The Makarov fight at the end of "Out in the Cold" catches a lot of players off guard. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 spends its first mission and a half as a fairly standard shooter, then drops you into a melee knife sequence with almost no warning. The whole encounter runs on one mechanic: parry just before impact, then counter-attack. Get that timing down and both phases of the fight become manageable. Miss it and you'll be restarting the checkpoint repeatedly wondering what went wrong.
What happens in the Makarov fight?
The fight splits into two distinct phases. First, there's a knife quick-time event (QTE) against the metal shutters, where Captain Price and Makarov trade blows in a structured sequence. The game slows down the first two strikes to teach you the rhythm. After that, the pace is yours to manage. Once Makarov loses his knife, he kicks Price back into the open alley and the second phase begins: an unstructured fistfight that ends with a ground takedown and a cutscene.
Both phases share the same core loop. Makarov attacks, you parry, you counter. Everything else is noise.
How to clear the knife QTE without taking a hit
The QTE is the trickier of the two phases because the timing windows are tighter and the sequence is scripted. Here's the exact order of events:
- Makarov's opening swing: Hold block and release just before the knife connects, then press attack to counter. The game literally walks you through this one.
- The spin stab: Makarov shoves Price back, spins, and drives the knife forward. Same input: parry just before impact, then attack.
- Pinned against the shutters: With Makarov held in place, press attack two or three times quickly to weaken his grip on the knife.
- The final lunge: He breaks free and lunges for a last stab. Wait until the knife is almost on you, then block and immediately counter. The knife drops.
After that, Makarov lands a kick that sends Price flying into the alley. The QTE is over.
Modern Warfare 4 Guide: How to Beat Makarov
How to win the alley fistfight
The alley duel has no scripted sequence. Makarov attacks when he wants, and you respond. The rhythm is still parry-then-counter, but now you control the pacing.
Let Makarov throw first every single time. Tap block just before his strike lands to parry, then follow with one or two counter-attacks maximum. That's it. Repeat this for roughly 10 exchanges and the fight progresses naturally.
Modern Warfare 4 Guide: How to Beat Makarov
After enough clean exchanges, a TAKEDOWN prompt appears on screen. Press your melee button to slam Makarov down. If the prompt isn't showing, go back to the parry-counter cycle until it does. Don't try to force it.
One of the takedowns triggers a brief cutscene where Price pins Makarov in the snow. The game saves a checkpoint here. If you take a hit after this point, you'll reload to the midpoint of the alley fight rather than the very beginning, which saves a lot of time.
After the cutscene ends, Makarov charges almost immediately. Be ready to parry before Price even fully stands up. Keep the same rhythm until the final takedown prompt appears, then follow the on-screen beatdown prompts to finish the fight.
What makes most players fail this fight?
After testing every phase of this encounter, three mistakes account for almost every failed attempt:
- Parrying too early. The block needs to connect just before impact. Pressing it the moment Makarov starts his swing animation almost always whiffs.
- Skipping the counter-attack. A parry alone doesn't advance the fight. You have to press attack afterward, every time.
- Getting greedy in the alley. Chaining three or more hits after a parry is the fastest way to give Makarov an opening. One or two counters, then back to defense.
How to unlock the "Can't Touch This" achievement
The Can't Touch This achievement (50 Gamerscore on Xbox, Gold trophy on PlayStation) requires finishing the entire alley segment, both the knife QTE and the fistfight, on Veteran difficulty without taking a single hit from Makarov. Its unlock rate sits at roughly 0.01 percent, which tells you most players either don't attempt it or don't know the trick.
Modern Warfare 4 Guide: How to Beat Makarov
Do you need to play the whole mission on Veteran?
No. You can play the nightclub section and rooftop chase on any difficulty you like. Before Price drops into the alley, open the pause menu, select Change Difficulty, and switch to Veteran. As long as the difficulty is set to Veteran before the alley checkpoint loads, the attempt counts. You can also select mission 2 from the campaign menu and set Veteran from the Mission Select screen.
What to do when you take a hit
Don't keep fighting. The attempt is over the moment the screen flashes red. Pause immediately, select Last Checkpoint, and confirm. Before the midpoint cutscene, this reloads from the start of the alley. After the midpoint checkpoint saves, it drops you back into the second half. You can reload as many times as needed.
The achievement notification appears during the final ground beatdown cutscene, not on the mission results screen. If no alert shows, verify your difficulty setting and reload the checkpoint to try again.
For more on what the MW4 campaign has to offer, including other mission-specific challenges, check out the full Modern Warfare 4 strategy guides collection. If you're still getting your PC ready to run the game properly, the guide on how to enable TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot covers everything you need before launching. And if you're chasing every reward the game offers, the Expert Mobility Course guide is worth a look for the Clockwork Weapon Charm.
