Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is the latest instalment in the smash-hit video game series, and there are a series of suspiciously familiar cars to drive…
The Call of Duty shooter game franchise makes a return to your local game store shelves this weekend with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
Though the ability to drive vehicles has not been a mainstay for the series since inception, it’s now a drawcard for the first-person shooter game and the latest title brings major updates.
As the successor to 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, this new title allows players to lean outside vehicle windows, climb onto the roof of moving vehicles, and you can now hijack your enemies’ — or friends’ — cars. There’s also the ability to customise cars with different unlockable skins.
However, Drive has noticed some too-close-for-comfort similarities between the unbranded vehicle models you can drive in game, and their real-life inspirations. Here’s a list of cars and trucks you might be driving this weekend, and their associated real-world counterparts.
Hatchback
| In-game name | Hatchback |
| Damage rating | Medium |
| Seats | 4 |
| Real-world inspiration | Ford Escort (undeniable rear pillar similarity!) |
The fourth-generation Ford Escort small car made its debut in 1980 and quickly became the UK’s best-selling car. It was never sold in Australia but shares visual similarities with our Ford Laser. We’re unsure of how well the Escort would fare in urban warfare and can imagine wanting to swap into something armour-plated quickly.
SUV
| In-game name | SUV |
| Damage rating | Medium |
| Seats | 4-5 |
| Real-world inspiration | Jeep Cherokee XJ (The missing seven-bar grille isn’t fooling us) |
Though the game developers have swapped out Jeep’s trademark seven-bar grille with a horizontally-slatted version, the resemblance of the SUV to an XJ-generation 1980s Jeep Cherokee is uncanny. The Jeep Cherokee was one of the first road-biased 4x4s. Jeep marketed the vehicle as the ‘Sportswagon’, considered a precursor to the modern-day sports utility vehicle (SUV).
Chop Top
| In-game name | Chop Top |
| Damage rating | Low-Medium |
| Seats | 4 |
| Real-world inspiration | Land Rover Defender (unmistakable) |
Though your ideal combat transport would preferably come with a roof, the Land Rover Defender has strong off-road chops which will see it travel further than almost all else. The Land Rover Defender is one of the most famous off-roaders of all time and has been used by various militaries since its introduction.
Cargo Truck
| In-game name | Cargo Truck |
| Damage rating | Medium-High |
| Seats | 2+flat bed |
| Real-world inspiration | KamAZ military transporter |
The KamAZ-4310 was first presented in prototype form in the early 1970s but it took a full 10 years for its Russian manufacturer to green-light it as a production model. It’s an all-wheel-drive truck built for transport and carries up to six tonnes in payload. Its modernised successor is still in production today.
Utility Terrain Vehicle
| In-game vehicle | UTV |
| Damage rating | Low |
| Seats | 4 |
| Real-world inspiration | Polaris RZR |
While you may recognise Polaris all-terrain vehicles as recreational buggies set for the sand dunes, the American company has roots in all-terrain military vehicles. The Polaris RZR is both a civilian and military vehicle, thanks to a series of tailored variants. We’ll take the latter on the battlefield, thanks.
Tactical Vehicle
| In-game name | TAC-V |
| Damage rating | Medium-High |
| Seats | 4 |
| Real-world inspiration | Oshkosh L-ATV |
Built as a successor to the iconic Humvee, the Oshkosh Light Combat All-Terrain Vehicle (L-ATV) is a light combat, multi-role vehicle with seating for up to four.
It primarily sees use at the hands of the United States Army, but seven other nations have plans to use the vehicle in the future. For the ultimate in protection and off-road manoeuvrability, you can’t do much better than the Oshkosh.
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