Mw2 Plot Hole List (Warning: Possible Spoilers)

[Reaper195]

-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:He was presumed dead at the ewnd of COD4.,

-Why does the rest of the world just stand by and let an intercontinental war go on

Because it's a war between the US and Russia, a war, as far as the rest of the world is told, almost completely justified. This is explained in-game.

-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?

The SAS (Not S.A.S.) had nothing to do with anything in MW2. What you are thinking of is Task Force...whatever number. And they do care. What I want to know is why they go after Sheppard for killing two of their guys, instead of stopping Makarov who continues to bomb and kill people.

-Where is the president in all of the game? Why does he just authorize a war with his country

Remember that scene in MW2 where the White House is under Urssian Control?

-Why do the Russians seem to suddenly all die when d.c. is Emp'd, do they all have pacemakers ?

That is a good question. From the start of the EMp to when you arrive at the White House, there are a few shoot outs with the Russians, but not as much as there should have been. But then again, I thought walking through the burnt and broken and empty streets was cooler than shooting Russians.

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

The Russian air force (Airfare?) doesn't fly over the entire country. Only arrives at the shor areas. And this is also explained in-game, that module you get when you first play with MacTavish was already cracked by the Russians, and they used that to fool the US Satellites.

-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.

These two are related, and are also good questions. Possibly a sub-plot that the developers left out and forgot to scrub it all from the game.

-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.

Simple answer? Guns in the bag, keep your face hidden under a cap. For all we know, he only walked across maybe...fifty meters of open ground to that lift before going in. Or it could have been a lift from a service area out back where there were no cameras.

-How does price manage to get into the Russian submarine and pretty much instantly launch an emp? Are there no launch codes?

He fired a nuke, which detonated in space, not an EMP bomb. And he does take about five minutes to fire them.

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

Again, these two are related. When a nuke is detonated, there is an ass load of force and destructive power released by it. There is no reason why there would not be any in space. A Bomb is not fire, the only reason there is usually fire in all those old bomb videos is because there is oxygen. because there is no oxygen, things cannot burn. And because it was detonated in a vacuum, there was nothing to slow down the force, hence how it made it so quickly to that space station in space. As for the fire things, that was more than likely the oxygen inside the station catching alight, as well as other combustible items.

<<

Man...I have a lot of free time.

Personally, the biuggest plot hole I found in that game was, as mentioned before, Sheppard killing Ghost and Roach, and then everyone trying to find him. Everyone suddenly stops hunting Makarov, who is a muuuch bigger threat than Sheppard. Not to mention, as far as I could tell, Sheppard killed two guys simply so he could get all the credit for finding the info on Makarov. It entirely seems like Price and MacTavish want to kill Sheppard so they can keep the credit for getting Makarovs' data, not just for killing their own men.

 

[internetzealot1]

They weren't S.A.S anymore. They were TF 141, which was an international unit headed by Shepherd.

 

[Yeager942]

And: Why the hell did Sheppard betray you? I tell this to my fanboy friends all the time and all they can say is that, "You know too much." Sooo, what? He just felt like backstabbing someone today in the middle of World Fraking War 3?

 

[L0rdOfTheFli3s]

The story so far: In MW1, one of Gen. Shepard's Marine Divisions is nuked while invading unspecifiedistan. The Russian Ultranationalists are responsible. Flash forward a few years to MW2, and the Ultranationalist party has won the civil war in Russia, and the villains from the first game are now held up as national heroes, and Shepard just can't live with the fact that the 'bad guys' won.

It gets a little unclear from this point, but my interpretation was that Shepard was on a massive ego trip and wanted an excuse to go back to war the Russians so that this time he could win. To this end, he hired the mercenary Makarov to shoot up the airport and leave a dead American behind, thus leading the Russians to believe that Makarov and the Americans are allies, prompting them to declare war (remember that the crazy extremists from the first game are the ones in charge)

Shepard then hid Makarov and the rest of men in the safe house in Suburban Virginia, as a way to Dare the Russians to 'come and get him', which they almost did, but he slipped away during the fighting (only his minions are found at the safe house) probably when he realized that Shepard didn't need alive anymore.

Once the Russians have been beaten back, the focus of the game shifts to Shepard trying find Makarov. (to kill him before he can reveal the truth I say) Makarov can't be found, But T.F. 141 recovers his files (containing, I assume, the only remaining evidence against Shepard). Once they hand this over, they are the only people still alive who have seen the files, so Shepard decides to clean house, and kill them off.

In short, Shepard orchestrated the whole thing as a way to get his mojo back after losing the war in the first game.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

I would have to say that all the plot holes can be explained by nobody who wrote the game giving a shit about it, as they were all too busy NOT beta testing their game to spend a day proofreading their tacked-on campaign script.

Of course they beta-tested it! It is not like the multiplayer is as balanced as a hippo and a rat on a seasaw with extremely OP weapons, lots of camping oprotunities, many cheap mechanics, and a win any game mechanic that bypasses what ever your team is doing.

Oh wait.

 

[demoman_chaos]

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.

So they could do another FPS-death, just like the favorite scene in MW1.
Why does Sheppard get the only magic-regen canceling bullets, or why does Ghost and Roaches magic-regen abilities suddenly stop working at that point.

Why does Russia attack the US just because 1 American's body was found at the Airport, and how did all of the EU countries NOT see the massive amounts of dudes and ships that would have passed right past them since the Russians attacked from the Atlantic side? 1 satellite module would not have allowed them to hack everything of everyones.

 

[x434343]

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

I've actually asked a physics buff about it. The fire comes from Oxygen burning, and it's not the EMP, but the heat, that causes the boom-boom.

 

[asinann]

Fire in space is easy, It uses the oxygen present in whatever is on fire. When that is gone, I couldn't tell you, but the scene with the fire in space is so short that the amount of oxygen used wouldn't equal what was there.

 

[Judgement101]

Awnser to all: Magic

 

[The Heik]

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

Dude you don't have to say spoilers, the game has been out since November. If someone hasn't already bought it, then it's their own fault if someone else talks about the story

But I digress. Lets talk about the plot holes.

there are a few in your list that I think I can explain

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

Remember that ACS module you save in the Russian airbase? They had already downloaded it, so they had access to the IFF codes of the American defense

-How does said emp destroy a space station thousands of miles above the earth?

Because energy can still transfer, even in space. If it couldn't then there would be no life on earth

-How the f*** is there fire in space?

Ever looked at what our sun is? It's one gigantic explosion, IN SPACE! But on a more localized scale, it's because the space station contains oxygen, a very combustible material.

-Why do the Russians seem to suddenly all die when d.c. is Emp'd, do they all have pacemakers ?

They didn't. You start fighting them within five minutes of the EMP. As for the reason why you don't start fighting right away, I pose a simple question to you: Would you run out in the middle of what is effectively a rain of metal to shoot some guys whom you're not even sure will survive that same metallic precipitation? I think not. My first reaction to something like that would be to hit the deck until things have stopped crashing for a full minute.

-Where is the president in all of the game? Why does he just authorize a war with his country

At the first sign of danger, the president would immediately be relocated to a secure bunker (eg the Cheyenne mountain system) and kept there until the situation is resolved. And if heDIDN'T give the go ahead to fight back against an invading enemy, he would be removed pretty damn fast

Enough of the filling of plot holes, though. My personal favourite plot hole is Makarov's slaughter of the Russian airport. He doesn't wear a mask of any kind, definitely gets caught on camera at least a dozen times, and loses at least two guys (not including the PC), whom the Russian could have identified with no effort, just like the CIA agent. HOW IN THE NAME OF DOCTOR WHO'S RIGHT SPACE NIPPLE DID THEY NOT PEG HIM AS THE INSTIGATOR?!?!?!?

 

[PhiMed]

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

-How does the Russian airfare fly over all of America with what seems like no resistance.
They got the override codes for U.S. early detection satellites from the downed ACS module prior to its recovery.
-How does said emp destroy a space station thousands of miles above the earth?
The EMP was a result of a super-stratospheric detonation of a nuclear warhead. EMPs can be generated without a nuclear explosion, but this wasn't the case this time.
-How the f*** is there fire in space?
The Space station's hull was compromised, and all the oxygen inside was liberated, allowing a short-lived fire.

I saw some of your questions answered earlier, but I didn't see these addressed. But honestly, you're looking for plot holes in MW2? It's an over-the-top militaristic fantasy. How did they jump over that chasm in snowmobiles without dying? Because it's not reality!

Edit: Some people beat me to the answers to most of these questions. Didn't read all posts first. My bad.

 

[Archindar]

MW2 story is the gaming equivalent of the star wars prequels, so full of holes that you can see the money-machine behind it.

 

[slipknot4]

Epic fire-in-outer-space Snip

Good job sir pointing out those plot holes
*claps hands*
You had me reading for 5 minutes, thanks.
And to point out another thing.
HOW THE FUCK!?[sup]sorry about that[/sup] did soap end up in the middle of the dessert after getting flushed down the waterfall? If you look closely you can see the multi-player map Rust in the distance.

 

[Sixties Spidey]

Some of your plot holes aren't plot holes. The Russians do not all die when the EMP goes off. You fight them after in the White House, remember? It's just that their equipment fails. The reason why there are no russians in the IMMEDIATE aftermath of the EMP is due to the fact that helicopters were falling out of the sky.

As for whether or not the S.A.S knew whether or not Shepard killed their guys, that could be a plot hole. I find it hard to imagine that the S.A.S wouldn't keep some sort of watch on any joint operation.

The rest of the world ignores what is going on because they don't want to become a part of it. Simple really. Also, the Russians say that the US organized the terrorist attack at the airport. Of course, a bigger plot hole is the fact that how did the Russians know Allan was C.I.A and why on earth would they think the U.S government organized an attack just because they found one American body.

The importance of the V.I.P is never explained. They just dropped it. It feels like a plot point that was just plain forgotten about. The Soldier with the tatoos is also similarly never explained. Fans have made up explanations, but if the game itself doesn't explain it, then the game itself did a pretty poor job explaining its plot.

How did the Russian Air Force fly all over the East Coast without anyone detecting it? The game says that the Russians "Cracked the ACS module". This supposedly makes all U.S satellites and Radar Systems easily hackable. In reality, of course, there's no way one module controls ALL the PAVE PAW stations in Europe and the US and Australia, and other nations would have easily detected the massive movement of Russian arms and personnel. In short, there really is no way the Russians could have. It IS impossible for them to launch a surprise invasion of the US in reality. But this is a GAME. It was also technically impossible for Ramirez and Roach to survive getting shot a bajillion times and recover by hiding behind a wall.

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.

But a much bigger plot point is how the C.I.A could somehow just magically insert a US ranger into Russia as a deep-under-cover agent. Sure they gave him tattoos and a fake russian name - but I don't think Private Allan, an army grunt, commanded a deep expertise in the Russian language. There's no way the C.I.A would have ever allowed him to become an agent, no matter what Shepard said. Allan must have also been a complete idiot to volunteer to go to a nation as a agent when he didn't speak the bloody language.

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.

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?

So in summary - yeah, there are a hell of a lot of plotholes. One of the major bugs was how they sacrificed what little realism they had in MW1, in order to make MW2 bombastic and "exciting". In order to "top" MW1, they had to make the whole thing into a Michael Bay movie. And it works provided you don't think to carefully.

At least the ending of the game kicks the shit out of MW1's...

But that's another thing to dwell on. Most of the damage Soap sustains is where his head is. That amount of damage would've killed Soap. Notice how Price only heals the knife wound. Soap wouldn't be able to survive getting his head smashed on a car, curbstomped, and gets stabbed in the chest with a knife due to blood loss. He would've died because of massive head trauma.

 

[Liberaliter]

There are no answers, the plot makes no sense because Infinity Ward knew all the whiny 13 year olds playing it on xbox live aren't going to mind. That and they can't seem to tell a story for shit which is coherent or understandable.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

-snip-

This guy knows what the hell he is talking about XD, I hastily put together that list just to spark the topic.

Your one about the rest of the world not helping is actually correct. America is after all a member of NATO, so most of the world would be coming to the aid of them.

 

[Tsunimo]

ok heres one... how the fuck were the russians able to mobilize a force and completely invade the US in only a few hours

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

Some of your plot holes aren't plot holes. The Russians do not all die when the EMP goes off. You fight them after in the White House, remember? It's just that their equipment fails. The reason why there are no russians in the IMMEDIATE aftermath of the EMP is due to the fact that helicopters were falling out of the sky.

As for whether or not the S.A.S knew whether or not Shepard killed their guys, that could be a plot hole. I find it hard to imagine that the S.A.S wouldn't keep some sort of watch on any joint operation.

The rest of the world ignores what is going on because they don't want to become a part of it. Simple really. Also, the Russians say that the US organized the terrorist attack at the airport. Of course, a bigger plot hole is the fact that how did the Russians know Allan was C.I.A and why on earth would they think the U.S government organized an attack just because they found one American body.

The importance of the V.I.P is never explained. They just dropped it. It feels like a plot point that was just plain forgotten about. The Soldier with the tatoos is also similarly never explained. Fans have made up explanations, but if the game itself doesn't explain it, then the game itself did a pretty poor job explaining its plot.

How did the Russian Air Force fly all over the East Coast without anyone detecting it? The game says that the Russians "Cracked the ACS module". This supposedly makes all U.S satellites and Radar Systems easily hackable. In reality, of course, there's no way one module controls ALL the PAVE PAW stations in Europe and the US and Australia, and other nations would have easily detected the massive movement of Russian arms and personnel. In short, there really is no way the Russians could have. It IS impossible for them to launch a surprise invasion of the US in reality. But this is a GAME. It was also technically impossible for Ramirez and Roach to survive getting shot a bajillion times and recover by hiding behind a wall.

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.

But a much bigger plot point is how the C.I.A could somehow just magically insert a US ranger into Russia as a deep-under-cover agent. Sure they gave him tattoos and a fake russian name - but I don't think Private Allan, an army grunt, commanded a deep expertise in the Russian language. There's no way the C.I.A would have ever allowed him to become an agent, no matter what Shepard said. Allan must have also been a complete idiot to volunteer to go to a nation as a agent when he didn't speak the bloody language.

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.

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?

So in summary - yeah, there are a hell of a lot of plotholes. One of the major bugs was how they sacrificed what little realism they had in MW1, in order to make MW2 bombastic and "exciting". In order to "top" MW1, they had to make the whole thing into a Michael Bay movie. And it works provided you don't think to carefully.

Some good points there but the fact that it's a game doesn't really excuse the plotholes. When the game is trying to be realistic and is presenting a plot that isn't wildly abstract, then they do need to cover their plotholes, they can't just use the 'it's a game' card.
Oh and I think the one about no one helping in the war still stands, as the USA is a member of NATO.