Call of Duty: Modern Warfare - Real Places Behind the Missions

In a 1996 flashback in Call of Duty 4, Price and MacMillan are sent to assassinate Zakhaev in Pripyat. Price shoots Zakhaev and severs his arm, but Zakhaev survives and the two escape. The setting is real: Pripyat residents worked at the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and the town was evacuated on 27 April 1986, one day after the disaster.

Location precision: The game places the pin at the town itself; the level's layout is the game's own.

In Modern Warfare 2, Task Force 141 is sent to Rio de Janeiro to capture Alejandro Rojas, Makarov's arms dealer. With no help from home, the team has to escape the city with aid from Soap's old contact, Nikolai. Rio itself is known for its beaches and landmarks, among them the statue of Christ the Redeemer atop Corcovado mountain, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

Location precision: The game does not name a district here; the pin marks the city centre.

Visitor guidance: Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado is the city's best-known landmark.

In Modern Warfare 2, Foley's squad launches a counterattack to retake the White House, and the Americans retake D.C. The real building stands at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. It was constructed between 1792 and 1800, and its exterior walls are Aquia Creek sandstone painted white.

In Modern Warfare 3, Team Metal destroys a radio jammer at the New York Stock Exchange Building. Then a submarine's missile payload is used to destroy the Russian Navy in New York Bay. The real exchange is headquartered at that building in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan.

Three months later in Modern Warfare 3, Russian president Boris Vorshevsky flies to Hamburg for peace talks with the US, but Makarov's forces hijack his plane. Later Team Metal rescues the U.S. Vice President in Hamburg. Away from the game, the city's Speicherstadt and Kontorhausviertel were declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2015.

Location precision: The game's Hamburg missions cover several districts; the pin marks the city centre.

Visitor guidance: The Speicherstadt and Kontorhausviertel are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Task Force 141 learns that Makarov's bomb maker, Volk, is in Paris. In Modern Warfare 3 Team Metal captures Volk with assistance from GIGN, and under interrogation he points them to a meeting of Makarov's advisors in Prague. Outside the game, Paris is where Art Nouveau, Symbolism, Fauvism, Cubism and Art Deco evolved.

Location precision: The game does not name a street; the pin marks central Paris.

Volk claims that Makarov is meeting his top advisors in Prague. Task Force 141 navigates through the city, with Price infiltrating the meeting, assisted by his old ally Kamarov. It goes badly: Kamarov is killed and Soap is mortally wounded. Prague's real sights include Prague Castle, Charles Bridge and Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock.

Location precision: The game does not name a street; the pin marks Prague's Old Town.

Visitor guidance: Prague Castle, Charles Bridge and Old Town Square with its astronomical clock are the city's best-known sights.

In January 2017, Nikolai, Price and Yuri track Makarov to a hotel in Dubai in the closing level of Modern Warfare 3. Price and Yuri storm the building and stop Makarov from escaping by helicopter, ending the hunt that began in Modern Warfare 2. Dubai's skyline is home to the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.

Location precision: The game's hotel is not named in the sources; the pin marks Dubai.

Visitor guidance: The Burj Khalifa is a prominent landmark of the Dubai skyline.