Countdown is the final campaign story mission in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (MW2). Read on for a complete walkthrough of Countdown including tips for beating the mission on Realism Difficulty, a list of achievements, as well as a list of weapons you can find & use.

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Ghost Team	-

Countdown Overview

Mission Information

Countdown
Description	TF-141 deploys with the MARSOC marines to prevent an attack on an American city.
Place	Chicago, USA
Date & Time	04 November 2022, 0200
Character	Soap, Ghost
Completion Reward	Union Guard Assault Rifle Blueprint

Starting Weapon Loadouts

Soap Weapon Loadout

FTAC Recon

VEL 46

Soap will start off the mission with a suppressed FTac Recon battle rifle that comes equipped with a reflex sight and foregrip. For his secondary, he will be using a suppressed VEL 46 submachine gun that also comes with its own reflex sight.

Ghost Weapon Loadout

Victus XMR

While only making a brief appearance, players will still be able to control Ghost during this mission. Acting as overwatch for the operation, Ghost wields a Victus XMR sniper rifle equipped with a variable zoom optic and a bipod.

Countdown Walkthrough

Countdown Realism Difficulty Video Playthrough

Walkthrough

1	Hook up and rappel down the first few floors. You can change your Rappel Orientation by hitting C.
2	Get a visual on the terrorists and kill them before they harm any of the hostages. There will be 3 floors to clear, with each having 2, 4, and 5 terrorists, respectively. The achievement, Must Be Wind can be acquired by killing all terrorists before they can fire their guns.
3	With the hostages rescued, make your way to the nearby server room window where Price will be waiting.
4	Clear out the server rooms. Follow and cover Price as you both make your way to the control room where Hassan was last sighted.
5	Hassan has moved floors. Hook up again and rappel down the building until you reach the floor with a large reception area.
6	Wait for the RPG to blow up the window before following after Price into the room.
7	Clear out the waves of enemies in this area. The second wave is the most dangerous as it will be comprised of multiple, heavily armored guards.
8	Wait for Price to pry open the stairwell door. Once open, head downstairs and link up with Gaz's squad.
9	Clear out the heavies guarding Hassan's room. Use any grenades you have to make quick work of them.
10	Follow after Price and use the Snake Cam.
11	Hassan is getting away. Make your way to the open elevator shaft nearby.
12	Jump down to the elevator below and watch the cutscene. Be warned, you will lose access to your weapons at this stage of the mission.
13	Run around and loot materials before finding a safe spot. Make sure you loot at least Binding x2, Chemicals x1, Wax x1, and Metal x1.
14	When you have the necessary tools ready, head over to the White-doored Room in front of the reception desk (near the elevators). Make sure you give the heavies a run around so they don't see you slip into the room.
15	Once inside, listen to Laswell's instructions. Press or choose the buttons & prompts stated by Laswell to safely detonate the missile Instructions: ・Enable Diagnostic Mode by hitting CLR (F) and MODE (C) at the same time. ・When Laswell asks for data, choose %ESP. ・Next hit LEFT (A) and CLR (F) to initiate override. ・Finally, hit LNK (R) when the green circle is at the 4th position on the readout.
16	With the missle scuttled, you will now need to deal with the 2 armored heavies on your floor. Begin by using the materials gathered earlier to craft Pry Tool x1 and Smoke Bombs x2.
17	Once you finish crafting, exit the room and head for the Red Toolbox in the opposite side of the level (near the windows). Pry it open to get the Box Cutter.
18	When the Box Cutter is equipped, use the Smoke Bombs to stun the heavies before taking them down. Repeat until both are dead to trigger the cutscene with Hassan.
19	Take control of Ghost. As soon as you zoom in with the sniper rifle, put a bullet in Hassan's head to complete the mission. Completing this mission will get you the Time For Pints achievement. If you've been playing the campaign on Veteran all this time, you will also get the Cutting Heads Off Snakes achievement along with it.
20	Watch the final cutscene and credits. Congratulations! You have finished MW2's campaign.

How to Beat Countdown in Realism Difficulty

Realism Difficulty Tips
Switch Out the VEL 46 for the Bryson 890 Use Flashes When Clearing the Server Rooms Pre-Fire Doors to Clear Out Waiting Enemies Acquire the Riot Shield For Extra Protection Clear Out Enemies Before Following Price Prioritize Getting the Box Cutter and Smoke Bombs

Switch Out the VEL 46 for the Bryson 890

On lower difficulties, the VEL 48 will usually be more than enough to get through this level. However, since it is a fully automatic submachine gun, the recoil and damage leave much to be desired when playing on Veteran or Realism.

To have an easier time clearing the first few server rooms, switch out the VEL 48 with the Bryson 890 shotgun found in the first server room area that you and Price meet at in Countdown.

Use Flashes When Clearing the Server Rooms

Enemies on Realism and Veteran will almost always out shoot you even if both of you are peeking rooms blind. Give yourself an advantage when breaching rooms by chucking a Flash Grenade in before entering. This is particularly useful against armored enemies that appear the farther you are into the level.

Pre-Fire Doors to Clear Out Waiting Enemies

On top of leading with flashes, one easy way to prevent surprise deaths while entering new rooms is to pre-fire any doors before you enter. Use the bullet penetration afforded by the FTac Recon and dump a few rounds at head level before you breach and clear.

Acquire the Riot Shield For Extra Protection

One of the enemies in the 3rd room of the server area will have a Riot Shield equipped. This is one of the best weapons to get and equip since it allows you to basically tank bullets without any consequences.

Once equipped, let Price handle the enemies and use the Riot Shield melee whenever some of them get close. The melee itself is pretty strong, sometimes only needing 2-3 hits to take down heavily armored enemies.

Clear Out Enemies Before Following Price

In the floor with a large reception area, do not follow after Price when he enters. Instead, rappel down some more until you're at a headshot angle with the lower windows, before taking out the first few enemies. If you follow after Price immediately, you will most likely get shot up and thrown back to the previous checkpoint.

Prioritize Getting the Box Cutter and Smoke Bombs

On Realism difficulty, everything else in the final construction area is pretty much useless. Focus on getting the materials for 1 Pry Tool and 2 Smoke Bombs as this is the quickest (and easiest) way to deal with the 2 heavies in the level.

Countdown Achievements

Must Be Wind Achievement

To get the Must Be Wind achievement, you will need to rescue all hostages without the enemies firing their weapons. To make this easier, turn down the difficulty to Recruit since Veteran/Realism AI will almost instantly shoot as soon as you fire a shot.

For the final floor with 5 terrorists, you can line up the enemies so that you can take them out while only needing to switch your aim once. If you find yourself getting shot at, simply use the Return to Last Checkpoint option to quickly complete this achievement.

How to Get Must Be Wind

Time For Pints

Time For Pints will be easy to get as it only requires you to finish the Campaign at any difficulty. You will get this automaticlly after you put down Hassan using Ghost's sniper rifle.

Cutting Heads Off Snakes

The Cutting Heads Off Snakes achievement is much more difficult to get as it requires you to finish the entire campaign on either Veteran or Realism difficulty. If your first playthrough was done entirely in Veteran difficulty, you should automatically get this after completing Countdown on Veteran.

Weapons Found in Countdown

All Weapons in the Level

All Weapons
Bryson 890	Fennec 45	Kastov 762	Kastov-74u
Lachmann Sub	Lockwood 300	M16	RAPP H

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (MW2) Related Guides

Campaign Story Walkthrough

All Campaign Missions

List of Campaign Missions
1	Strike
2	Kill or Capture
3	Wetwork
4	Tradecraft
5	Borderline
6	Cartel Protection
7	Close Air
8	Hardpoint
9	Recon by Fire
10	Violence and Timing
11	El Sin Nombre
12	Dark Water
13	Alone
14	Prison Break
15	Hindsight
16	Ghost Team
17	Countdown