Players start off with a suppressed USP .45, but can obtain an AK-74u from dead enemies if they elect to. Besides saving the president's daughter, there are three hostages that the player can free as an optional objective; rescuing the hostages will give the player a higher score. There is an enemy Mi-8 transport chopper with a spotlight that scans the area and if the player is caught walking in the spotlight, the entire area of enemies will be alerted. The spotlight can be shot down, but the player will be alerted anyway, regardless if he was seen before. If the spotlight is destroyed, the helicopter will move over a flat area and drop enemies. To prevent this, the helicopter can be destroyed. At the end of the mission a slow-mo sequence commences, similar to the epilogue mission, "Mile High Club" from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, where players must gain a headshot against the last terrorist that uses the hostage as a protective human shield.
Makarov's men search the plane wreckage for the president's daughter, and they take hostages along the way. Stealth is extremely important during this mission, as your adversaries will kill the hostages if they detect the player. There are three hostages and, if they are killed, only the bonus score is lost. The level can still be completed.
Move through the first area, taking out each enemy with the knife until the player sees the first hostage. Use the suppressed handgun to take out the man standing over him. Then approach the hostage and hold the Use button to save him.
Stay out of the helicopter's search light to avoid detection. Taking cover out of its light until it moves away is also an option. The mini-map displays the helicopter's location. If the player is caught, it can easily be disabled with an AK-74u.
Continue moving stealthily between the vehicles, where another hostage is held. Take out the surrounding enemies, and then eliminate the hostage-taker.
Continue along the tarmac, quietly taking out the enemies. The last hostage is held near the main wreckage.
Once Alena's location is found, two of Makarov's men are there. One enemy will be using Alena as a human shield, while the other will fire on the player with an AK-74u. Killing the latter is a wise choice. Then wait for an opening as Alena struggles with her captive. Kill him to complete the mission.
This is the first time in any Call of Duty game when the player can be seen attaching a suppressor rather than having it attached beforehand.
Like many other Special Ops missions, the player progresses in the opposite direction of the campaign version.
Despite the players being Russian, they speak with American accents, and Overlord appears. This is due to the developers simply reusing the dialog from the other Special Ops missions.
After saving Alena in the end, her running away animation is similar to a normal civilian instead of staying near the player.
The player passes a place where Makarov's men can be seen executing agents. This is the same place where Harkov and Pudovkin are killed.
In some occasions, one can find a Five Seven from dead enemies, if the player is lucky.
The enemies will very occasionally pull out Five Seven pistols if the player hides in the trees, and begin firing at random with the pistol.
If the player swaps out their USP .45 for a Five Seven, and then switches back to the former, the same animation of putting on the silencer which is shown at the beginning is played as the pickup animation.
This is the first Special Ops mission wherein the player starts out with damage taken, since blood around the field of view can be easily seen at the start of the mission.
Makarov's last line from Turbulence can be heard at the very beginning of this mission.
Slow-motion will not be activated if players are playing on split screen.
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