Modern Warfare 2’s campaign is a pretty mixed back when it comes to action, missions, story, and notable moments. But, while it is fairly inconsistent and loose with its storytelling and timeline, by the end you are left on a moment that has a lot of potential for the future of this rebooted Modern Warfare series. And, if you don’t quite know what that moment means, we will break it all down below in this Modern Warfare 2 ending and post-credits scene breakdown.
Be warned, of course, there are major plot spoilers below! So, if you’d rather hold off until after you beat the campaign, this is your final warning to play through the length of the campaign first.
Modern Warfare 2 ending and post-credits scene explained
After the final mission in the game, Laswell and Task Force 141 are in a bar, where Laswell confirms that Shepherd has disappeared. Laswell then says she has begun delving into Russian involvement and influence in the events of the game and passes around a picture of someone. That picture is of Makarov, the antagonist from the original Modern Warfare 2. So, we can expect to see Makarov in Modern Warfare 3.
In fact, we actually get a little tease of him in the post-credits scene we mentioned where you see someone on a plane assemble a pistol. This person then has the last text message of “No Russian” on his phone, calling back to the iconic and controversial mission from the original Modern Warfare 2.
That original ‘No Russian’ mission from Modern Warfare 2 was a trick by Makarov to convince the Russian state that America carried out the attack in the mission on an airport, killing civilians in the process. So, when Modern Warfare 3 rolls around and Infinity Ward get their next shot at a Call of Duty game, we can almost certainly expect to see some new twists on the characters of both Makarov and Shepard and putting the pieces in place to continue the retelling of the original story.
Although, you have to wonder if that famous scene might take place on the plane this time, rather than in an airport, given we can see everyone getting ready during that post-credits scene. You can watch that ‘No Russian’ scene from the end of Modern Warfare 2’s campaign below from ‘Nemsk‘.
That is about it for what the Modern Warfare 2 ending and post-credits scene explain. While Modern Warfare 2 feels like a bit of a stop-gap before Modern Warfare 2 which might be the most interesting and exciting game in the retelling of the series yet. If you are looking for more on the campaign, check out our guide on the Modern Warfare 2 campaign rewards and the higher difficulty modes you can play the story on.