Mw2 Plot Hole List (Warning: Possible Spoilers)

[CuddlyCombine]

How does Makarov walk into an airport without a mask? How come the Russians don't realize it was him from the camera footage? Well...... there is no explanation. It's a plot hole. A major massive plot hole. Simple as that.

A man with Makarov's resources (for example, multiple fortresses scattered across the countryside with a battalion guarding each) seem to indicate that he could easily infiltrate an airport and crack the cameras. You'd be surprised at how easy it is to disarm a few security guards.

How did Price launch the Nuke? Again, there's no defense of that. Ignorant gamers might not know that you need TWO highly encrypted, almost unobtainable codes and TWO keys on OPPOSITE sides of a room to be turned on at the SAME TIME to launch a nuke. So yeah. Price COULDN'T have launched the nuke by himself. But again, it's a GAME. Not a work of non-fiction. For most gamers who don't know much about Nuclear Weapons protocols, it's not a problem because they don't know its a plot hole. Still is a plot hole though. A bigger plot hole is how Price managed to program a nuke to hit Washington and detonate above atmosphere in an EMP blast, all within a few minutes. That is just a massive plot hole.

Nobody's to say that the sub was uncrewed. If an SAS op had his rifle pointed in my direction, I'd probably do whatever he asked me to. Also, nukes don't work that way on a mobile launch platform.

Fire in Space? Well, again. It's a game. There is no way the shockwave could have destroyed the space station, because a shockwave needs AIR TO TRAVEL IN. No air in space = no shockwave in space. But then again.... it looked pretty cool right?

Astronauts need to breathe, you know. The space station contains air for them to do that in. And, since the space station isn't actually in outer space, shockwaves travel fine, especially when they're originating from a multi-kiloton nuclear warhead.

 

[SgtWaffles]

Wow, most of these so called "plot holes" of mine were just being kind of stupid . I would edit it my original post but I am going to leave it up and hope people post their own "actual" plot holes.

 

[FROGGEman2]

I always wondered why they bothered shooting out an airport. A shopping center would have been fine.

 

[Looking For Alaska]

What I don't understand:

In the oil rig mission you and Ghost and MacTavish and the rest of Killer McBadass squad have to sneak in because the navy or whatever couldn't just sink the rig and kill 10 hostages.

But then, when you bust into the Gulag with 100 of YOUR OWN MEN they fire on the Gulag even though you're only there for 1 hostage that is infinitely more important than 10 civilians.

 

[Sev72]

I have one, why did Shepard feel it was necessary to kill of Roach and Ghost? He killed us so he could get some data we were intent on handing over to him anyway. We had been working for him the whole time without question, why turn on us now?

I may have just missed something and would love if anyone could explain this please.

 

[Grayjack]

The ISS isn't really in space. It orbits about 250 miles above the Earth, putting it in the Thermosphere. The shockwave could reach it.

 

[capin Rob]

what you call plotholes they call a third game

 

[eddielovato]

i didnt play the campaign past no Russian.
i didnt get why
a. i couldnt kill makarov or whatever his name is
b. how the hell did a CIA agent get there?!
c. i got bored of killing random Russians

 

[capin Rob]

What I don't understand:

In the oil rig mission you and Ghost and MacTavish and the rest of Killer McBadass squad have to sneak in because the navy or whatever couldn't just sink the rig and kill 10 hostages.

But then, when you bust into the Gulag with 100 of YOUR OWN MEN they fire on the Gulag even though you're only there for 1 hostage that is infinitely more important than 10 civilians.

because when you first dealt with the navy sheprad wasn't there much, and at the gulag shepard was there and it is a well known fact tht shepard is a twat

 

[Omnific One]

These are all just my guesses...

-How does the British s.a.s not know that captain price was in the gulag? Did they lose track of him or something?
at the end of COD4, they thought he was dead, and left him because they had to GTFO, then the Russians got ahold of him
-Where is the president in all of the game? Why does he just authorize a war with his country
isn't the president codename raptor in (i think) the wolverines mission. and America was invaded, there wasn't really a choice weather or not to war.
-Why do the Russians seem to suddenly all die when d.c. is Emp'd, do they all have pacemakers ?
they don't, you still fight some after the EMP goes off
-How does price manage to get into the Russian submarine and pretty much instantly laucnh an emp? Are there no launch codes?
HAX!!!


My favorite plot hole is...Why can't you just kill Makarov in the "No Russian" mission?
Then the game would of been alot shorter.

@Last point: I had a ton of fun on the No Russian mission repeatedly killing Makarov and his henchmen. Of course, IW wasn't too happy about that.

 

[Jammerz]

The EMP was actually a nuke set off outside the atmosphere to act like a nuke that's why the astronaut died

 

[Rauten]

because when you first dealt with the navy sheprad wasn't there much, and at the gulag shepard was there and it is a well known fact tht shepard is a twat

"Since when does Shepard care about danger close."

 

[ElephantGuts]

Modern Warfare 2's story isn't about the holes, it's about finding the tiny little pieces of logical story that do exist. It's more like trying to piece a person back together after they got obliterated by an atomic bomb than trying to sew a detached limb back on.

 

[Looking For Alaska]

What I don't understand:

In the oil rig mission you and Ghost and MacTavish and the rest of Killer McBadass squad have to sneak in because the navy or whatever couldn't just sink the rig and kill 10 hostages.

But then, when you bust into the Gulag with 100 of YOUR OWN MEN they fire on the Gulag even though you're only there for 1 hostage that is infinitely more important than 10 civilians.

because when you first dealt with the navy sheprad wasn't there much, and at the gulag shepard was there and it is a well known fact tht shepard is a twat

I laughed hard at that last part.

Obscenely so.

 

[Kuchinawa212]

-Why does the British s.a.s just ignore the fact that Sheppard killed two of their units? Do they not keep track of them?

-How does the Russian airfare fly over all of America with what seems like no resistance.

-What are the tattoos of the "special Russian soldiers" you find in that same house.

-How does Makarov literally just walk into a Russian airport? He is a wanted criminal/terrorist and I am pretty sure they have security and cameras in the airport.

I'll try and take these on.
1. Remember those guys are far away from home and the Shep was able to do away with them and once Soap and Price didn't hear from them, they knew something was up. AND all the rest of the support died on that mission. So Shep could have said "they all died" as well. I mean it was a tough mission.

2. wasn't that explained in the cut scene? They got the tracker cookie codes and broke them to look like just solar flare up blips on the radar. UNTIL IT WAS TOOO LATE!

3. Get Sum, near the groin area

4. Now this is assuming the guard on duty at the cameras cared. Remember, anyone pretty much can buy a gun and kill someone. Hell, anyone can. The tough part is getting away with it. So sure, he could walk in guns a blazing.it's not like they saw his face and could teleport him right to jail

letsee if I have a plot hole to add to the list.

Okay, How come Soap couldn't just pitch the knife at Shep, but has to go through badassmutherfuckery to pull it out, bleed, and then perfectly throw it at him. I think your aim is worse after pulling the knife out then just woozy after a crash

 

[gigastrike]

-How does the British s.a.s not know that captain price was in the gulag? Did they lose track of him or something?
A. Yes, the Russians took him while the entire SAS (Soap) was being air-lifted away to a place where he couldn't see where Price was.

-Why does the rest of the world just stand by and let an intercontinental war go on.
A. Because the entire game takes place a over a period of a couple days. Not really enough tme for a country to signifcantly respond to an attack on another continent with enough force to be noticable.

-Why does the British s.a.s just ignore the fact that Sheppard killed two of their units? Do they not keep track of them?
A. Because the entire squads were destroyed. No members of the squads were left to tell the SAS that they were dead.

-Where is the president in all of the game? Why does he just authorize a war with his country
A. He's in hiding. I don't nderstand the second half of the question.

-Why do the Russians seem to suddenly all die when d.c. is Emp'd, do they all have pacemakers ?
A. They all died? Then who did I kill during the whole mission after the EMP?

-How does the Russian airfare fly over all of America with what seems like no resistance.
A. I think they disabled the USA's radar with a code they obtained at some point. I don't remember the specifics.

-What is the importance of the VIP you find dead in the urban American neighborhood?
A. I don't remember hearing. It might have been the president, actually.

-What are the tattoos of the "special Russian soldiers" you find in that same house.
A. A lot of special groups like to identify themselves with tattoos.

-How does Makarov literally just walk into a Russian airport? He is a wanted criminal/terrorist and I am pretty sure they have security and cameras in the airport.
A. There is no way that any security can check the faces of everyone that enters a building and compare them to a list of wanted people.

-How does price manage to get into the Russian submarine and pretty much instantly laucnh an emp? Are there no launch codes?
A. Because he's awesome (I don't know, maybe he hacked it).

-How does said emp destroy a space station thousands of miles above the earth?
A. The nuke was high when it exploded. It probably pushed some of the atmosphere further into space.

-How the f*** is there fire in space?
A. There is air is the space station.

 

[TheTurtleMan]

I don't think that the developers were going for a mind boggling story to dazzle you,they went with the shock and awe which I think they did pretty good at.

 

[breadlord]

Plot hole: When Makarov shoots you, you don't heal, like when your getting pumped with 50 pounds of lead per second, for over 20 hours.....

 

[Mcface]

Just wanted to compile a list of all of the mw2 story plot holes!

-How does the British s.a.s not know that captain price was in the gulag? Did they lose track of him or something?
-Why does the rest of the world just stand by and let an intercontinental war go on
-Why does the British s.a.s just ignore the fact that Sheppard killed two of their units? Do they not keep track of them?
-Where is the president in all of the game? Why does he just authorize a war with his country
-Why do the Russians seem to suddenly all die when d.c. is Emp'd, do they all have pacemakers ?
-How does the Russian airfare fly over all of America with what seems like no resistance.
-What is the importance of the VIP you find dead in the urban American neighborhood?
-What are the tattoos of the "special Russian soldiers" you find in that same house.
-How does Makarov literally just walk into a Russian airport? He is a wanted criminal/terrorist and I am pretty sure they have security and cameras in the airport.
-How does price manage to get into the Russian submarine and pretty much instantly laucnh an emp? Are there no launch codes?
-How does said emp destroy a space station thousands of miles above the earth?
-How the f*** is there fire in space?

The list goes on, post your favorite plot holes below

You ask a lot of questions.
The game doesn't explain everything to you, its a need to know. And the story dosn't hold your hand. You come up with your own conclusions. That is, somehow too hard of a concept for people to grasp, so I will do it for you.


-How does the British s.a.s not know that captain price was in the gulag? Did they lose track of him or something?
Answer: He looked dead. The only rescue was a single chopper that flew in to bail soap out. Do you remember what type of crew was in that chopper? Russians. It's likely he went to A Russian Hospital, when political favor turned, he was sent to a prison. And how do you know the SAS didn't? You dont work for them anymore. They knew who you were going to rescue, but you didn't, they didn't tell soap for obvious reasons, he has a personal connection with him.

-Why does the rest of the world just stand by and let an intercontinental war go on
Answer: They don't, or at least you have to assume that. You play as a task force doing certain goals, or as a Ranger defending America. The game never mentions support, or lack of support for the war effort for anyone.

-Why does the British s.a.s just ignore the fact that Sheppard killed two of their units? Do they not keep track of them?
Answer: What? Again, the SAS have nothing to do with the task force. Shepard has command of these soldiers now, they were HIS men, he killed his own men.

-Where is the president in all of the game? Why does he just authorize a war with his country
Answer: He didn't? Shepard provoked the Russians to attack America, while he raised a private army.

-Why do the Russians seem to suddenly all die when d.c. is Emp'd, do they all have pacemakers ?
Answer:The russians dont.. Their choppers crash and their radios go down. Do you not remember fighting your way out of the zone?

-How does the Russian airfare fly over all of America with what seems like no resistance.
Answer: Russia, while no wear near as America, has a good airforce. With most of our guys in Iraq, it's not impossible they would have temporary air superiority

-What is the importance of the VIP you find dead in the urban American neighborhood?
Answer: You are a PVT in the U.S Rangers, you wouldn't ever find that out reguardless.

-What are the tattoos of the "special Russian soldiers" you find in that same house.
Answer: See above.

-How does Makarov literally just walk into a Russian airport? He is a wanted criminal/terrorist and I am pretty sure they have security and cameras in the airport.
Answer: The same way 40 armed Chechen rebels stormed a theater in Moscow.

-How does price manage to get into the Russian submarine and pretty much instantly laucnh an emp? Are there no launch codes?
Answer: Agreed, this is a bit far fetched.

 

[Xanadu84]

-How does the British s.a.s not know that captain price was in the gulag? Did they lose track of him or something?
They likely assumed he was dead.

-Why does the rest of the world just stand by and let an intercontinental war go on
Because they arn't being shot at, and would rather not be shot at.

-Where is the president in all of the game? Why does he just authorize a war with his country.
Well, when you're being invaded, no authorization necessary. Also, what the president is doing isn't as exciting.

-Why do the Russians seem to suddenly all die when d.c. is Emp'd, do they all have pacemakers ?
The Russians surprised America by dropping a powerfully armed force in a place they couldn't retaliate. Put a tank in Maryland, and its a giant surprise. EMP everything, and suddenly you have a small Russian force with useless technology, and a giant American force. They still fought back, though.

-How does the Russian airfare fly over all of America with what seems like no resistance.

Remember that piece of technology you were looking for in the beginning, which was the key to Americas surveillance technology? Once the Russians got it, they could undermine all surveillance. Thats why finding it was such a huge deal.

-What is the importance of the VIP you find dead in the urban American neighborhood?
-What are the tattoos of the "special Russian soldiers" you find in that same house.
I suspect that this could be a plot point for the next game, or maybe I missed it. I think that maybe the tattoos just an identifier for Makarov of Shepards men.

-How does Makarov literally just walk into a Russian airport? He is a wanted criminal/terrorist and I am pretty sure they have security and cameras in the airport.
There was security, and the security does go after you.

-How does said emp destroy a space station thousands of miles above the earth?
-How the f*** is there fire in space?

It wasn't an EMP bomb. It was a full fledged nuke, detonated in orbit. That does cause an EMP blast, and obviously would destroy a space station. I'm no expert on nukes, but I assume that its that sudden energy which causes the flash of, "Fire". Its kind of like a mini-sun, after all.

Also, you can't kill Makarov in No Russian because if you did, there would still be a terrorist organization out to destroy everything. Besides, he might even have some sort of insurance, who knows all the plot points yet? If they gain Makarovs trust, they can collapse the entire organization from within, and prevent innumerable future acts of terrorism. MW2 isn't exactly realistic, but its no worse then a Bond movie, and the story actually holds together pretty well. The plot holes are fairly minor, forgivable in number, and hey, maybe they will be explained in the future.