Complete the following achievements to unlock Xbox Live Gamerscore points.
| Unlockable: | How to Unlock: |
| Bird on the Ground (20 points) | Shoot down an enemy helicopter with an RPG in the single player campaign. |
| Dancing in the Dark (20 points) | Kill the power. |
| Daredevil (10 points) | Kill an enemy while blinded by a flashbang in the single player campaign. |
| Death From Above (20 points) | Operate an AC-130 gun ship. |
| Deep and Hard (90 points) | Complete the game on Hardened or Veteran difficulty. |
| Desperate Measures (20 points) | Corner Zakhaev's Son. |
| Down Boy Down (20 points) | Survive a dog attack. |
| Earn a Winged Dagger (20 points) | Complete 'F.N.G.'. |
| Eyes and Ears (20 points) | Find 30 enemy intel items. |
| Four of a Kind (20 points) | Kill 4 enemies in a row with headshots in the single player campaign. |
| Ghillies In The Mist (20 points) | Complete 'All Ghillied Up' without alerting any enemies. |
| Look Sharp (20 points) | Find 15 enemy intel items. |
| Make the Jump (20 points) | Infiltrate a cargo ship. |
| Man of the People (10 points) | Save the farmer. |
| Mile High Club (20 points) | Sky dive to safety on Veteran difficulty. |
| New Squadron Record (20 points) | Complete the cargo ship mockup in less than 20 seconds. |
| No Rest for the Weary (10 points) | Stab an injured crawling enemy. |
| Piggyback Ride (20 points) | Carry Cpt. MacMillian to safety. |
| Rescue Roycewicz (20 points) | Save Pvt. Roycewicz on the stairs. |
| Roadkill (10 points) | Kill 2 enemies by blowing up a car in the single player campaign. |
| Save the Bacon (20 points) | Protect 'War Pig', the Abrams tank. |
| Straight Flush (20 points) | Kill 5 enemies with one shot while in the AC-130 gunship. |
| The Bog (40 points) | Complete 'The Bog' and 'War Pig' on Veteran difficulty. |
| The Escape (40 points) | Complete 'Hunted' and 'Death From Above' on Veteran difficulty. |
| The First Horseman (40 points) | Complete 'Shock and Awe' on Veteran difficulty. |
| The Fourth Horseman (40 points) | Complete 'Game Over' on Veteran difficulty. |
| The Package (40 points) | Complete 'Crew Expendable' on Veteran difficulty. |
| The Rescue (40 points) | Complete 'Blackout' on Veteran difficulty. |
| The Search (40 points) | Complete 'Charlie Don't Surf' on Veteran difficulty. |
| The Second Horseman (40 points) | Complete 'Safehouse' on Veteran difficulty. |
| The Shot (40 points) | Complete 'All Ghillied Up' and 'One Shot, One Kill' on Veteran difficulty. |
| The Third Horseman (40 points) | Complete 'Heat' and 'The Sins of the Father' on Veteran difficulty. |
| The Ultimatum (40 points) | Complete 'Ultimatum', 'All In', and 'No Fighting in the War Room' on Veteran difficulty. |
| Three of a Kind (10 points) | Kill 3 enemies in a row with your knife in the single player campaign. |
| Win the War (40 points) | Complete the game on any difficulty. |
| Wrong Number (20 points) | Find Al-Asad's safehouse. |
| Your Show Sucks (20 points) | Destroy all the TVs showing Al-Asad's speech. |
Successfully complete the game. A "Cheat" option will now appear during game play at the "Options" menu.
Cheat optionsCollect the Intel Pieces (enemy laptop computers) hidden throughout the game to unlock the cheat options. The number of pieces you have determines which specific cheats are available.
| Unlockable: | How to Unlock: |
| A Bad Year | 15 Intel Pieces. Enemies explode into tires when shot. |
| Cluster Bombs | 10 Intel Pieces. When a frag grenade explodes, four more will explode in a cross-shaped pattern. |
| CoD Noir | 2 Intel Pieces. Allows black and white graphics. |
| Infinite Ammo | 30 Intel Pieces. Reloads are no longer necessary. This has no effect with single-shot weapons such as RPGs, C4, or Claymores. |
| Photo-Negative | 4 Intel Pieces. Inverts the colors. |
| Ragtime Warfare | 8 Intel Pieces. Silent movie mode. |
| Slow-Mo Ability | 20 Intel Pieces. The game slows to half speed when you melee. |
| Super Contrast | 6 Intel Pieces. Increases the contrast. |
The Intel Pieces can be found in the following levels. There are a total of thirty Intel Pieces.
Level 2: 2 Intel Pieces
Level 4: 2 Intel Pieces
Level 5: 3 Intel Pieces
Level 6: 2 Intel Pieces
Level 7: 2 Intel Pieces
Level 9: 3 Intel Pieces
Level 10: 2 Intel Pieces
Level 12: 2 Intel Pieces
Level 13: 3 Intel Pieces
Level 14: 2 Intel Pieces
Level 16: 2 Intel Pieces
Level 17: 1 Intel Piece
Level 18: 2 Intel Pieces
Level 19: 2 Intel Pieces
Successfully complete the game.
Prestige modeReach level 55 to unlock Prestige mode. This is a multiplayer-only mode that starts you again at level 1. You can repeat this ten more times.
Epilogue missionSuccessfully complete the game and watch the entire credits to unlock the bonus Epilogue mission.
Mile High Club missionComplete Story mode under any difficulty setting.
Golden WeaponsGolden weapons are a special camo that you get when you fully complete their respective weapon challenges.You can access them by choosing the camo of the respective weapon.The weapons don't get a boost or anything alike,it's purely cosmetic.
| Unlockable: | How to Unlock: |
| Golden Ak-47 | Complete all Assault Rifle challenges. |
| Golden Desert Eagle | Get to Lv.55. |
| Golden Dragonuv | Complete all Sniper challenges. |
| Golden M1014 | Complete all Shotgun challenges. |
| Golden M60 | Complete all LMG challenges. |
| Golden Mini-Uzi | Complete all SMG challenges. |
Each weapon is unlocked in multiplayer at a certain rank.
| Unlockable: | How to Unlock: |
| Assault Rifle - G3 | Reach Rank 25 |
| Assault Rifle - G36C | Reach Rank 37 |
| Assault Rifle - M14 | Reach Rank 46 |
| Assault Rifle - M4 Carbine | Reach Rank 10 |
| Assault Rifle - MP44 | Reach Rank 52 |
| Humiliation Challenges | get rank 42 |
| Humiliation Challenges 2 | get rank 45 |
| Humiliation Challenges 3 | get rank 47 |
| Humiliation Challenges 4 | get rank 48 |
| Humiliation Challenges 5 | get rank 50 |
| Iron Lungs Perk Class 3 | get rank 26 |
| Killer Challenges | get rank 30 |
| Killer Challenges 2 | get rank 33 |
| Killer Challenges 3 | get rank 36 |
| Killer Challenges 4 | get rank 39 |
| Last Stand Perk Class 3 | Get rank 07 |
| LMG - M60E4 | Reach Rank 19 |
| M1911 Pistol | Get rank 15 |
| M4 Carbine Assault Rifle | Get rank 09 |
| M40 Sniper Rifle | Get rank 06 |
| M60E4 Light Machine Gun | Get rank 18 |
| Martyrdom Perk Class 2 | Get rank 16 |
| Mini Uzi Submachine Gun | Get rank 12 |
| New playlists | Get rank 05 |
| Operations Challenges | Get rank 20 |
| Operations Challenges | get rank 21 |
| Operations Challenges 2 | get rank 24 |
| Operations Challenges 3 | get rank 27 |
| Overkill Perk Class 2 | get rank 38 |
| Pistol - Desert Eagle | Reach Rank 43 |
| Pistol - Golden Desert Eagle | Reach Rank 55 |
| Pistol - M1911 | Reach Rank 16 |
| Shotgun - M1014 | Reach Rank 31 |
| Sleight of Hand Perk Class 2 | Get rank 19 |
| SMG - AK-74U | Reach Rank 28 |
| SMG - Mini Uzi | Reach Rank 13 |
| SMG - P90 | Reach Rank 40 |
| Sniper Class Weapon Class | Get rank 02 |
| Sniper Rifle - Barret | Reach Rank 49 |
| Sniper Rifle - Dragunov | Reach Rank 22 |
| Sniper Rifle - M40 | Reach Rank 04 |
| Sniper Rifle - R700 | Reach Rank 34 |
| UAV Jammer Perk Class 2 | Get rank 10 |
If a target is moving make sure to lead it. If you are not making shots try to lead your target more. Also, if you are a skilled sniper try using the M40A3 over the M21. It has a slower reload time and rate of fire, but it has enough damage to kill a target in one shot instead of two or three. It also allows you to be less noticeable with less rounds being fired; so someone else cannot follow the tracer shot back to you. A good setup for the sniper is the Claymore perk, to alert you when an enemy is trying to close in on your rear, and either the Sleight Of Hand or Stopping Power, then Iron Lungs to give you more time to line up your shots.
Better accuracyOnce you get the Red Dot Scope addon to your weapons, use it over the ACOG scope. The red dot will not enhance or take away anything and provides a better aimpoint on most weapons. The ACOG scope will actually add more range to your weapon, but take away accuracy which accomplishes almost nothing; especially so for snipers because it takes away range and adds nothing.
Faster experienceTo level up quicker than usual, try to use the same gun until all the marksman and elite challenges are completed. They provide huge boosts and will quickly level you up to get new guns. However, do not use those guns yet. Just keep on the challenge until it has completed. The third phase of the challenge usually ends with 1,000 experience points and that will bump you up a rank almost in itself. Also, do not forget about the strange challenges like jumping 15 feet and surviving or falling 30 feet to your death. To get that one if not previously unlocked play the "Countdown" map and jump into one of the open missile silos. You will get instant experience points for simply dying. Also, remember to go prone and crouch to get those challenges as well.