Mayhem begins the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 campaign and introduces most of the game’s setup. You take the role of a South Korean Marine picking up snacks in a convenience store; roughly fifteen minutes on, you launch a rocket at a fuel truck to halt North Korean forces advancing through a parking garage. Early access to the campaign started October 16th, and the complete release is scheduled for October 23rd, 2026.
Quick answer: Mayhem is mission 1. You play Pvt. Park Hyun-Jun in Hajin City, South Korea, and the mission ends when the RPG-8 shot collapses the tunnel. Finishing it unlocks Cho as an Operator.
Mayhem mission details in Modern Warfare 4
| Detail | Mayhem |
|---|---|
| Campaign position | Mission 1 of 16 |
| Location | Hajin City, South Korea |
| Timeframe | Current Day |
| Playable character | Pvt. Park Hyun-Jun, ROK |
| Squad leader | Lt. West |
| Enemy | North Korean soldiers |
| Completion reward | Cho Operator |
| Associated trophy | Skeet Shooting (Silver) |
| Co-op | No, single-player only |
| Next mission | Out in the Cold |
Park serves in the R.O.K. Marine Corps as part of a joint squad of South Korean and American Marines. The squad includes Sgt. Jae, Cpl. Dunn, Pvt. Cho, Pvt. Moon, and Pvt. Ju Kwon, all under Lt. West. The game’s pause menu lists the mission as MAYHEM in HAJIN CITY, SOUTH KOREA. Veteran is one of the selectable difficulties, and it makes the later firefights noticeably harsher.
The Hajin City patrol and the Goh Mart stop
Mayhem takes its time before the shooting starts. It opens inside a military transport where the squad argues about hip-hop, with 2Pac and Wu-Tang Clan both mentioned, until Lt. West reminds them they are on duty. The vehicle then drops them off on a busy, neon-lit street at night. The words “SOUTH KOREA” fill the screen as the squad steps out.
The patrol is a walk past restaurants, food stalls, and crowds, with the squad chatting the whole way. It sets up a normal evening that the mission is about to destroy. There is nothing to fight here. You follow your teammates while name tags like “Sgt. Jae” and “Cpl. Dunn” float above their heads.
The squad then goes into Goh Mart, a 24-hour convenience store. This is where the “MAYHEM” title card appears, along with Park’s name and the “CURRENT DAY” tag. The first objective is to help Dunn shop. That comes down to two dialogue prompts, and neither one changes the story.
| Prompt | Response options |
|---|---|
| Dunn asks about a packaged food | “Fish that smells like piss”, “[Lie] Yes. Sushi”, “No Response” |
| Medicine shelf | “Cream for your infection”, “Stomach Medicine”, “Skin care” |
The stomach medicine is for Ju Kwon. At the register, Park pays by scanning a QR code with his phone. A TV behind the counter shows a news report about North Korea’s new Supreme Leader under a Korean-language banner about leadership changes and a growing military crisis. The squad jokes about how young he is. That is the last calm moment in the mission.
The blackout, the explosion, and Ju Kwon’s death
As the squad walks out of the store, the power goes out across the whole district. Neon signs and streetlights shut off at once, and artillery can be heard in the distance. A few seconds later a huge blast hits the street market and knocks soldiers and civilians to the ground. The audio cuts out briefly.
When the sound comes back, the squad is kneeling around Pvt. Ju Kwon on the pavement. He dies from his wounds, and his dog tags are taken before the squad has to leave him. The mission does not dwell on it. A few seconds later you are running again.
The run that follows is a guided sprint through fire, rubble, downed power lines, and fleeing civilians. You crouch through debris along the way. This is also where the first control prompts appear, including “PRESS LEFT SHIFT TO SPRINT” on PC. Checkpoints come often from this point on.
Netshin Wolves stadium and the paratrooper drop
A yellow waypoint and the objective “Find Shelter in the Stadium” lead the squad to the Netshin Wolves baseball stadium. Lt. West and Moon pull everyone through gate A01 just as the metal shutter comes down and something hits it from the outside. Inside, West leads the squad through dark service corridors. His plan is to link up with Charlie Platoon on the other side of the stadium.
The first real firefight happens on the baseball field. North Korean paratroopers drop onto the field while transport aircraft fly overhead, and the squad takes cover behind military supply crates. The tutorial prompts keep coming here. They cover mounting your weapon, reloading, and using armor plates. Park’s rifle shows as the Yum 9k on the HUD, and a scoped Mosin-Nagant marksman rifle also shows up during the fight.
The Silver trophy Skeet Shooting requires you to shoot down 10 paratroopers in Mayhem before they touch down. The trophy appears in a PlayStation list uncovered through datamining, but Activision has yet to confirm it.
After a cease-fire call, the squad crosses the outfield, climbs through the stands, and enters a damaged restaurant and kitchen that Charlie Platoon has turned into a strongpoint full of wounded soldiers. Enemy infantry breaks into the dining room, and you fight them off at close range. Armor plates and ammo are available here. Dunn then spots North Korean armored vehicles moving just outside the windows.
The parking garage tunnel and the fuel truck
West stays behind with Moon and the wounded. He sends Jae, Dunn, Cho, and Park to find out where the armor is coming from. The squad goes down outdoor stairs onto a street lined with burning military vehicles. They go prone behind parked cars as an enemy convoy drives past, then slip into an underground parking garage while another convoy drives out.
On the basement level is the answer: an excavated breach tunnel in the garage wall, guarded by North Korean soldiers. The fight here is close quarters, using pillars and parked cars as cover. Once the guards are dead, more troops pour out of the tunnel. That turns the encounter into a defense of a disabled fuel tanker that the squad pushes by hand toward the tunnel opening. The on-screen prompt reads “F PUSH FUEL TRUCK”.
After the truck crashes into the tunnel, Dunn calls for a launcher. An RPG-8 sits next to crates on the left side of the area. One rocket into the tanker sets off an explosion that collapses the tunnel and closes off the route North Korean troops were using to get into the city.
How Mayhem ends and the Cho Operator unlock
The tunnel collapse completes the mission, and the cutscene that follows confirms it. The Infinity Ward logo appears, then a montage of overlapping news broadcasts. They report a full-scale North Korean invasion of the South, Russian troop movements into the Middle East, unrest in Europe, and an international manhunt for SAS Captain John Price. The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare title card, written alongside Korean script, closes out the sequence.
Finishing Mayhem unlocks Cho as a playable Operator. Each campaign mission has its own reward. Later missions unlock other members of Park’s squad, with Dunn, West, and Park himself becoming available as you go.
The campaign continues with Out in the Cold. Mayhem’s closing broadcast has already set up a much bigger story than one city block in Hajin. A stolen weapon, Makarov, and Price on the run are all mentioned before Park’s squad shows up again.
