Summary
A scrappedCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3after-credits scene has been uncovered nearly 13 years following the game’s release. The brief clip reveals that the developers once had an even darker ending in mind forModern Warfare 3.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) spoilers ahead.
At the end of the 2011 game, Captain John Price and Yuri track down Makarov to a hotel in Dubai. They launch an assault on the facility, eventually managing to corner theiconic FPS villainafter Price crashes his helicopter on the building’s rooftop during his escape attempt. Makarov then emerges from the wreckage and grabs a gun, preparing to kill Price before being shot by Yuri. He manages to kill Yuri in retaliation, but is distracted for long enough for Price to get a jump on him and hang him with a steel cable after performing a crash dive through the hotel’s glass ceiling. Price crawls across the shattered glass and lights a cigar while watching Makarov’s corpse before the credits roll.
Deleted Modern Warfare 3 Scene Shows Price Dying at the End
And while the game hence implies that Price survived the hotel assault, Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games may have originally had different plans. That’s according to a newly discovered after-credits scene unearthed byCall of Dutymodder Vlad Loktionov. The 50-second video appears to take place shortly following the ending set piece, as it shows a mysterious, partially obscured man in a suit observing the site of Makarov’s hanging. As the shadowy figure turns around and leaves, Price’s vision becomes blurry, and he drops both his cigar and head, remaining motionless. The scene then fades to black, before transitioning to a photo ofCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s Operation Kingfishteam.
The scene came as a surprise to manyCall of Dutyfans, as few have ever interpreted the game’s ending as Price being on his deathbed. On the contrary, the cheeky act of lighting a cigar after the final fight suggested that his wounds weren’t so severe as to be life-threatening. The fact that the Operation Kingfish photo is shown immediately afterward appears to underline Price’s death, as all the other team members depicted in the image are also dead by that point in the story.
Captain Price’s Death Isn’t Canon
But since this scene didn’t make the cut, it cannot be considered canon. After all, bothCall of Duty: HeroesandCall of Duty: Mobileflat-out state that Price survived the events of the 2011 game. Given how many ofCall of Duty’s saddest deathshappen inModern Warfare 3, the shooter is already plenty dark as is. As to the identity of the shadowy figure seen in the after-credits scene, fans have speculated it to be everyone from a miraculously alive Imran Zakhaev to the Grim Reaper himself.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)
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