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In 2011, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 concluded Infinity Ward’s original Modern Warfare trilogy, with Captain Price emerging victorious over the terrorist Vladimir Makarov after a dramatic helicopter crash and rooftop battle. But a newly surfaced post-credits scene allegedly cut from the final product completely recontextualizes the ending to one of the greatest FPS trilogies of all time.
The cut scene is similar to the ending seen in the original game, but takes what is a clear victory in the finished scene and instead adds a layer of tragedy to it. In the original ending, after crashing through a rooftop window and seeing Makarov strangled to death, Captain Price lights up a celebratory cigar as the scene fades to black.
However, a post-credits scene allegedly found within the game’s original files that has surfaced online (via Call of Duty modder Vlad Lokitonov on YouTube, with the scene in question restored by yoyo1love) continues to play out the ending. A slumped over Price wakes up to the sound of footsteps, and looks up to see a mysterious stranger off in the distance. The man briefly surveys Price’s work and then turns around to leave. As he walks away, Price slumps over, his lit cigar falling from his hand and rolling away. The camera fades to black before an old image of his fallen comrades appears on screen.
In this ending, Price to succumbs to his wounds and dies from his encounter with Makarov. The identity of the unknown man who appears is said to be labeled as “shadowman” or “ominous stranger” in the game’s files. His true identity will likely remain a mystery, but some fans have interpreted the stranger as representing death, having come to finally claim Price.
Had this cut post-credits scene made its way into the final game, it would have given a much different tone and ending to Infinity Ward’s original Modern Warfare trilogy, with its hero dying in the end. With that in mind, it’s easy to see why Infinity Ward maybe didn’t want to end the trilogy on a bittersweet note, and instead opted to more definitively leave open the possibility of Price returning in a potential sequel.
That is, of course, if this cut ending is legitimate. As of now, it’s impossible to know if this ending was actually found tucked away in the game’s files for more than a decade or if this is a fan creation. Either way, it does add an interesting wrinkle to what would otherwise be a fairly standard ending to one of the greatest game trilogies ever made.
Infinity Ward is currently retelling and reimagining the story of its original Modern Warfare trilogy in last year’s Modern Warfare III. Microsoft, which now owns Activision and its various studios, including Infinity Ward, will reportedly be adding the next installment in the Call of Duty franchise to Game Pass later this year. The game, which has not yet been officially unveiled, is rumored to be a new entry in the Black Ops subseries.
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