Even after 17 years, this particular mission from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare remains as one of the most iconic missions in the franchise’s history.

The Call of Duty franchise has produced some of the best single-player experiences of all time. However, everyone will agree that one particular mission from a 17-year-old Call of Duty game stands out, even today. 2007’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was quite important for the franchise as it was a shift from the franchise’s traditional World War II setting. Although the entire game had a modern setting, two missions took players back in time: All Ghillied Up and One Shot, One Kill.

The All Ghillied Up mission popularised the idea of stealth-centric missions (Image via Activision)

All Ghillied Up was the Call of Duty franchise’s first stealth-centric mission. In the mission, players control Captain Price as they make their way through Pripyat in a ghillie suit, taking out enemies stealthily. What makes the mission particularly special is the fact that none of the developers found the initial pitch exciting. The idea of a stealth mission wasn’t normalized as the entire focus was on action-packed missions.

All Ghillied Up mission in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare tested players to their limits

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In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, players get to experience missions from Captain Price’s past as a Lieutenant. One of those missions was All Ghillied Up, which required players to navigate through Pripyat in ghillie suits without getting detected. Since it was the franchise’s first stealth mission, many players found it very difficult back in the day as the Call of Duty franchise was more popular for its action sequences.

Today, the mission may seem like a very standard shooting/stealth segment, however, 17 years ago this idea was fresh and no one executed it like Infinity Ward. Today, many video game developers integrate a stealth approach in their video games but without a doubt, this mission normalized the idea.

Plus, the mission also perfectly showcased the chemistry between Captain Price and Captain MacMillan, an iconic character who was unfortunately not included in the Modern Warfare reboot.

No one at Infinity Ward liked the idea of a stealth mission

Developers thought that no one would like to play a stealth mission (Image via Activision)

Steve Fukuda, one of the game’s lead designers, came up with the idea of the All Ghillied Up mission, but he struggled to get everyone on board. Mohammad Alavi, a member of Modern Warfare‘s development team at Infinity Ward, once revealed in an interview with IGN that no one at Infinity Ward, including him, liked the idea of a stealth mission,

Nobody thought it was cool, including myself – I always liked the more bombastic missions and this was the opposite of that. And I was finishing up cargo ship and [Fukuda] couldn’t find anybody who wanted to make this level.

Alavi further explained the challenges the team faced while working on the mission, for example, AI at the time was never designed to not see the players. Alavi, taking some inspiration from the Metal Gear Solid franchise, shortened the enemies’ view cone.

It took several months and 20,000 lines of code, however, the team managed to create one of the best Call of Duty missions of all time, which was way ahead of its time. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare itself is one of the most iconic FPS games of all time and its influence can be felt in many modern FPS games.