Modern Warfare: Story Summary & Ending Explained

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Story

As you might have guessed, there are spoilers aplenty.

Modern Warfare begins with a joint Army-CIA operation with the intent to acquire poisonous gas from General Barkov and his Russian army. On their way out with the gas, CIA operative “Alex” and his team are attacked by unknown forces who take it from them.

The unknown forces turn out to be Al-Qatala, a terrorist organization led by the Wolf and the Butcher based in Urzikstan. Al-Qatala’s main objective is to remove all foreign presence within the country using any means necessary.

Due to Russia’s lack of distinction between Al-Qatala and Urzikstan, Russia believes the people of Urzikstan to be responsible even though they had nothing to do with it.

To fix this, Kate Laswell, a top CIA handler, enlists Captain Price’s help in the matter and dispatches Alex to Urzikstan to make contact with Commander Farah Karim and her resistance organization.

A terrorist attack by Al-Qatala catches the people of London by surprise, resulting in the deployment of the S.A.S to protect the people and control the situation. Among these S.A.S soldiers is Kyle Garrick who the player regularly controls.   

However, the British government’s rules of engagement leave much to be desired and Kyle inevitably joins up with Captain Price to take matters into his own hands.

He gives Price and Laswell intel on the location of an Al-Qatala cell in London that leads to the discovery of the Wolf’s location in Urzikstan.

Alex, Farah, and her brother Hadir plan an assault to capture the Wolf which succeeds with the help of Sgt. Griggs and American marines. However, Al-Qatala quickly retaliates and ambushes them, leading to The Wolf’s escape. They track him to the Highway of Death where they lie in wait for his arrival.

Al-Qatala forces protect him in earnest, laying on the pressure against Alex, Farah, and her soldiers to the point that Hadir deploys explosives to curb their advance. These “explosives” turn out to be a portion of the stolen Russian gas, revealing that Hadir and not Al-Qatala took it in the first place.

After almost killing Alex and Farah in the process, Hadir escapes with Al-Qatala to finish off their fight against the Russian army and General Barkov. Angered, Farah joins up with Price’s team to help take him down.   

In a series of flashbacks a la All Ghillied Up style, we discover that from an early age Farah and Hadir had it rough. As children, an attack by General Barkov and the Russian army destroys their hometown, kills their parents, and forces them to kill to escape.

However, like all best laid plans, Barkov captures the two of them and keeps them as prisoners of war for years.

During this time, Farah becomes “Karim”, sending messages to the outside that spark rebellion and make contact with important assets.

One of these assets turns out to be the then Lieutenant Price who helps Farah, Hadir, and her people escape from prison. Though, not before Barkov attempts to torture Farah for information.   

In the present, intel has tracked the location of the Wolf, the Butcher, and Hadir to a remote stronghold in the mountains. The team storms the complex and manages to kill the Wolf but the Butcher and Hadir aren’t there.

In fantastic international government fashion, Farah and her group are labelled as terrorists by the international community which turns them into enemies despite just trying to defend their homeland.

Reasonably angry with this, Alex leaves with Farah back to Urzikstan while Price and Kyle take down the Butcher with help from Price’s old friend, Nikolai.

Hadir is tracked to Barkov’s estate where he reveals to Price and Kyle the location of the rest of the Russian gas. Kind deed aside, Hadir is still a terrorist and he’s handed over to Laswell for trade to the Russian government.

Farah, Alex, Kyle, and Price plan an assault against the Russian lab holding the gas in a last ditch effort to rid the world of the chemical weapon.

In an attempt to detonate explosives, the detonator malfunctions and Alex chooses to stay behind to set them off, sacrificing himself for a cause he believes in.

This allows Farah to take her sweet, sweet revenge against General Barkov where she kicks him out of his helicopter. Roll credits.

Post-Credits Scene

A post credit scene reveals a conversation between Laswell and Price over a nice cup of tea. A new contender in favor of Hadir’s ideas is trying to take Barkov’s place, a man known as Victor Zakhaev.

In the past, Price and his then commanding officer Macmillian managed to kill his father, Imran Zakhaev.

To handle this and any similar situations like a potential new threat that may or may not be Khalid Al-Asad, Price requests a task force to be made with talented soldiers. With great reluctance, Laswell concedes, giving Price files she received from General Shepard at Price’s request.

Within these files is Kyle Garrick whose friends call him “Gaz”, a John “Soap” Mactavish, and a Simon Riley with no photos of his face. These individuals will inevitable be within what Price plans on calling the 1-4-1.

Fans of the O.G. trilogy will immediately recognize these names and characters so the inevitable Modern Warfare sequel will be rife with more fan favorites.

And for those of you who haven’t played the old series, just know that Modern Warfare’s sequel seems to be planning on being full of more content, another interesting story, and plenty of new characters.

For more on Modern Warfare, you can check out our very organized wiki for tips, tricks, and general information. As always, keep an eye on Twinfinite’s website for updates on the game.