This review is simply for the few gamers who don’t have an opinion about CoD. There are those that love it and those that hate it. Those that hate it are busy dissing it on the internet without ever playing it. The ones that love it have already bought it, are on their third day without showering, and their families are starting to worry.
If you are one of the few people who hasn’t heard of the CoD series, it is a popular first-person shooter that bases gameplay around war. The game’s popularity rose with CoD 4’s advanced multiplayer - which is still popular even today. It had enough repetition to make it simple to understand, but challenging and addictive to keep gamers coming back.
As one of the most anticipated games of the season, MW3 is the third in a best-selling series. However, is it any good?
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3: Campaign Mode
The story for MW3 picks up where MW2 left off. The story follows three main factions through WW3, but even with the vast variety of characters, the storyline is surprisingly easy to follow. The graphics are great since things explode everywhere. When played on the normal difficulty, the AI is challenging without being frustrating.
Multiplayer Mode:
Multiplayer is a chest-thumping, primitive fight for dominance in a realm where the triumphant die quick and the losers are simply smears on their boots.
As it turns out, we end up being the smear a lot. Sure, you can say that Bryan and Emily suck at CoD. (You’d be right about Emily.) You could say it was simply bad luck (about 13 black cats’ worth). The point is, if you aren’t a CoD buff, you are going to die a lot, and if you die a lot, you aren’t going to have fun. It's a simple fact of gaming. The hardcore fans are willing to work their way up, learn the glitches, and become a one man army. Of course, the hardcore fans are already level 42 at 8:41pm on release day (not making that up).
That isn’t to say that the game isn’t fun. When getting into a good kill streak, and the enemies just seem to die with a glance, the euphoric gamer high hits. But seconds later, the high ends as quickly as it started, and drudging through the low begins. That is when the frustration sets in, when YOU seem to die with a glance. That low is what is remembered, and what keeps casual players away.
Server issues?
However, before even getting to the rapid, repeated dying, the game must connect to a server. Which is the first major flaw of the multiplayer. The best way to describe it is in an (censored) quote from Bryan:
“Took me exactly five minutes to find a (expletive) match. It doesn’t seem like much, but when you’re just staring at lobby screen, it takes (expletive) forever. When we FINALLY joined a match, it was just to enter in at the end. So, the first ten minutes of playing online were spent staring at the lobby screen. Oh. Joy.”
This wasn’t just a one time thing. The five minutes was actually preferable. Our server finding times were as follows: five, seven, seven, four and seven minutes. The numbers may not seem like much, but it’s really boring. Sure, you can create a custom loadout, as in all other CoD games, but really, there’s only so much you can do while you wait. Plus, it happens every time you need a new server. CoD fans are familiar with this, as are any gamers who enjoy online multiplayer. That does not make it any less annoying and it should be fixed with a patch or better servers.
This wasn’t just a one time thing. The five minutes was actually preferable. Our server finding times were as follows: five, seven, seven, four and seven minutes. The numbers may not seem like much, but it’s really boring. Sure, you can create a custom loadout, as in all other CoD games, but really, there’s only so much you can do while you wait. Plus, it happens every time you need a new server. CoD fans are familiar with this, as are any gamers who enjoy online multiplayer. That does not make it any less annoying and it should be fixed with a patch or better servers.
Guns!:
The controls are exactly the same as all other CoD games, with the exact same customization options. The guns handle distinctly enough to feel different: AR’s are the same bland vanilla they always were, SMG’s handle noticeably quicker, LMG’s are chunky and unreliable, the snipers are worthless with the maps being as focused close quarters as they are. It’s nearly impossible to get good sight lines (almost like the developers are encouraging quick scoping).
The grenade launcher still exists: a disappointing fact to those that hate “noob tubes.”
There are a few reskins of guns from MW2, (same look/same animation/same feel) almost to the point of laziness, but there are some new guns to help balance them out. However they’re unlocked later in the later levels of multiplayer, so they aren’t available for a while.
The grenade launcher still exists: a disappointing fact to those that hate “noob tubes.”
There are a few reskins of guns from MW2, (same look/same animation/same feel) almost to the point of laziness, but there are some new guns to help balance them out. However they’re unlocked later in the later levels of multiplayer, so they aren’t available for a while.
Maps:
The maps that come with the game are all basic, small, narrow multiplayer maps. Emphasis on small. As previously stated, sniping is nearly impossible due to the close quarters. The bonus is that the enemies are always nearby, so charging to certain doom doesn’t take as long. Also, because the maps are so small, spawning often occurs very close to enemies. On more than one occasion, an enemy spawned within knifing distance. This attributes to the “Spawn. Die. Spawn. Die” feeling the game has.
The maps themselves are really nothing special, but considering that Activision will likely come out with more maps, that isn’t really something to worry about.
New and improved stuff
The typical criticism that the game series receives is that the games are all the same. Multiplayer holds the essence of familiarity: different enough to make it worth buying, but without changing the core playing experience.There is a new game mode: Kill confirmed. Decently fun. When someone dies, they drop dog tags. These tags must be collected to gain points. Both allies and enemies can pick up the tags, for positive or no points, respectively. Weapons are upgradable, with attachments unlocked as they were in MW2. Not new, but different.
There is now a separation between Support and Assault kill streaks. Assault kill streaks are classic CoD style: Kill a certain number of enemies to gain different bonuses. If you die, the kill streak resets. Support kill streaks are different in the fact that you do not lose your kill streak when you die. The tradeoff is that the bonuses take more kills to get. For example, with assault UAV requires 3 kills, while in support it requires 4 kills. Also added on are the specialist kill streaks. The player gives up the kill streak bonuses to allow for more perks. Similar is the ability to select a kill streak if you earn more than one, making them more strategic.
The final new point is that online multiplayer can be played split screen now (new for the MW series). The graphics are less impressive and the screen is smaller. It is a small tradeoff, but (for us, at least) playing online is much more fun with someone next to you. The experience was very similar to normal multiplayer.
Spec Ops:
Other than campaign and multiplayer, there is Spec Ops, a reoccurring game mode. In Spec Ops, there are missions and survival modes. The mission mode is the same as it always has been: short, single objective firefights which grade you on ability and difficulty. The missions can be played either single or coop. Survival mode is the re-imagination of Nazi Zombies. Instead of zombies, you fight standard enemies with guns. The difficulty is down, as the enemies will drop their weapons, so ammo is not very valuable. It doesn’t have the same rushed, crazy feeling that Nazi Zombies had.
Conclusion:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is just another installment of Call of Duty. Other than the campaign, very little separates this game from its predecessors. Sure, the game looks better, and minor improvements have been made, but it is basically the same game. The series seems to have fallen into the sports game trap. Every year, a new game is released, only marginally different from the previous installment. If you didn’t enjoy CoD before, this game will not change your opinion. But even for all its flaws, the campaign is engaging, and the online play can be addicting at times.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is not a bad game, but during the competitive holiday season, there are better games out there, and it simply does not stack up.
Other than campaign and multiplayer, there is Spec Ops, a reoccurring game mode. In Spec Ops, there are missions and survival modes. The mission mode is the same as it always has been: short, single objective firefights which grade you on ability and difficulty. The missions can be played either single or coop. Survival mode is the re-imagination of Nazi Zombies. Instead of zombies, you fight standard enemies with guns. The difficulty is down, as the enemies will drop their weapons, so ammo is not very valuable. It doesn’t have the same rushed, crazy feeling that Nazi Zombies had.
Conclusion:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is just another installment of Call of Duty. Other than the campaign, very little separates this game from its predecessors. Sure, the game looks better, and minor improvements have been made, but it is basically the same game. The series seems to have fallen into the sports game trap. Every year, a new game is released, only marginally different from the previous installment. If you didn’t enjoy CoD before, this game will not change your opinion. But even for all its flaws, the campaign is engaging, and the online play can be addicting at times.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is not a bad game, but during the competitive holiday season, there are better games out there, and it simply does not stack up.
Score: 6/10
