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Essays 21 November 2020, 21:28

author: Jakub Mirowski

"Soap" – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Twelve Most Memorable Deaths in Video Games

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Game: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Cause of death: injuries sustained as a result of explosion and fall from a high altitude

Last words: "Makarov... knows... Yuri”

How we will remember him: as a bloody good professional soldier, a man with superhuman resistance to any injuries, an expert in killing villains and the only Scotsman in the history of pop culture who looks truly good with a mohawk

For a brand known primarily for its dynamic action, hundreds of explosions and a kiloton of testosterone, Call of Duty is definitely not lacking emotional moments – just mention the moment when Ghost and Roach got gunned down by their commander in Modern Warfare 2 or the famous nuclear bomb explosion scene in the fourth installment. But even against this background, the death of John MacTavish, commonly known as Soap, stands out. During an assassination attempt on the leader of the ultranationalist party, Vladimir Makarov, the Scotsman, along with player character Yuri, are entangled powerful explosion and is sent falling from a great height. However, the injuries caused by the explosion are fatal – Soap dies after a few minutes, and he devotes his last moments to informing captain Price that Makarov knows Yuri.

For a series associated, among other things, with "Press F to pay respects", Soap's death scene is extremely moving. - Twelve Most Memorable Deaths in Video Games - dokument - 2020-11-21
For a series associated, among other things, with "Press F to pay respects", Soap's death scene is extremely moving.

This is one of the best written scenes in the entire series – MacTavish does not lose his life on the battlefield, with a gun in hand, but lying on the table and barely able to piece together simple sentences. Its reception is also strongly influenced by the reaction of Price, who is desperately trying to save his friend – an undefeated commander, who has so far come out of the worst situations, loses someone close to him and for the first time is seen completely powerless.

A big role in the scene is also played by the fact that Soap was one of the central characters of the whole Modern Warfare trilogy – we met him in the first part and together we were becoming a truly legendary soldier. This means his last moments are not artificially emotional – he is someone with whom we have established a close connection through the plots of three games, and to top it off, it turns out that our character may have had something to do with his death.

Soap is the only character playable in all three parts of the Modern Warfare trilogy. MacTavish plays the biggest role in the first installment, where he is the main protagonist, but he is also a playable character in some missions in the next two sequels. This is not a small achievement, because the developers at Infinity Ward like to juggle a lot of different characters in their campaigns.

Jakub Mirowski

Jakub Mirowski

Associated with Gamepressure.com since 2012: he worked in news, editorials, columns, technology, and tvgry departments. Currently specializes in ambitious topics. Wrote both reviews of three installments of the FIFA series, and an article about a low-tech African refrigerator. Apart from GRYOnline.pl, his articles on refugees, migration, and climate change were published in, among others, Krytyka Polityczna, OKO.press, and Nowa Europa Wschodnia. When it comes to games, his scope of interest is a bit more narrow and is limited to whatever FromSoftware throws out, the more intriguing indie games and party-type titles.

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