This is a mirror of the previous remaster, where you could kill the Makarov series villain before you even know who he was in a sniper mission - however, it was a meatier addition. Not only did the remaster feature Makarov, a character that didn't originally exist in, it also included a retcon of. It is difficult to explain everything here. Let's just say the Shepherd's Easter Egg was possible even in the original game - but you didn't win a fancy trophy for taking the photo.
How to earn the "Precognitive Paranoia" Hidden Trophy
The new hidden trophy can be won in the didactic mission. After training your Afghan soldiers and shooting targets, you will go to a timed obstacle course. General Shepherd - a man wearing a beret and mustache, watches the proceedings. It is localized just above the door at the obstacle course.
To earn the hidden trophy and get a special ending all you need to do is kill General Shepherd.
If you've played, you'll know why - in a shocking, somewhat absurd twist, it turns out General Shepherd is the villain of the story. Instead of being a scapegoat for Makarov, General Shepherd deliberately helped the Russian terrorist attempt to start a war between America and Russia. He is doing it in revenge on Russian separatists who supplied nuclear weapons to the Middle Eastern tyrant who set off an atomic bomb.
It's hard to describe how insane and convoluted this is. The above paragraph doesn't explain the crazy leaps in logic, the unfilled plot holes, or the general ridiculousness of everyone's hard-to-explain behavior. Why does Shepherd have his own secret army of mercenaries? Why does Taskforce 141 let Makarov escape? I can't explain any of these things. All I know is that shooting Shepherd early would probably save the world a lot of heartache in this weird fictional universe.
