Call of Duty is like the Tim Tebow of the gaming world. It seems like people either love it or hate it, with little middle ground. However, there is no denying its popularity. Quite simply, the Call of Duty franchise is a juggernaut. Modern Warfare 2 is one of the highest-selling games in history and easily one of the most popular and addictive multiplayer games ever made. The latest installment in the franchise, Modern Warfare 3, was released this past Tuesday.
Despite the franchise’s popularity, there was a cloud of concern hanging over Modern Warfare 3. Infinity Ward, creator of the Call of Duty franchise and developer of Call of Duty 2, Modern Warfare, and Modern Warfare 2, suffered a severe shakeup as studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella were fired by Activision, leading to the resignation of roughly half of the studio’s employees and a barrage of lawsuits.
Between the chinks in Call of Duty’s armor and the arrival of the heralded Battlefield 3, would this be the day when Activision cedes supremacy?
No.
Modern Warfare 3 is an outstanding game that is a blast to play. It is the best Call of Duty game yet and a worthy successor to its predecessors. Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games should be proud of what they have created. It retains the quintessential Call of Duty experience while improving on the previous game’s flaws. It is not a grand departure at all from previous Modern Warfare titles, but considering the success of the series, why mess with a good thing?
Campaign
Modern Warfare 3 is by no means perfect, but it has no significant issues. The single-player campaign takes the player all over the globe to places like New York, London, Germany, Paris, Africa, and Asia. The wide range of environments and settings help keep things fresh, and the developers did a fantastic job with detail. The missions have some variety but nothing quite like the sniper mission in the first Modern Warfare. Like the two games before it, Modern Warfare 3 features its share of over-the-top set-pieces. While they may be unrealistic, they certainly are intense and add to the overall chaotic, mile-a-minute pace of the game.
Whether it’s a war-torn city filled with rubble or a shantytown in an African jungle, the game looks great and runs smoothly. The voice-acting is good, and the controls are pretty much unchanged. Some new weapons have been added as well as new attachments. My personal favorite is the hybrid scope, which allows you to switch between a close-in red dot sight and a longer range ACOG or sniper scope. It definitely gives the player some flexibility in choosing his or her weapons.
The AI also seems to be improved. Your AI teammates do seem to be of more use than they were in the past. Perhaps my biggest gripe with previous Call of Duty games was the never-ending supply of enemies that would continuously appear until you reached some invisible point in the level. It was highly-irritating and quite frustrating at times, especially in the first Modern Warfare, but that problem seems to have been mitigated in Modern Warfare 3. Granted, I have so far only beaten the campaign on Hardened and have yet to try Veteran, but this does not appear to be quite the problem it was in the past. My other big gripe in the past was how enemies always knew exactly where you were. It seemed most prevalent on Veteran, though, so I cannot yet comment on if that remains an issue.
The campaign features 16 missions and probably takes anywhere from 8-10 hours to beat. It is a lot of fun and lets the player experience a multitude of environments, characters, and forces. My only quibbles with it were plot and realism, and they do not detract all that much from the overall enjoyment of the campaign.
*SPOILER ALERT* At one point, you are tasked with infiltrating a Russian submarine and using its missiles against the Russian fleet. You then escape via Zodiac, racing through the exploding chaos of the Russian fleet. That scenario is highly unlikely, but it is fun and pretty damn cool. Another example is that the game starts in New York, where the Russians have attacked. In reality, a surprise attack culminating in Russian forces landing in enough strength to occupy New York and Washington DC (from Modern Warfare 2) is impossible. There is no way a force that size could escape detection crossing the Atlantic. Further, after the level in New York, you go to Paris and then Germany. How could the Russians be fighting in the heart of France before they had conquered Germany? Finally, there is a level that takes place on board a plane against hijackers. It’s a fun level, but realistically, there is no way that many hijackers, carrying that much firepower, could board the plane without being noticed.*END SPOILERS*
Like I said, though, those quibbles are minor and did not take away from my enjoyment of the campaign at all. Out of all the Call of Duty titles, Modern Warfare 3’s campaign was the one I enjoyed the most.
Multiplayer
Modern Warfare 3 has a lot to live up to. Modern Warfare 2 was one of the most popular and successful titles in history, and its multiplayer was a big reason why. Luckily, Modern Warfare 3 is up to the task. It even surpasses the standard set by Modern Warfare 2.
Modern Warfare 3 still has the same frenetic, fast-paced style of play from other Call of Duty games. Anyone familiar with online multiplayer from the previous titles will feel right at home with this one. It is much more similar to Modern Warfare 2 than Black Ops, so no wager matches or buying weapons and upgrades. Players still earn XP to level up and earn new weapons, perks, and killstreaks, but there have been some changes. One of these changes is Weapon Proficiency. Basically, you can now level up your weapons the same way you level up yourself. You can choose from different proficiencies to suit your style of play. For example, you can the Kick Proficiency to your gun to reduce recoil or the Focus Proficiency to reduce how much you flinch when you are hit by enemy fire.
Proficiencies are not attachments. In fact, one proficiency allows you to have two attachments on your weapon. Also, attachments are now unlocked the same way perks and weapons are: when you reach a certain weapon level, you unlock a corresponding attachment. You also unlock weapon camouflage and reticle designs this way.
Another big change, perhaps the biggest, involves killstreaks. They are now called “strike packages,” and there are three forms to choose from. The Assault package is pretty much the same system as in previous titles. The Support package is generally not as offensive; instead of a Predator strike or attack helicopter, you can call in a SAM turret or ballistic vests that your teammates can equip for better protection. Also, Support streaks don’t end when you are killed. Let me explain: if you want to call in Predator missile strike, you need to get five kills in one life without dying. If you don’t reach five before you are killed, your counter resets to zero. If you have chosen to use a Support package, dying doesn’t matter. Your killstreak counter isn’t reset. To call in a SAM turret, you can get three kills, die, and then get two more and still be able to call it in. Specialist packages reward you with perks rather than items. I have not used them yet, but the gist is that if you get say three kills, you are rewarded with the Recon or Assassin perk rather than a UAV, for instance.
The multiplayer seems more balanced, too. I have yet to encounter some yahoo running around with dual shotguns, and the Marathon/Lightweight/Commando annoyance is a thing of the past. Also, it is easier to shoot down aircraft. I have not experienced all of the killstreaks yet, so there may be something that is overpowered, but so far the game seems a lot more balanced.
Prestige mode has been retained, albeit with some minor changes like the Prestige Shop. There are 16 multiplayer maps, and they offer a wide variety of settings and environments that suit any number of different play styles. There are a number of cool maps that can be played in a variety of different ways.
My favorite change has been the addition of Kill Confirmed. It’s Team Deathmatch but with a twist: whenever someone is killed, he or she drops a set of giant, glowing dog tags. In order to score, you must grab the dog tags of fallen opponents to confirm the kill, hence the name. You can also recover your comrades’ dog tags to prevent the other team from scoring, so it really encourages teamwork.
The cooperative Spec Ops challenge mode from Modern Warfare 2 returns and has been beefed up, and a new mode called Survival has been added. It is reminiscent of Gears of War 3’s Horde mode where you defend against waves of attacking enemies, although they are not zombies. You can purchase defenses and weapons
Conclusion
Modern Warfare 3 is a great game that is certain to be one of this year’s big hits. Featuring a fun and intense single-player campaign, cooperative Specs Ops challenges, and the robust online multiplayer experience that Modern Warfare games are known for, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a must-have for first-person shooter aficionados. It doesn’t break any new ground but rather adds on to what was already a solid foundation.
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