Everything you see here is presented in the order that it appears in the game. I don't want you stumbling around, unsure what achievements to get when and where any longer! You read through this guide as you play through the game and you'll get everything. This walkthrough covers all the missable and unmissable achievements in the campaign. So without further ado, let's play some Call of Duty.
Mission 1, Operation 40:
Take down Castro with a headshot.
You will be following Woods through a building, killing many enemies. Eventually Woods will tell you to, "Stack up," at which point you enter a slow-mo breach. Shortly after this point, you'll have to do this once again, but this time you'll barge in on Castro and a woman of ill repute. Once it goes into slow-mo, simply take aim and fire at his stupid, ugly, cigar smoking face.
If you don't get it the first time, simply save and quit, then try again.
Kill 5 enemies with a single frag grenade in the campaign.
This is best done towards the end of the level. Shortly after you exit the burning building, straight ahead (North) you'll see a truck with an MG on it and an explosive barrel near it. Wait a few seconds for enemies to congregate around that area, then toss a grenade.
Full credit for the video goes to Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter.
Ensure your squad escapes safely from Cuba.
Story related. Cannot be missed.
Mission 2, Vorkuta:
Destroy all slingshot targets in 3 attempts.
This takes place early on in the mission. The slingshot itself is story related and you must use it to progress, but the achievement is missable. You must take out all three buildings in only three shots. If you fail, pause, save and quit, then reload your save.
- Left target: Have the very bottom of the reticle touching any part of the word "Target." This one's hard to miss.
- Middle target: Have the very bottom of the reticle touching the white dot underneath the word "Target."
- Right target: Have the very bottom of the reticle about an inch above the middle of the word "Target." You're aiming for the guard tower, if that's not obvious. This one is also hard to miss.
If you'd prefer a video guide, then I give you the always hilarious RoosterTeeth. All credit for the video goes to RoosterTeeth/Achievement Hunter.
Destroy all enemies on vehicles during the prison break.
This achievement is sketchy, to say the least. Some people say you have to destroy every single vehicle in the entire level, and others say you only have to destroy the vehicles in the chase scene. I personally got the achievement without even trying to destroy any vehicles up until I got the Death Machine. From that point on, I destroyed every vehicle I saw. To be safe, you should try to destroy every vehicle you see.
Credit to NextGenTactics for the video.
Story related. Cannot be missed.
Mission 3, U.S.D.D.:
Receive orders from Lancer.
Story related. Cannot be missed.
Mission 4, Executive Order:
Use the explosive bolts to kill 30 enemies in the campaign.
You'll get to use a crossbow with explosive bolts twice in the campaign. In the mission WMD and Executive Order. The amount of kills is cumulative, meanining you don't have to get all 30 kills in one run of either level.
Sabotage the Soviet space program.
Story related. Cannot be missed.
Complete "Operation 40," "Vorkuta," and "Executive Order" on Veteran difficulty.
Story related. Only missable if you're not playing on veteran difficulty.
Mission 5, S.O.G.:
Use no more than 6 TOW guided missiles to destroy the tanks in the defense of Khe Sanh.
At the end of the mission, you'll find yourself in a jeep equipped with a TOW missile launcher. You'll be driven around and periodically you'll be forced to take out T55 tanks. You fire a missile with the RT, you guide it with the RS, and, optionally, you can detonate it before it hits a target by pressing RT again. I found that this achievements is MUCH easier if you fly the missile just slightly above the tanks and manually detonate it with RT, instead of trying to make it collide with the tank.
If you screw up, simply save and quit, then try again.
The achievement won't pop until you're forced out of the vehicle, about 20 or so seconds after destroying the last T55.
Break the siege in the battle of Khe Sanh.
Story related. Cannot be missed.
Mission 6, The Defector:
Kill 10 NVA with Dragon's Breath rounds.
At the beginning of the mission, you'll be given a SPAS-12 with Dragon's Breath Rounds. It's an extremely good weapon, so you'll be using it quite a bit. You'll get 10 kills in no time at all. Not using this weapon makes the level harder, seriously!
Rack up a body count of 20 NVA using air support in Hue City.
You'll eventually get to a point where you're tasked with calling in air support. You'll be required to do this three times, but you actually have unlimited uses of air support. Just call in air support on every enemy and building you see until you get the achievement.
Retrieve the dossier and the defector from Hue City.
Story related. Cannot be missed.
Complete "SOG" and "The Defector" on Veteran difficulty.
Story related. Only missable if you're not playing on veteran difficulty.
Mission 7, Numbers:
Demonstrate killer economic sensibilities by taking down 3 enemies with a single bullet.
There are a number of ways you can get this. You can get it by playing Zombies (That's what I did,) Dead Ops Arcade, and in mission 7 of the campaign, Numbers. Getting this in Zombies is, in my opinion the easiest way of doing it. It's easy to line up 3 zombies, and once you do that, aim for the head. If you're gonna do it in the campaign, it'll be much easier if you just watch this video.
Credit for the video goes to NextGenTactics.
Use only dual wield weapons to escape Kowloon.
You'll start off with dual pistols, so just stick with those. You can also find some other akimbo weapons, such as full auto pistols. This is best done on recruit difficulty, as akimbo weapons are not accurate at all. On veteran, by the time you get in range for them to have decent accuracy, you'll be dead.
You can use your grenades and knife as well.
Story related. Cannot be missed.
Mission 8, Project Nova:
Escape the ship with 2:15 left on the timer in Veteran.
This can be a rough achievement. It doesn't help that it takes place at the end of the level, meaning you have to play through all of Project Nova on veteran.
Once the allies attack the ship, head out of the door and grab a weapon. Two of the Russian soldiers are carrying Nosin Nagants, and at least one of them has a scope. This will help you pick off the enemies in the large room to the West. Your teammates will be hollering at you to plant the explosives, but don't do this until you've killed every single enemy in the area.
Once all the enemies are dead, plant the bomb, turn Southwest towards the rocket and get ready to shoot the support. The support beam will start glowing when you can destroy it. From there, head up the newly created ramp (Just to the right). After going through one door, get ready to shoot a couple enemies at the next door.
Out of the door, head left and down the stairs. You'll get a checkpoint around this area, so it's very important that you've made good time. If you don't have enough time to finish and get a checkpoint, well.. you're screwed. I got my checkpoint as soon as I hit the bottom of the stairs, I had 2:35 remaining and I still managed to get the achievement. I was barely able to get the achievement, though. Another second and I don't think I'd have gotten it.
If you got the Mile High Club achievement in Modern Warfare (Or died trying), you'll probably experience some Deja Vu.
If you'd prefer a video guide, NextGenTactics has you covered.
Story related. Cannot be missed.
Mission 9, Victor Charlie:
Progress through the level until Woods tell you to go silent and use only the knife. He'll then mention that you should take out the VC on the boat. Swim udnerwater to him and click RS when it tells you to. That's one.
Follow Woods until he climbs over an open window. Climb through and knife the guy sleeping in the hammock to your right. That's two.
Just a bit farther on is a timetraveler sitting on a crate playing a Gameboy. Or maybe it's just a radio.. regardless of his ability that he may or may not have to travel through time, you should knife him to get your achievement.
Use the Grim Reaper to destroy the MG emplacement.
About midway through the mission, Bowman will tell you to pick up the Grim Reaper and destroy an MG nest out in the lake. After taking out the MG, hang onto the Grim Reaper. You'll soon get ambushed and have to fight your way East into a small shack. From here, you'll be attacked from the North, and soon an MG will start firing on you. Use the Grim Reaper to take out the MG.
Complete "Numbers," "Project Nova," and "Victor Charlie" on Veteran difficulty.
Story related. Only missable if you're not playing on veteran difficulty.
Mission 10, Crash Site:
Destroy all targets and structures while making your way up the river.
This takes place at the very beginning of mission 10, Crash Site. You are required to destroy pretty much all buildings during the boat ride. Best advice I can give is to just take it slow. Don't be afraid to backtrack to make sure you got everything. There are also quite a few shacks that are obscured by brush and easy to miss.
It's also important to note that some buildings take a lot of missiles to fully destroy. Hitting them with the MG will make them explode so it looks like they've been destroyed, but you have to make sure that all that remains of the building is the foundation, or close to it. You'll see exactly what I'm talking about when you find a building with a light in it. Shoot the building until the lights are out, take note of what the building looks like, then shoot all other buildings until they look similar to that.
Some buildings will only be reduced to one or two walls. If you shoot 15 or more missiles at them and they don't get any more destroyed, move on.
Full credit for the video goes to NextGenTactics.
Find the Soviet connection in Laos.
Story related. Cannot be missed.
PS: Thanks for the correction. You know who you are.
Mission 11, WMD:
Guide the squad through the Soviet outpost without them getting killed.
This takes place towards the beginning of mission 11, WMD, as you're switching between the Blackbird's and Hudson's perspective. Just follow the instructions and you'll do fine. Do this on recruit difficulty and this achievement will almost be given to you.
When you tell the squad to "Stop and drop," start clicking RS or they'll all be killed. Sometimes they don't prone immediately when you tell them to, so just keep clicking RS until they do.
You'll get the achievement once you switch to Hudson's perspective with the crossbow.
Enter the Soviet relay station undetected.
This takes place about midway through the mission. I could explain this, but it would be much easier if you just watch this video.
Full credit for the video goes to Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter.
Mission 12, Payback:
Get to the POW compound in the Hind using only rockets.
This requires you to use only fire missiles while piloting the Hind. This is best done on recruit difficulty, as it will be quite hard on veteran. On recruit, the only trouble you'll have is when you're fighting the other helicopters, as hitting them with missiles can be quite difficult.
Other than that, it's a very easy achievement.
Incinerate 10 enemies with the flamethrower attachment in the POW compound.
Shortly after you get out of the Hind and come to a cave, Woods will mention that you should use the flamethrower. If you don't know, the flamethrower is an attachment for the AK-47. Just look around for it, pick it up, hit left on the d-pad and start burning people.
There is an infinite enemy respawn area once you get to the room with metal beams going across the ceiling (Shortly after rescuing the PoWs). As long as you don't get too close to the second set of stairs to the Southwest, they'll keep coming.
Complete "Crash Site," "WMD," and "Payback" on Veteran difficulty.
Story related. Only missable if you're not playing on veteran difficulty.
Mission 13, Rebirth.
Kill 7 monkeys in under 10 seconds in the Rebirth labs.
I recommend just watching this video. All credit goes to RoosterTeeth/Achievement Hunter.
Make it through the NOVA 6 gas without dying on Rebirth Island.
This is done towards the end of mission 13, Rebirth. When you're playing as Hudson, you'll get forced out of your vehicle and you'll put on your mask. As you get shot, your mask will get cracks in it, so even if you don't die outright, just a little damage here and there can mean the death of you. This is a very difficult achievement on veteran, I recommend doing it on recruit.
You have an Enfield with an Infared scope, this will help you see through the nova gas. Move up a little bit, take a look through the scope, move up, look through the scope, ETC ETC. Just take your time. The achievement will pop once you drop down a small ledge and take off your mask.
If you die from the nova gas, you can quit to dashboard (Guide button > Y button) then reload and get the achievement; HOWEVER, if you quit to dashboard, the game will send you back several checkpoints. I lost about 10 minutes of progress when I did this. It would've been a lot more if I was playing on veteran. You've been warned. All things considered, I'd say just do it on recruit.
Mission 14, Revelations:
Story related. Cannot be missed.
Mission 15, Redemption:
Destroy both helicopters with one Valkyrie rocket from the deck of the ship.
This takes place early on in mission 15, Redemption. You'll be told to pick up the Valkyrie Rocket Launcher and take out the helicopters. Once they're close to each other, fire the rocket and guide it between them, then hit RT to detonate it.
I highly recommend doing this on recruit difficulty, because you'll likely be doing a lot of waiting, all the while they'll be shooting at you. If you accidentally destroy only one, just cook a grenade to kill yourself and try again.
Complete "Rebirth" and "Redemption" on Veteran difficulty.
Story related. Only missable if you're not playing on veteran difficulty.
Complete the campaign on any difficulty.
Story related. Cannot be missed.
Complete the campaign on Hardened or Veteran difficulty.
Story related. Only missable if you're not playing on veteran or hardened difficulty.
Once again, I'm Richard, and thanks for reading. Hope this has helped you! I'd like to thank Eric Clapton for no apparent reason. Until next time!