Makarov’s nefarious “No Russian” storyline makes its return in Modern Warfare 3, and the results are somehow more shocking than the first. But what do Passenger and Flashpoint mean and how do they add to the story of MW3?
No Russian remains one of the most traumatic gameplay sequences ever witnessed by players when MW2 released in 2009. I was frustratingly curious to see how No Russian would be interpreted in the 2023 re-imagining of MW3, and it’s safe to say the new missions blow the infamous terminal scene out of the water.
MW3: What happens in the Passenger mission
The first No Russian mission follows on from the MW2 ending cutscene. Simply glimpsing the message “No Russian” on a terrorist’s phone sent shivers down my spine as I realized the inevitable was coming. Everything is different this time around, however. Instead of seeing the terrible acts play out through the terrorists’ eyes like the 2009 original No Russian mission, players are forced to view the horrors as a victim.
You briefly play as Samara, a woman who served in Farah’s liberation army in 2019. Samara put the past four years behind her, but Makarov never forgets. Determining her to be the best candidate for the job, he enlists his henchmen to board the flight to Sochi, Russia, hijacks the plane, and forces her to wear a bomb vest.
You feel an immediate connection to Samara as she stares at her phone lock screen to look lovingly at her family. The passenger next to her tells her that her family is beautiful, and while this is not sinister in itself, he then proceeds to recall both her name and her entire family’s.
The nameless man pulls a pistol, and while Samara defends herself, she is taken out by a flashbang, and awakens to find Makarov who plants a bomb onto her chest.
Similar to the 2009 No Russian mission, the intentions of Makarov are revealed as a false flag operation; a terrorist attack against his own country and citizens to frame another country for their own war crimes.
Instead of using American weaponry and planting Allen (an American) at the scene of the crime, Samara was chosen so that the media, onlookers, and government believe the terrorists were fighting for Urzikstan.
The Passenger mission ends with Samara’s desperate attempt to get past the terrified civilians and defuse the bomb. Due to the language barrier and her unimaginable fear of the situation at hand, no one can process what Samara is trying to say.
Her attempt to get the phone and disable the bomb is futile, and the scene ends with the death of hundreds of passengers. As Makarov and his men exit the plane, this mission’s ending is both morbid and devastating.
It makes me wonder how often false flags like this happen. The scene reminded me of the opening section of Bodyguard and the horrific plane scene in The Boys. While these are works of fiction, they raise a few important questions about the politics of war.
MW3: What happens in the Flashpoint mission
The Flashpoint mission feels the most reminiscent of No Russian, but what happens is even more sickening than the original. This mission is a flashback into Makarov’s crimes and Price and Soap’s first encounter with this CoD antagonist. In the flashback, Makarov and his men dressed as police officers to gun down hundreds of civilians inside a soccer stadium.
You play as Soap, who has to make his way through the entire stadium to take down the terrorists all while innocent civilians get in your way. The worst detail of this attack is these disguised officers are grabbing civilians and using them as body shields. The terrorists are mowing down civilians in front of you, only to get the same treatment from Soap as a response to their actions.
The worst of all? They hardly shoot back at Soap. Their goal is to kill as many civilians as possible and die for the cause. The terrorists are strategically placed behind civilians so that you feel helpless as you try to get an angle on the attacker. Your only option is to watch people get mowed down. Makarov is arrested as he attempts escape in an ambulance. With only a pistol on him, I wonder if he disposed of his weapon or even participated in the attack?
After arresting Makarov, the terror attack shifts to a more standard CoD mission where you need to move Makarov while taking out his men. The mission ends with Makarov committing two terror attacks; the first inside the soccer stadium as a decoy attack, and the second inside the airport as a bomb attack.
Given everything going on in 2023, the No Russian missions in MW3 hit a little too close to home for me. While I’m privileged enough to not have to experience harrowing events like this first-hand, acts of terror are happening around the world as we speak, and the No Russian missions are a reminder of the horrors real victims have to go through.
