Game Plot

In preparation for Operation Harvest Red, elements of the U.S. Marine Corps' Force Recon are deployed behind enemy lines into Chernarus, to weaken ChDKZ coastal defenses for the invading Marine Expeditionary Unit. Among the Force Reconnaissance Marines is Razor Team, a five-man special operations team, consisting of the main character, Master Sergeant Matthew "Coops" Cooper, Razor Team's second-in-command, and the team's leader, Master Sergeant Patrick "Eightball" Miles.

Razor Team's mission is to conduct a raid on the small Chernarussian town of Pusta, to disrupt ChDKZ communications in preparation for the invading Marine Expeditionary Unit. During Razor Team's raid on Pusta, the team rescues a couple of torture victims, and subsequently uncovers a mass grave, revealing that the ChDKZ have been conducting acts of genocide and war crimes in South Zagoria.

After the raid on Pusta, Razor Team is tasked with helping to unite the Chernarussian military (CDF) with National Party (NAPA) guerillas, who are led by a man named Prizrak. Originally hostile to each other at the beginning, their subsequent cooperation will help to restore peace to Chernarus.

As the civil war in Chernarus rages on, a terrorist bombing occurs in the middle of Red Square, in Moscow, Russia, killing dozens and wounding hundreds more. The ChDKZ blames this attack on the National Party, which causes the Russian Federation, already weary of the presence of U.S. forces operating near its border, to demand the unconditional withdrawal of U.S. forces from Chernarus. The Russian Federation proposes to the United Nations Security Council that the United States withdraw its forces from Chernarus, whom the Russians see as escalating the conflict. The United States' mandate in Chernarus expires, and U.S. forces are quickly withdrawn from the country. Shortly after the U.S. withdrawal, the Russian Federation sends a United Nations-backed peacekeeping contingent into South Zagoria, to replace the U.S. forces. However, in the confusion, Razor Team is left behind as the rest of the U.S. forces withdraw from the country, leaving them all alone in Chernarus. Later, it is revealed that the terrorist bombing of Red Square was in fact a false flag attack committed by the ChDKZ to paint the National Party as terrorists. Razor Team is now tasked with finding evidence which will prove the ChDKZ's involvement in the bombing of Red Square, and prove the National Party's innocence.