2019\u2019s Modern Warfare reboot tells the story of Task Force 141\u2019s creation. That\u2019s the elite team of operatives helmed by Call of Duty veteran Captain John Price (but not the same John Price who was in the original Modern Warfare, nor the John Price who was in the original two Call of Dutys. Look, we did say this was complicated). <\/p>\n
But we\u2019re already getting ahead of ourselves. At the beginning of Modern Warfare\u2019s campaign, before 141 is established, Price and the British SAS are working with CIA Chief Kate Laswell to help recover highly valuable gas used in the creation of chemical weapons. The opening mission, in which you play as CIA agent Alex Keller, details the theft of the gas, as an unidentified team steals it en route to the fictional country of Urzikstan. The heist intensifies tension between Russia and the West.<\/p>\n
The next day, that tension is further ratcheted. An Urzik-connected terrorist group called Al-Qatala attacks London\u2019s Piccadilly Circus, bringing Kyle \u201cGaz\u2019 Garrick into the picture. In order to hunt down the atrocity\u2019s perpetrators, he teams up with Price to raid a London home and locate the whereabouts of Al-Qatala\u2019s leader, Omar \u201cThe Wolf\u201d Sulaman. It turns out that he can be found in Urzikstan\u2019s Ramaza Hospital.<\/p>\n
Alex, conveniently, is already in Urzikstan, after agreeing to team up with the state\u2019s Liberation Force leader, Farah Karim. She wants to get rid of a Russian general, Roman Barkov, who has occupied her home country. Alex makes it his mission to help, and in turn, Farah will aid in recovering the stolen gas \u2014 something she doesn\u2019t realise will be found far closer to home than she could imagine.<\/p>\n
Alex and a crack Marine unit successfully capture \u201cThe Wolf\u201d from his hospital hideout and hold him at the US embassy. Sulaman\u2019s lieutenant, Jamal \u201cThe Butcher\u201d Rahar, isn\u2019t very happy about this, though, so he attacks the embassy in an effort to extract his boss. Despite the best efforts of Alex, Farah, and the newly arrived Price and Gaz, Rahar succeeds. <\/p>\n
The team is back to square one. Farah has a plan, though \u2013 ambush Al-Qatala as they drive along the \u201cHighway of Death\u201d and take back their former captive. After a bit of long-range sniping, this risky mission goes totally awry. The Russian forces turn up, attacking both the terrorists and Farah\u2019s Urzikstan Liberation Force. As if things couldn\u2019t get any worse for her, Farah then finds out that it was her own brother and fellow freedom fighter, Hadir, who stole the chemicals during the campaign\u2019s first mission. He deploys them in a massive explosion, killing both the Al-Qatala and Russian forces, and leaving Alex and Farah barely alive amongst the rubble and smoke. <\/p>\n
But what would drive Hadir, who has so far been depicted only as Farah\u2019s loyal ally, to do war crimes? Revenge, of course. 20 years prior, a Russian invasion left both Hadir and his sister without parents. In an act of desperation born out of hatred, Hadir now joins Al-Qatala and distances himself from Farah. This event brings the interests of all the protagonists’ respective factions into alignment, and so they execute a joint operation to infiltrate the terrorists\u2019 base and find Hadir. Unfortunately, he and the stolen gas are nowhere to be found. Thankfully, the mission isn\u2019t a total bust: the team locates and kills Sulaman, leaving the terrorist group without its leader.<\/p>\n
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The fallout is felt back in the US, though. With the chemicals’ whereabouts still unknown, to make things even more difficult than they already were, the Urzikstan Liberation Force is declared a terrorist threat by the CIA. Alex isn\u2019t best pleased, to say the least, and opts to leave his nation behind and defect to Farah\u2019s group. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, it\u2019s all kicking off in Saint Petersburg. Following a terrorist attack in the Russian city, Gaz and Price are hot on the trail of Hadir, but, again, they don\u2019t find him. Who they do capture instead is Sulaman\u2019s former right-hand man, Rahar, who, after a questionable spot of torture, reveals that Hadir\u2019s next target is Barkov. And so, Price and Gaz head to the Russian general\u2019s home, save him, and apprehend Hadir in the process. Job done? Not quite.<\/p>\n
Hadir reveals where Barkov\u2019s chemical weapons operation can be found, but before Price has time to head there, the CIA arrives. Laswell takes Hadir into her custody, but gives the mission her blessing. And so the quartet of Price, Gaz, Farah, and Alex reunite with Barkov\u2019s gas factory (not a euphemism for his butt) in their sights. During the fight, Alex seemingly sacrifices himself to trigger the explosives that will bring the factory to the ground, thus ending the Russian\u2019s operation. However, a seasonal multiplayer update later completely retcons Alex\u2019s heroic death by revealing he actually just lost a leg \u2013 more on this weird approach to storytelling later. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s Barkov\u2019s turn to be not best pleased, but before he can complete a helicopter escape, Farah kills him. This \u201csuccessful\u201d mission leads to Laswell creating Task Force 141, with their first mission set to be hunting Victor Zakhaev, a Russian ultranationalist and a familiar name to anyone who played through the original Modern Warfare.<\/p>\n
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That may be the end of the reboot\u2019s campaign, but more story was hidden beyond its credits. Sulaman may be dead, but Al-Qatala lived on in Special Ops mode. There wasn\u2019t a whole lot to it, apart from taking out the remaining senior figures of the organisation one by one, but it did lead to the revelation that Zakaev had been profiting from trading arms to the group.<\/p>\n
You\u2019d think the intention of all that would be to set up the story that the sequel would go on to tell. But no. Zakaev was dealt with, quite bizarrely, in Call of Duty\u2019s battle royale, Warzone. In a high-stakes game of cat and mouse taking place across the city of Verdansk, it\u2019s eventually revealed that the arms dealer has delivered weapons to numerous bunkers throughout the map. <\/p>\n
Alex re-enters the action, because he didn\u2019t really die and just lost a limb in that massive, gas factory-obliterating explosion, and he\u2019s joined by new recruit, Simon \u201cGhost\u201d Riley. Upon discovering Zakhaev has been using tunnels under the city to stay hidden, Price calls in yet more help, who arrive in the form of more Warzone skins to fill battle passes with. Farah and Price\u2019s Russian confidant, Nikolai, joins the fight, reclaims the tunnels, and learns of Zakhaev\u2019s base inside a nuclear silo. Zakhaev goes full Bond villain and threatens to launch a nuclear weapon, only for Price to shoot him and chuck him into the void. So much for that sequel, then.<\/p>\n
Another new member of Task Force 141, John \u201cSoap\u201d MacTavish, then calls Price, completing the reboot\u2019s reassembling of the original trilogy\u2019s core cast.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2<\/strong> (2022)<\/strong><\/h2>\nModern Warfare 2 kicks off in the Al Mazrah desert. Here, Task Force 141, on the orders of US General Shepherd, kills an Iranian General called Ghorbrani. A few months later, his second-in-command, Hassan Zyani, takes aim at the United States as a means of payback. Shepherd and Laswell catch wind of his plans, so Soap and Ghost are sent to capture Zyani before his plan comes to fruition. <\/p>\n
The duo fail, but make a shocking discovery: an American ballistic missile is found at Zyani\u2019s base. And so the unraveling of the mystery as to how US ordnance ended up in his possession begins \u2014 unless you played the original Modern Warfare 2, that is, and know that someone called General Shepherd isn\u2019t to be trusted.<\/p>\n
Not that 141 knows this yet. Their chase eventually leads to the Mexican Las Almas Cartel, who have been providing protection to Zyani. After teaming up with Mexican Special Forces\u2019 operative Alejandro Vargas, Price and co. capture Zyani with help from Shadow Company, a mercenary group owned by Phillip Graves and commanded by Shepherd. <\/p>\n
As is always the way when it comes to geopolitics, though, Zyani\u2019s capture is not that simple. The team is left with no choice but to release their captive to prevent a war from erupting between the USA and Iran \u2014 a situation that the United States would never, ever allow to happen, of course.<\/p>\n
The search for the origin of the mysterious American missile continues, the plot thickening thanks to the discovery of Russian GPS trackers in Las Almas-owned missiles. So many missiles!<\/p>\n
Al-Qatala, the Urzi terrorist group from the first game, rears its head again, kidnapping Laswell. While Price and Gaz are once again helped by Farah to rescue her, Soap and Vargas stay in Mexico and take a captive of their own: \u201cEl Sin Nombre\u201d, the leader of Las Almas. It turns out she\u2019s Valeria Garza, a former accomplice of Vargas, who reveals that the missiles 141 are chasing can be found on a Gulf of Mexico oil rig.<\/p>\n
A huge raid effort is launched, consisting of 141, Alejandro, and the very obviously shady Shadow Company (c\u2019mon, it\u2019s in the name) who, of course, betrays our heroes. Graves decides that everyone associated with Vargas must die, so he orders his guns for hire to commit mass murder on the streets of Mexico. 141 comes to the rescue, though, and Alejandro lives to fight another day.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s revealed that it was the US all along that gave missiles to its Middle Eastern allies, and it was Graves and Shepherd who spearheaded that operation. That plan hit a hitch in the road, though, when a Russian military group ambushed the convoy and stole three missiles for themselves. Shepherd covered up the whole mess to save face. <\/p>\n
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Price isn\u2019t pleased, but focuses on the task at hand, pledging to bring Shepherd to rights once the Graves situation has been resolved. To do that, 141 storms the Shadow Company base, kills Graves, and finds out that Zyani is now in Chicago. The team beeline it to Illinois and end both Zyani\u2019s life and plan, preventing a missile from reaching the Pentagon. <\/p>\n
But what about the Russians who stole the missiles in the first place? Well, to quote former England football captain Wayne Rooney, \u201cA new devil is arriving\u201d. That would be Vladimir Makarov, the villain of the original Modern Warfare trilogy. Will he do \u201cNo Russian\u201d all over again? Find out after we recap a bunch of storylines that happen in Modern Warfare 2\u2019s Special Ops mode and Warzone. <\/p>\n
Alex Keller returns in Spec Ops and asks for assistance, which is a pretty bold move considering he was AWOL for the whole of the main campaign. He\u2019s still working on bringing down Al-Qatala for good, especially now Farah\u2019s brother, Hadir, has become its leader. Price, Farah, and Alex eventually find Hadir, who urges them to use a nuclear missile to protect Urzikstan from the Russians. Of course, the team opts to destroy the missile and kill Hadir. <\/p>\n
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Over in Warzone, Graves\u2019 Shadow Company lives on without its founder and is now in control of Al Mazrah. The Las Almas cartel also decides it wants a piece of the action, and so hostilities are reignited. <\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the Dutch city of Vondel is taken over by the Peacekeepers, a new military organisation. It\u2019s not long until it\u2019s revealed that they are a front for the Konni Group, the Russian military unit behind the theft of Shepherd\u2019s missiles. <\/p>\n
A few months later, Graves arrives back on the scene \u2013 it turns out that he faked his own death, making this reboot series two for two on games featuring characters who die and then come back in seasonal updates. Appearing to have changed his tune, Graves now wants to team up with Farah\u2019s Liberation Force and fight against the Konni Group as they move in on Al Mazrah. Things don\u2019t go well for Shadow Company, though, who have traitors in their midst. Konni Group tears them apart from the inside and steals gas needed to create more devastating weapons, thus leading us all the way back to that little devil, Makarov.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare<\/strong> 3 (2023)<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe hell Makarov resides in would be the Modern Warfare 3 campaign itself: a selection of rehashed multiplayer maps and slices of Warzone\u2019s Verdansk that barely manage to hold together a story. Yet, here we are.<\/p>\n
It all kicks off with Makarov being rescued from Warzone\u2019s gulag map. He\u2019s been serving a life sentence in the famous PvP arena after being captured by Soap and Price prior to the events of all three games.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, back in Urzikstan, Makarov\u2019s Konni Group intercepts Grave\u2019s Shadow Company and steals missiles meant for Farah\u2019s liberation efforts. <\/p>\n
With Makarov now loose, Price attempts to intercept him at an abandoned facility that\u2019s home to what remains of Barkov\u2019s chemical materials. The mission is a disaster \u2013 Price barely escapes with his life, and Konni gets its weapon fuel.<\/p>\n
In a dollar store rendition of the original Modern Warfare 2\u2019s landmark \u201cNo Russian\u201d mission, Makarov stages a terrorist attack aboard a commercial airplane, designed to make it look like Farah\u2019s Urzikstan Liberation Force were the perpetrators. Alex helps Farah thwart this plan, though, preventing any \u201cevidence\u201d of ULF involvement from being discovered in the plane\u2019s wreckage. <\/p>\n
Price tracks a shipment heading Konni\u2019s way, but it turns out that there are no materials inside. Instead, he discovers \u2013 drumroll, please \u2013 General Shepherd! He\u2019s back and looking worse than ever, having been kidnapped by Makarov. Price resists the urge to kill him, and instead learns about Makarov\u2019s plans to destroy the Gora Dam. Back to Verdansk we go.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s population is saved from catastrophic flooding, and 141 shoot down a helicopter they presume is transporting Makarov. Place your bets now as to whether he\u2019s dead or not\u2026<\/p>\n
Price isn\u2019t falling for it, so he continues the search back in London, where he finds out that Makarov\u2019s next move is to blow up the Channel Tunnel, the underwater rail line that links the UK and France. 141 quickly heads into the tunnels, but their flood-obsessed nemesis ambushes them. Soap meets a bullet to the head in as clean a kill as his name deserved.<\/p>\n
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Makarov scampers off into the darkness as Price is left to defuse a bomb. He succeeds, but it can hardly be called a victory. Later, Soap\u2019s ashes are released from the top of a Scottish cliff, marking the end of this awkward chapter. Well, almost the end. That poignant moment is capped off with a post-credits scene showing Price finally getting his payback for all of the trouble caused by Shepherd in Mexico. He sends a silenced gunshot into the disgraced general\u2019s skull. One villain down, at least one more to go: Makarov is still out there, waiting to meet a similar fate.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s where Price and Task Force 141 are ahead of Modern Warfare 4. There are some other loose threads, but I am not going to spend time digging into whatever it was Zakhaev was doing in the Zombies mode. As a wise lady once said, \u201cAin\u2019t nobody got time for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, how do you think the new string of Modern Warfare stories is going to end? We know Makarov\u2019s clock is ticking, but will Price sacrifice himself for king and country? And what role does Mads Mikkelsen\u2019s \u201cThe Archer\u201d play in this whole picture? We\u2019ll find out very soon. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"Simon](\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-story-recap-what-you-need-to-know-ahead-of-mw4.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/p>\n\nSimon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at\u00a0<\/em>@cardy.bsky.social.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/span><\/section>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nThe hell Makarov resides in would be the Modern Warfare 3 campaign itself: a selection of rehashed multiplayer maps and slices of Warzone\u2019s Verdansk that barely manage to hold together a story. Yet, here we are.<\/p>\n
It all kicks off with Makarov being rescued from Warzone\u2019s gulag map. He\u2019s been serving a life sentence in the famous PvP arena after being captured by Soap and Price prior to the events of all three games.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, back in Urzikstan, Makarov\u2019s Konni Group intercepts Grave\u2019s Shadow Company and steals missiles meant for Farah\u2019s liberation efforts. <\/p>\n
With Makarov now loose, Price attempts to intercept him at an abandoned facility that\u2019s home to what remains of Barkov\u2019s chemical materials. The mission is a disaster \u2013 Price barely escapes with his life, and Konni gets its weapon fuel.<\/p>\n
In a dollar store rendition of the original Modern Warfare 2\u2019s landmark \u201cNo Russian\u201d mission, Makarov stages a terrorist attack aboard a commercial airplane, designed to make it look like Farah\u2019s Urzikstan Liberation Force were the perpetrators. Alex helps Farah thwart this plan, though, preventing any \u201cevidence\u201d of ULF involvement from being discovered in the plane\u2019s wreckage. <\/p>\n
Price tracks a shipment heading Konni\u2019s way, but it turns out that there are no materials inside. Instead, he discovers \u2013 drumroll, please \u2013 General Shepherd! He\u2019s back and looking worse than ever, having been kidnapped by Makarov. Price resists the urge to kill him, and instead learns about Makarov\u2019s plans to destroy the Gora Dam. Back to Verdansk we go.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s population is saved from catastrophic flooding, and 141 shoot down a helicopter they presume is transporting Makarov. Place your bets now as to whether he\u2019s dead or not\u2026<\/p>\n
Price isn\u2019t falling for it, so he continues the search back in London, where he finds out that Makarov\u2019s next move is to blow up the Channel Tunnel, the underwater rail line that links the UK and France. 141 quickly heads into the tunnels, but their flood-obsessed nemesis ambushes them. Soap meets a bullet to the head in as clean a kill as his name deserved.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Makarov scampers off into the darkness as Price is left to defuse a bomb. He succeeds, but it can hardly be called a victory. Later, Soap\u2019s ashes are released from the top of a Scottish cliff, marking the end of this awkward chapter. Well, almost the end. That poignant moment is capped off with a post-credits scene showing Price finally getting his payback for all of the trouble caused by Shepherd in Mexico. He sends a silenced gunshot into the disgraced general\u2019s skull. One villain down, at least one more to go: Makarov is still out there, waiting to meet a similar fate.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s where Price and Task Force 141 are ahead of Modern Warfare 4. There are some other loose threads, but I am not going to spend time digging into whatever it was Zakhaev was doing in the Zombies mode. As a wise lady once said, \u201cAin\u2019t nobody got time for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, how do you think the new string of Modern Warfare stories is going to end? We know Makarov\u2019s clock is ticking, but will Price sacrifice himself for king and country? And what role does Mads Mikkelsen\u2019s \u201cThe Archer\u201d play in this whole picture? We\u2019ll find out very soon. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at\u00a0<\/em>@cardy.bsky.social.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/span><\/span><\/section>\n<\/div>\n
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