Makarov is the final fight in Out in the Cold, the second mission of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 campaign. Captain Price chases him across the rooftops of New York and corners him in a snowy alley for a hand-to-hand brawl. You can win that fight by mashing your way through. Can’t Touch This is stricter. It is a Gold trophy worth 50G, and it asks you to win the whole alley fight without taking a single hit.
Quick answer: Switch to Veteran or higher before the alley checkpoint. Parry every Makarov strike, then counter with one or two hits. Reload the checkpoint whenever the screen flashes red.
Can’t Touch This achievement requirements
The in-game description reads “Defeat Makarov on Veteran Difficulty or higher without getting hit in the alley.” In practice, that means these conditions:
- Mission: Out in the Cold (mission 2), final alley segment only.
- Difficulty: Veteran or higher. Realism also counts.
- Damage: zero hits from Makarov across the knife sequence and both alley fight phases.
- Blocking is safe. A blocked strike does not count as a hit.
- Checkpoint reloads are unlimited, and they do not void the run.
You do not have to play the whole mission on Veteran. You can run the nightclub and the rooftop chase on Recruit. Then open the pause menu and choose Change Difficulty to switch to Veteran. Do this at any point before the checkpoint where Price drops into the alley. If you switch before that checkpoint, the run still counts.
The “no hit” rule has a clear visual cue. When Makarov connects, a red damage effect and a hit indicator appear on screen. Realism shows the same red marker. If you see red, the attempt is over, so reload right away.
Makarov fight controls: block, parry, counter, takedown
The alley fight uses the same melee system as the bouncer brawls earlier in the mission. Nothing new is introduced, but the timing window matters more here.
| Action | PlayStation | Xbox | When to use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Block / parry | L2 | LT | Tap just before a strike lands |
| Attack / counter | R2 | RT | Right after a parry |
| Takedown | Melee button | Melee button | When the prompt appears |
Takedowns use your dedicated melee button, and its position depends on your controller layout. On the Tactical layout, for example, it sits on B. The on-screen prompt always shows the correct button, so follow the prompt. A common mistake is pressing the wrong button to counter. Make sure the follow-up after a parry is your attack trigger.
Makarov knife quick-time event inputs
The fight opens with a knife sequence against the metal shutters. The game slows time for the first two strikes. After that, the timing is entirely up to you. A hit here also fails the achievement, so treat it as part of the run.
Once he is disarmed, Makarov kicks Price back into the open alley, and the free-form fist fight begins.
How to beat Makarov in the alley without getting hit
The alley fight follows one rule. Let Makarov swing first. Parry with a quick tap of block just before his strike connects. Then punish him with a short counter. Expect roughly 10 successful parry-and-counter exchanges across the whole encounter.
Greed is what ends most runs. If you throw too many punches in a row, Makarov raises his guard and blocks the combo. That leaves you open to a hit you cannot parry. Keep each counter to one or two hits. If he blocks a punch, stop attacking and go back to defense.
Do not sit on the block button through his faster combos. A held block still keeps the run alive. But a well-timed parry is what opens the counter window, and the counter is what moves the fight forward.
Phase one: build to the first takedown
Land enough counters and a takedown prompt appears. Press your melee button to have Price tackle Makarov into the snow. A short cutscene plays and the game saves an automatic checkpoint. That checkpoint is useful, because any hit from that point on only sends you back to the middle of the fight.
Phase two: Makarov opens with a rush
After the cutscene, Price gets back up and Makarov attacks almost immediately. Be ready to parry the moment control returns. Use the same rhythm as before. Parry, counter once or twice, then step back to make some space. Repeat until the final takedown prompt appears. Price then slams Makarov down, and you press the attack prompt repeatedly through the cinematic beatdown.
Reloading the checkpoint after a hit
If the screen flashes red, pause the game and select Last Checkpoint, then confirm with Yes. Before the midpoint, this sends you back to the start of the alley. After the midpoint cutscene, it resumes from the second phase. You can repeat this as many times as you need. Only a clean run from the loaded checkpoint matters, as long as the difficulty is still Veteran or higher.
How to confirm Can’t Touch This unlocked
The achievement does not wait for the mission results screen. It pops during the closing cutscene of the alley fight, right after the final beatdown. The standard Xbox achievement or PlayStation trophy notification appears in the corner of the screen. If the cutscene plays out with no notification, check your difficulty in the pause menu. Then reload the alley checkpoint and run it again on Veteran. Completing Out in the Cold also unlocks the No More Rules calling card, whether or not you got the achievement.
