How to fix the “can’t rope down” bug in Prison Break in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Prison Break is the 14th mission in the Call of Duty campaign, and it’s a tough, action-packed one. Shadow Company CEO Phillip Graves has forcibly taken over the base where Alejandro and his Mexican Special Forces are stationed, and is running it like a prison. Your mission is to rescue Alejandro and his soldiers, and to get out of there before Shadow Company gets reinforced.

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What to do if you can’t rope down at the end of Prison Break

This is the second common progression bug in the Prison Break mission, after the “free Alejandro” bug, and this one is even more frustrating because it happens at the very end of a long mission, and prevents you from being able to perform the very last action needed to complete it.

After you’ve joined Price on the base’s walls and fought off the last waves of Shadow Company mercs and vehicles, Price will give the order to leave, but some players are discovering that they can’t because their NPC companions won’t move out of the way and let them get to the rope. 

After you clear the snipers from the roof opposite, Alejandro is supposed to help Rodolfo up onto the wall, then they both run behind Price and go down the rope, along with Gaz and Ghost. For some players, Rodolfo doesn’t come up, and then the sequence of other NPCs leaving doesn’t trigger, and they all stay on the wall, blocking your exit.

After you clear those snipers, watch Alejandro and Rodolfo carefully while staying well out of their way. Clearly, whatever triggers the bug happens at around this moment. If the bug still happens, there is a fix. Go prone and keep moving toward the NPCs blocking the way. Also, keep throwing smoke bombs so that the invisible snipers on the opposite building (another symptom of the bug) can’t hit you (the iron barrier alone won’t protect you). As you’re doing this, the NPCs will occasionally get hit by sniper fire and fall over. Sometimes they get straight back up, but sometimes the sniper bullet will remind them that they’re supposed to be leaving and they’ll get out of the way, allowing you to get to the rope and head down.