Synopsis
During the single player campaign, the player controls six different characters from a first-person perspective. The player assumes the role of recent British SAS recruit Sergeant John "Soap" MacTavish for most of the game, starting with his enrollment in 22 SAS. Sergeant Paul Jackson is part of USMC 1st Force Recon deployed to the Middle East, and the player controls Jackson's character during five levels of Act 1. Captain/Lieutenant John Price is an officer of 22 SAS who is playable in two flashback missions. Price is voiced by actor Billy Murray. Yasir Al-Fulani is the president of the unnamed Middle Eastern country (bordering Saudi Arabia and the Red Sea according to the ingame map) mentioned in the game, and is playable only in the game's opening credit sequence before he is executed. The player assumes the role of an American thermal-imaging TV operator aboard an AC-130 gunship during one level, and a British SAS counter-terrorist operative infiltrating a hijacked airliner to save a VIP in the epilogue level.
The game's non-playable characters (NPC) feature prominently in the story. Captain John Price (in his NPC capacity) and his right-hand man, Gaz (voiced by Craig Fairbrass), serve as mentors to MacTavish. Jackson's USMC platoon is led by Lieutenant Vasquez (voiced by David Sobolov) and Staff Sergeant Griggs (voiced by and modeled after Infinity Ward lead animator Mark Grigsby); Griggs later accompanies MacTavish in Russia. Sergeant Kamarov leads the Russian Loyalists that ally with the SAS and USMC forces. 'Nikolai' is a Russian informant who helps the SAS. Captain MacMillan is Price's mentor and commanding officer during the flashback to the assassination attempt on Zakhaev. The villains in the story are Imran Zakhaev, the leader of the Russian Ultranationalist party and the main antagonist of the game; Khaled Al-Asad, the commander of the revolutionary forces in the Middle East and an ally of Imran Zakhaev; and Victor Zakhaev, the son of Imran Zakhaev and a priority figure in the Ultranationalist party.