Here’s the 10 best moments in Call of Duty history.
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00:00SINCE THE ORIGINAL CALL OF DUTY, THE CAMPAIGNS HAVE BEEN PUTTING US IN THE BOOTS OF LARGER-THAN-LIFE SOLDIERS IN SOME OF THE MOST INTENSE COMBAT MOMENTS YOU COULD IMAGINE.
00:15NOW IT'S TIME TO REFLECT ON SOME OF THE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS THAT HAVE DEFINED THE SERIES.
00:19HERE ARE THE TEN BEST MOMENTS IN CALL OF DUTY HISTORY.
00:22AND, OF COURSE, THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD.
00:25Hijacked Plane Sequence.
00:27Turbulence.
00:28Modern Warfare 3.
00:29And there we were thinking Modern Warfare's breathless aeroplane-based bonus mission Mile High Club was pretty special.
00:35But then Modern Warfare 3's turbulence comes along and takes in-flight combat to the next level.
00:40Protecting the Russian President from hijackers in the claustrophobic space of a jet is high-stakes stuff on its own.
00:46Then the engines stall and the dive sends you into a sequence of zero-gravity shooting and a crash landing that rips the air fuselage in two.
00:53This is true action film stuff.
00:56Denazifying the Woods.
00:57The Forest.
00:58Call of Duty 3.
00:59A wonderfully paced rising crescendo of a level.
01:02At first requiring a softly-softly snipey-snipey approach with the relative peacefulness of the forest creating an edgy atmosphere.
01:09Then it kicks things up a notch with the battle intensifying as it moves between tight burrow-like trenches and wide open spaces.
01:15Finally, and in complete contrast to the cautious way the mission starts, you're given a mortar to play with.
01:21Allowing you to merrily blow apart any of Hitler's helmeted hobgoblins unfortunate enough to still be lurking in the forest.
01:28The Airport Massacre.
01:29No Russian.
01:30Modern Warfare 2.
01:31Best is perhaps not quite the right word for this entry, but it's undoubtedly one of the series' most effective affecting missions.
01:38No Russian places you in the shoes of an undercover agent in a terrorist cell.
01:42Quickly you understand just what that asks of you.
01:44You enter an airport and are told to mow down everyone you see, regardless of who they are.
01:49It's a video game mission that sparked protest, academic study and genuine soul-searching.
01:53And there's very little else like it in the medium.
01:56Beach Landing.
01:57The Battle of Pointe du Hoc.
01:58Call of Duty 2.
01:59This starts with a fellow soldier in the landing craft having a fear-induced puke.
02:03Quickly followed by the sound of bullets whizzing through the air.
02:06Then clouds of red mist as those bullets thud into flesh.
02:09Soldiers fall to the ground.
02:11Spray from a near-miss explosion obscures your view.
02:13Then the ramp is down and you're running onto the beach.
02:16View the semi-deafened, shell-shocked horror of War Moment as you survey the scene around you.
02:21When you regain your senses, the metaphorical 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.
02:32Dust to Dust.
02:33Modern Warfare 3.
02:34Makarov haunted the Modern Warfare sub-series from its first instalment, and Dust to Dust is the perfect send-off for the bastard.
02:41Playing as mustachioed death merchant Captain Price, you stomp through his defences in a juggernaut suit,
02:46hijack and crash his escape helicopter, wrap a cord around his neck,
02:49ride his body to ground level through a shattering skylight,
02:52then enjoy a cheeky cigar while you wait for evac.
02:55And that is how you exact revenge.
02:57Planting the Russian flag at Reichstag.
03:00Downfall.
03:01Call of Duty World at War.
03:02This ending has got it all.
03:04Explosions.
03:05Shouting.
03:05Smoke.
03:06Patriotism.
03:07Edge-of-the-seat tension.
03:08A surprise attack.
03:09Rezinov wildly hacking a Nazi to death with a machete,
03:12a Russian flag flying as Berlin burns all around you,
03:15rousing music,
03:16camaraderie,
03:17victory,
03:17and cheering.
03:18It's a guaranteed vibrations down the spine moment.
03:21Crossing the Volga River.
03:23Stalingrad.
03:24Call of Duty.
03:25The first Russian mission in the original Call of Duty was a good indication of what developer Infinity Ward was going to bring to the FPS table.
03:33Namely, shock factor.
03:35The boat trip across the Volga River is loud and chaotic, disorientating and terrifying.
03:40It's a masterclass in scene setting, creating an unusual sense of powerlessness in the player,
03:44even before it eventually throws you into the fray without so much as a rifle.
03:49Betrayed by General Shepard.
03:50Loose ends.
03:51Modern Warfare 2.
03:52Whether you saw this coming or not,
03:54the moment General Shepard is revealed as one of the bad guys is thoroughly, tangibly, affectingly bleak.
03:59Not for the first time, Infinity Ward has landed us with a well-done-you-survived-the-mission-but-hard-luck-we're-going-to-kill-you-anyway sucker punch.
04:06But it really doesn't lessen the impact when it happens.
04:09The brutal, cold-hearted manner of betrayal
04:11Shepard shoots Ghost and Roach point blank and then sets alight to their bodies before nonchalantly strolling away
04:16propels the player crazily eyed with vengeance into the game's finale.
04:20Nuclear death.
04:21Aftermath.
04:22Call of Duty Modern Warfare.
04:23This is one of the most talked about gaming moments probably ever.
04:27And undoubtedly, Infinity Ward at its cinematic finest.
04:30With the dev expertly hitting all the right notes on the shock scale.
04:33The frantic proceeding Shock and Aumission ensures adrenaline glands are at full pump
04:38and its apparent successful conclusion is a fist-pumping moment.
04:41But the high is short-lived.
04:43Cruelly blown apart with the force of, well, an atomic blast.
04:47Then all that's left is to watch as Sergeant Jackson crawls from the downed chopper
04:51inevitably to his death in the dirt of the scorched wasteland.
04:55Behind enemy lines with Captain MacMillan.
04:57All ghillied up.
04:58Modern Warfare.
04:59Dressed like shrubbery for a slow, slow, quick, slow, slow dance deep in enemy territory
05:04this is tense, terrifying, nerve-wracking and arguably THE standout moment in the entire series.
05:10Which is kind of funny as it's so completely at odds with Call of Duty's deafening
05:14shoot, shoot and shoot some more signature style.
05:17You weave unseen through enemy patrols
05:19stopping occasionally to stealth snipe an oblivious soldier
05:22or lie prone in the grass as a tank rumbles just feet away from your position.
05:26It's genuine don't-forget-to-breathe, edge-of-the-sea stuff.
05:30And those, in our opinion of course, are the best moments in Call of Duty history.
05:34Do you agree?
05:35Think we've gone mad?
05:36Haven't played a Call of Duty since Modern Warfare 2?
05:38Let us know in the comments and don't forget to subscribe for more gaming news, reviews, previews
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05:52you