Modern Warfare 4 Breaking New Ground is the introductory DMZ mission that plays the first time you enter the mode. You begin with a HALO jump into Hajin alongside a military dog named Rex, investigate a crashed drone, find its missing black box and attempt to escape a hostile facility. The ending is scripted: your initial Operator is captured and killed, even when you’ve completed the objectives correctly.
Reaching Recruit an Operator and FOB Zulu means you’ve finished Modern Warfare 4 Breaking New Ground, not failed it. Here’s the path through the drone site, Deadtown and the Re-education Facility, followed by what to do once the real DMZ mode opens.
How to start Modern Warfare 4 Breaking New Ground
Select DMZ for the first time in Modern Warfare 4. The game starts the onboarding mission automatically, rather than asking you to choose it from the later Story Missions list. You can’t start this tutorial from the same menu used for the six regular DMZ Story Missions.
Modern Warfare 4 Breaking New Ground opens with a HALO jump into the North Korean Wilderness. Deploy your parachute when prompted and follow the yellow objective marker toward Rex. The starting loadout includes an M4 and a suppressed Sang 9mm pistol, so you can complete the early encounters without first visiting Gunsmith.
Follow Rex and search the downed drone
- After landing, follow Rex down the hillside toward the crashed ISR drone.
- Deal with the soldier guarding the wreck and follow the Clear the Area instruction.
- Interact with the drone’s access hatch when prompted and search the interior.
- The black box is missing. Follow the new signal toward the village shown on the Tac-Map.
- During the scripted ambush, use the Sacrifice Health to Revive tourniquet prompt, then carry injured Rex to the indicated safe position.
Use the tourniquet when prompted, then pick up Rex and carry him into nearby cover. You’ll leave him safe before continuing toward Deadtown. The injury is part of the story in Modern Warfare 4 Breaking New Ground, not an optional challenge you’ve failed.
Find a Medkit in Deadtown
Follow the tracks toward Deadtown and the Head into the Village and Look for Medical marker. In a house, take down the soldier sitting by the television, then open the green Medical Bag for a Medkit. Use it to repair your wound and restore maximum health. The bathroom cabinet, fridge and military bag nearby can also provide Pain Killers, Energy Drinks and Armor Plates.
After healing, crouch through the village and avoid the patrols near the square. Climb to the marked rooftop and use the spotting view to identify the Re-education Facility beyond the bridge. You can zoom in before following the canal route. That’s the next objective in Modern Warfare 4 Breaking New Ground.
Enter the Re-education Facility
- From the rooftop scouting point, look toward the bridge and canal below the facility.
- Follow the Sneak into the Canal marker and use the drainage route underneath the guarded bridge rather than trying to fight through the exposed main entrance.
- Pass through the sewer pipes and basement corridors, clearing guards when necessary.
- Follow Find the Drone Black Box into the facility’s server-room area.
- At the computer, use the Begin the Upload interaction to transfer the recovered data. Stay there until the upload completes.
After the upload completes, an alarm sounds and more soldiers arrive. Collect useful armour and weapons, move toward the exit and use the door breacher charge on the barricaded door when prompted. Fight through the prison cellblock and up toward the surface. Infinity Ward fixed a launch crash tied to the breaching sequence in an earlier update.
Why do you die at the end of Modern Warfare 4 Breaking New Ground?
At the top of the stairwell, a masked soldier ambushes your Operator. In the cutscene, the character is killed. The ending is scripted in Modern Warfare 4 Breaking New Ground; it doesn’t depend on how much health, ammunition or loot you were carrying.
You can’t find a secret exfil and save the original Operator. Let the briefing play, then choose Recruit an Operator to enter the main DMZ mode.
What to do at the Recruit an Operator screen
- After the cinematic, choose Recruit an Operator when the game displays that requirement.
- Select one of the available Operators from the roster and confirm the choice.
- Enter FOB Zulu, the Forward Operating Base where you manage your Loadout, Stash and later missions.
- Find the DMZ Orders station to view your first objectives. These teach equipment selection, the Firing Range and your first regular deployment.
The first DMZ Orders page contains Gear Up (equip a weapon, backpack, armour vest and Medkit from your Stash), Crackshot (knock down three Firing Range targets) and First Op (deploy in Dynamic Operations). Completing these is your next progression goal after Modern Warfare 4 Breaking New Ground.
Does Breaking New Ground give rewards or let you keep loot?
Modern Warfare 4 Breaking New Ground doesn’t end with a normal cash-and-loot extraction screen. The initial Operator’s fate is part of the story, and the tutorial isn’t one of the selectable Story Missions with a mission-card reward list. Your progression continues at the FOB with a freshly recruited Operator, not with a bag of guaranteed tutorial loot.
The first DMZ Orders and your initial equipment are separate from the tutorial ending. See our FOB guide to find the stations and the Stash guide to equip your new Operator.
October 25 onboarding fixes and what to check if stuck
Infinity Ward’s October 25 patch says it fixed several issues in Breaking New Ground, but it doesn’t list those particular problems. Earlier launch updates also addressed a crash around the breaching-door sequence, enemy AI behaviour after a downed player and a tablet display issue after searching the drone.
If Modern Warfare 4 Breaking New Ground seems stuck, compare the active HUD objective with your position: open the drone hatch, apply the tourniquet, use the Medkit, scout from the roof, complete the upload or breach the exit door as prompted. The death scene is the end of the mission, so continue to the recruitment screen instead of restarting.
If the game still crashes or an interaction prompt won’t appear, check the live known-issues board linked in Infinity Ward’s patch notes. The October 25 update addressed further Modern Warfare 4 Breaking New Ground problems without identifying them individually.
Related Guides
Official source: Infinity Ward’s October 25 Breaking New Ground update.
