Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) explored an explosive campaign with new takes on the series' mainstay characters as well as entirely new ones. A fan favorite was the leader of the Urzikstan Liberation Force, Farah Karim. She was a character who over the duration of the story had lived through many horrific moments, from the invasion of her country, and the death of her parents, to eventually being held captive for years by the invading military force. She lived through all of that, built up the ULF, and used her strength to lead that militia group. Eventually, with the help of Special Activities Division Operative Alex, she foiled what would have been a devastating national terroristic attack at the hands of the game's antagonist, Roman Barkov.
From what Activision has shown so far of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, however, Farah has not been seen or even referenced. This entry's campaign will be focused around Task Force 141, consisting of Captain Price, Simon "Ghost" Riley, Kyle "Gaz" Garrick, John "Soap" MacTavish, and the newcomer to the franchise, Colonel Alejandro Vargas of the Mexican Special Forces. With this being the next step in the series and introducing players to more brand-new characters, Farah's story and character arc is danger of being abandoned entirely.
What Modern Warfare Does Best
If Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) has taught gamers anything, it's that the Modern Warfare series wants to tell tightly crafted stories that serve a strong narrative with something to say on a personal level. Its story focused heavily on terrorist attacks eerily similar to those of what people have experienced in the real world as well as showing the effects of country-wide invasions - the latter of which came directly from the eyes of Farah herself. Her story also spoke about the implications that events like this could have on one's morality, with Farah's brother Hadir eventually becoming an antagonist in the story. His willingness to go as far as he possibly had to in order to take action against Russia who had invaded his country as a child is a perspective that any person could understand, yet Farah ultimately knew that what he was doing was wrong and stopped him.
With that being said, the inclusion of Colonel Alejandro as well as the other prominent members of Task Force 141 in Modern Warfare 2 could denote Farah's inclusion in the campaign entirely. Activision and Infinity Ward could actually be leaning into contained stories with an overarching narrative where the characters are interchangeable around central protagonists like Captain Price and Gaz. This doesn't mean that there couldn't be some kind of cameo for the character, but her story could be fully tied up in the eyes of Infinity Ward.
Modern Warfare 2 Could Suffer From Her Absence
With Farah being such a pivotal character in the rebooted franchise, it would seem silly to keep her out of the sequel. Her perseverance as a victim and eventual leader made her someone that served as a face for the fierce survivors that fight for their freedom abroad. Not only is she one of the strongest female characters in the franchise, but quite possibly one of the best, gender aside. Her impact on the series for women has been monumental, as it smashed misogynistic viewpoints, opening up a door for more storytelling revolving around strong female leads. Closing that door would seem like a miscalculation on Activision's part, ruling out Call of Duty's large female player base.
Though there's been no sight of her so far, these are still the early stages of trailer releases and information reveals, so she could turn up by the game's October 28 release. There's also still a strong chance that she could have a big role to play, possibly toward the later parts of the game that have yet to be seen. After all, the franchise is known for keeping great characters around for as long as it can, with examples including Frank Woods from the Black Ops series and Ghost, who's been a mainstay of the Modern Warfare series even after his death in the original Modern Warfare 2. Farah's time with the series could just be starting, though based on her nonexistent role in the game's marketing, it is hard not to be a bit concerned.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 launches October 28 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.