Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Video Game
STUDIOActivision
RELEASED2007

The year is 2011, and civil war has broken out in Russia between the Russian government and Russian ultranationalists under the command of Imran Zakhaev who seek to restore Russia back to its former Soviet-style leadership. A revolution has toppled a regime in an unnamed Arabic country which has ties to the Russian ultranationalists, with Khaled al-Asad coming to power. These two simultaneous events are causing fear that al-Asad and Zakhaev might form an alliance and use nuclear weapons against the West. In response to these concerns, the United States and the United Kingdom conduct joint operations to put down both uprisings, without putting their own nations' security at risk. Will they succeed?

Knowledge

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Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

Vacant Is Hiding Inside Verdansk

Vacant got its own full multiplayer remake eventually, but a chunk of the original map is also tucked away near Port on the Verdansk map in Warzone, for anyone who fancies a nostalgic detour.

Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

It Made the '1001 Video Games' List

This one picked up a spot in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die, putting it alongside decades of games considered essential playing.

Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

It Got Name-Dropped in The Wrestler

Darren Aronofsky's 2008 film The Wrestler has a scene where a kid explains the game to Randy 'The Ram' Robinson while they're playing a fictional title on an old console together, a nice little nod to how big it had become in pop culture by then.

Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

It Showed Up in Kick-Ass Too

The game gets a proper appearance in the 2010 film Kick-Ass, another sign of how quickly it became shorthand for gaming culture at the time.

Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

It's the Reason We All Say 'Noob Tube'

The phrase existed in smaller gaming circles before this game came out, tracing back to Halo 2 forums as far back as 2004. But it was Call of Duty 4's underslung grenade launcher that pushed the term into the mainstream and made it a permanent part of shooter slang.

Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

The Shipping Containers Sign Their Own Work

Head to any multiplayer map with the big shipping containers, Shipment is the easiest spot, and take a proper look at the white lettering stencilled on the sides. Depending on the container, it reads out as 'INFINITY WRD' or 'COD MW', a sly little signature from the studio itself.

Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

The Name Nearly Wasn't Modern Warfare

Before they landed on the name we all know, Infinity Ward reportedly went through well over a thousand potential titles for the game. Some of the rejected ones were properly daft too, including the frankly brilliant Call of Duty: Warnado.

Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

Shipment Was Never Meant to Ship

One of the most beloved multiplayer maps in the whole franchise only exists because somebody forgot to delete it. Multiplayer design director Geoff Smith has said Shipment started life as an internal test map built for old-school split-screen play, and it got accidentally left in the launch playlist. Nobody ever pulled it back out.

Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

A Rude Number Plate Hidden in Vacant

Take a wander round the outside area on the multiplayer map Vacant and you'll spot a parked truck. Zoom in on its number plate and it reads 'Я3T4ЯD0', which if you squint is just a backwards spelling of a certain playground insult.

Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

An Airplane! Tribute Hidden in Mile High Club

The loading screen for the bonus mission Mile High Club quietly nods to the 1980 comedy Airplane!. Listen closely as it loads and you'll hear one voice ask 'Surely you can't be serious?', followed by the classic reply, 'I am serious, and don't call me Shirley.'