MW3 campaign Easter eggs: Top 10 secrets to look out for

The MW3 campaign might be short, but it hides a lot of Easter eggs from past CoD games for players to find. If you are still looking to finish the campaign in Modern Warfare 3, or you are thinking of starting it from scratch, here’s everything you should look out for.

MW3’s campaign might be short and ill-received by players, but it still hides a lot of secrets and references from past CoD games. If you are an Easter egg hunter, MW3 Zombies is not the only mode that carries secrets to uncover.

From Call of Duty Ghosts’ best buddy to an accidental meet-up with Modern Warfare’s main villain, the MW3 campaign has a lot in stock to find. Here are the top 10 Easter egg references that you can find along your journey through the MW3 campaign with Task Force 141.

• Riley from CoD Ghosts
• Yuri is back
• An alternative Operation 627
• Early Makarov sight
• Verdansk Team’s Mascot
• Ghost’s classic skin
• Makarov can kill you by surprise
• Soap’s replacing Yuri in MW3
• No Russian all over again
• Perseus traces are still present in MW3

Riley from CoD Ghosts

Call of Duty Ghosts was released in 2013, almost 10 years earlier than MW3, and featured man’s best buddy Riley in its campaign. This fan-favorite character was Logan and Hesh Walker’s dog, and he was already featured as an Easter egg in some other CoD titles.

During the final mission of MW3’s campaign, Riley can be seen standing in the crowd and players can pet him as Soap. This is not only an Easter egg, but a way for players to blend into the crowd and not get detected. Once you pet him, his name will appear on the screen, revealing him as Walker’s old dog.

Yuri is back

Yuri Volkov is a character from the original Modern Warfare 3, and he is back in MW3. Back in the day, Yuri was Captain Price’s new TF 141 member, but he also carried a dark past. He used to be Makarov’s commanding soldier before joining Price and the Task Force.

He sacrificed himself at the end of the original MW3, making him a very important character in MW’s universe. Now after three rebooted Modern Warfare games, we are not only seeing him back but we also now know his last name is Volkov.

Alternative Operation 627

The new Operation 627 in MW3’s first campaign mission is a direct reference to the original Modern Warfare story. Captain Price and Task Force 141 tried to capture Makarov in Operation Kingfish back in the day, but this mission failed and ended up with Price in The Gulag prison.

Players rescued him back in the original MW2, but this time around, 2023’s MW3 features the same Gulag prison in Konni’s attempt to rescue Makarov, of course, from cell 627.

Early Makarov sighting

Activision

During the Flashpoint mission in MW3’s campaign, players can spot but not interact with Makarov in an ambulance in the Verdansk tunnel. This is really easy to miss since the opening scene happens very fast and a lot is going on.

Verdansk team mascot

The Flashpoint mission in MW3’s campaign is full of Easter eggs, and in this case, you can find a dead mascot on the left-hand side when you’re inside the arena. If you get close to it, Soap will play a salute animation to respect the dead mascot and the Verdansk map itself in the Modern Warfare 3 campaign.

Ghost’s classic skin

Another Easter egg is present in the Flashpoint mission of MW3’s campaign, and a direct reference to the original MW2. If you pay extra attention to Ghost at the end of the mission, you will notice that he is wearing a special outfit.

His classic skin from MW2 is seen on him when he appears with Shepherd when they come to pick up Price, Soap, and the captured Makarov. The classic skin will take veteran players back to the scene where Ghost dies at the hands of none other than Shepherd.

Makarov can kill you by surprise

The last Easter egg in the Flashpoint mission of MW3’s campaign happens when you capture Makarov and let your guard down. He can kill you if you don’t pay attention by the end of the mission, where you have to protect and push him handcuffed to Shepherd. If you turn your back on him, he’ll grab you and kill you, so try this out at your own risk.

Soap replaces Yuri in MW3

This alternate story that the new MW3 crafts has a similar ending to the original MW3, and just like back in the day, Makarov also attacks Captain Price in the end. It was the very same Yuri Volkov who returned in this campaign who sacrificed himself to stop Makarov from killing Price in the original.

In 2023 MW3, it is Soap who makes the sacrifice and stops Makarov from killing his Captain. They both die in the same scenario, but players don’t get to kill Makarov for his actions in MW3’s campaign.

No Russian all over again

Activision

The famous and most criticized mission in all of Modern Warfare history is back in MW3’s campaign in some fashion. Since the end-credits scene of 2022’s MW2 where we saw Makarov move forward with the operation, players fantasized about the mission being back in the game.

In the end credits scene from last year’s MW2, we see a man crafting a gun using some tools and receiving a message to start the mission. In MW3’s campaign, that man sits next to you on the plane, loads his gun, and checks his phone for the No Russian Operation affirmative call.

Perseus traces are still present in MW3

The traces of Perseus are probably one of the biggest Easter eggs present in MW3’s campaign, as it ties its story to 2020’s Call of Duty. After Black Ops Cold War, players learned that the new MW universe is connected to the Black Ops one.

Both universes feature a similar threat that tries to start an East vs West World War. CIA agents Adler, Hudson, Woods, and Mason from Black Ops Cold War stop this from happening in its campaign by brainwashing Bell and hunting Perseus.

In MW3, Makarov is trying to do the same, and you can even find Perseus flags during the Payload mission. Here you’ll find an old bunker, and if you look around, you’ll find many of these flags. Fans speculated a lot about this Easter egg, and even think it’s a tease for the next Black Ops game.

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