warfare 3's Turbulence comes along and takes in-flight combat to the next level. Protecting
00:40the Russian President from hijackers in the claustrophobic space of a jet is high-stakes
00:45stuff on its own. Then the engines stall and the dive sends you into a sequence of zero-gravity
00:50shooting and a crash landing that rips the air fuselage in two. This is true action film
00:55stuff.
00:56De-Nazifying the woods. The forest. Call of Duty 3. A wonderfully paced rising crescendo
01:01of a level. At first requiring a softly softly snipey snipey approach with the relative peacefulness
01:06of the forest creating an edgy atmosphere. Then it kicks things up a notch with the battle
01:10intensifying as it moves between tight burrow-like trenches and wide open spaces. Finally, and in
01:16complete contrast to the cautious way the mission starts, you're given a mortar to play with,
01:20allowing you to merrily blow apart any of Hitler's helmeted hobgoblins, unfortunate enough to
01:25still be lurking in the forest.
01:27The Airport Massacre. No Russian. Modern Warfare 2.
01:30Best is perhaps not quite the right word for this entry, but it's undoubtedly one of the
01:35series' most effective, affecting missions. No Russian places you in the shoes of an undercover
01:40agent in a terrorist cell. Quickly you'll understand just what that asks of you. You enter an airport
01:45and are told to mow down everyone you see, regardless of who they are. It's a video game
01:49mission that sparked protest, academic study and genuine soul-searching, and there's
01:54very little else like it in the medium.
01:56Beach Landing. The Battle of Pointe du Hoc. Call of Duty 2.
01:59This starts with a fellow soldier in the landing craft having a fear-induced puke. Quickly followed
02:04by the sound of bullets whizzing through the air, then clouds of red mist as those bullets
02:08thud into flesh. Soldiers fall to the ground, spray from a near-miss explosion obscures your view,
02:13then the ramp is down and you're running onto the beach. Cue the semi-deafened, shell-shocked
02:17horror-of-war moment as you survey the scene around you. When you regain your senses, the
02:22metaphorical implications of the vertical cliff face ahead of you become very apparent.
02:27Your role to this point is one of spectator, but it's still a breathless couple of minutes.
02:31Getting Revenge. Dust to Dust. Modern Warfare 3. Makarov haunted the Modern Warfare sub-series
02:36from its first instalment, and Dust to Dust is the perfect send-off for the bastard. Playing
02:41as mustachioed death merchant Captain Price, you stomp through his defences in a juggernaut
02:45suit, hijack and crash his escape helicopter, wrap a cord around his neck, ride his body
02:50to ground level through a shattering skylight, then enjoy a cheeky cigar while you wait for
02:54Evac. And that is how you exact revenge.
02:57Planting the Russian flag at Reichstag. Downfall. Call of Duty World at War. This ending has got
03:03it all. Explosions. Shouting. Smoke. Patriotism. Edge of the seat tension. A surprise attack.
03:09Rezanov wildly hacking a Nazi to death with a machete. A Russian flag flying as Berlin
03:14burns all around you. Rousing music. Comradery. Victory. And cheering. It's a guaranteed vibrations
03:20down the spine moment.
03:22Crossing the Volgla River. Stalingrad. Call of Duty.
03:25The first Russian mission in the original Call of Duty was a good indication of what developer
03:30Infinity Ward was going to bring to the FPS table. Namely, shock factor. The boat trip across
03:35the Volgla River is loud and chaotic, disorientating and terrifying. It's a masterclass in scene
03:41setting, creating an unusual sense of powerlessness in the player, even before it eventually throws
03:46you into the fray without so much as a rifle.
03:49Betrayed by General Shepard. Loose Ends. Modern Warfare 2.
03:52Whether you saw this coming or not, the moment General Shepard is revealed as one of the bad
03:56guys is thoroughly, tangibly, affectingly bleak. Not for the first time, Infinity Ward
04:01has landed us with a well done you survived the mission, but hard luck we're going to
04:04kill you anyway, sucker punch. But it really doesn't lessen the impact when it happens.
04:09The brutal, cold-hearted manner of betrayal Shepard shoots Ghost and Roach point blank and
04:13then sets a light to their bodies before nonchalantly strolling away, propels the player crazily
04:17eyed with vengeance into the game's finale. Nuclear Death. Aftermath. Call of Duty Modern Warfare.
04:23This is one of the most talked about gaming moments probably ever, and undoubtedly Infinity
04:28Ward at its cinematic finest, with the dev expertly hitting all the right notes on the
04:32shock scale. The frantic preceding shock and awe mission ensures Adrenaline glands are
04:37at full pump, and its apparent successful conclusion is a fist pumping moment, but the high is short
04:42lived, cruelly blown apart with the force of, well, an atomic blast. Then all that's left
04:48is to watch as Sergeant Jackson crawls from the downed chopper, inevitably to his death in
04:52the dirt of the scorched wasteland. Behind enemy lines with Captain Macmillan. All ghillied
04:58up. Modern Warfare. Dressed like shrubbery for a slow, slow, quick, slow, slow dance deep
05:03in enemy territory, this is tense, terrifying, nerve-wracking and arguably the standout moment
05:08in the entire series. Which is kind of funny as it's so completely at odds with Call of
05:13Duty's deafening shoot-shoot and shoot-some-more signature style. You weave unseen through enemy
05:18patrols, stopping occasionally to stealth snipe an oblivious soldier, or lie prone in the
05:23grass as a tank rumbles just feet away from your position. It's genuine don't forget
05:27to breathe edge of the sea stuff.
05:30And those, in our opinion of course, are the best moments in Call of Duty history. Do you
05:34agree? Think we've gone mad? Haven't played a Call of Duty since Modern Warfare 2? Let
05:38us know in the comments and don't forget to subscribe for more gaming news, reviews, previews
05:42and features right here on GamesRadar Plus.

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