Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Review

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 arrives this Christmas with the ambition of performing as well, if not better, than its predecessor. Unfortunately, Activision Blizzard should have released Modern Warfare 3 as DLC for the previous title, or simply called it Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remake…

Task Force 141 Back in Action

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the follow-up to Modern Warfare 2’s amazing single-player campaign, released last year. It returns to the Task Force 141 team, formed by the legendary Ghost, Soap, Gaz, and of course, Captain Price. This iconic squad will have to face the ruthless Russian, Vladimir Makarov, who, like his 2008 lookalike, wants to set the world on fire.

Modern Warfare 3 campaign is equally impressive as its predecessors, but with a few shortcomings. Indeed, the single-player mode lasts around 4 hours/4h30 to see the credits roll, making it the shortest Call of Duty campaign. However, the visuals are as beautiful as ever, and we had no problems with the technical aspects.

In addition, this campaign is made up of so-called “open” missions that implement gameplay mechanics from the Warzone mode, such as the ability to open chests, change arsenal in packages, and get armor plates. Unfortunately, although innovative, these missions slow down the action and make the campaign less spectacular than before.

Nostalgia Reloaded

Call of Duty: MW3 performs relatively well on the multiplayer scene, but the latter can thank nostalgia for saving its reputation. Having said that, the weapons have an excellent sensation, and the gameplay is superior to MW2 in many points, including time-to-kill, the HUD, and even the maps, with the traditional “map vote” feature returning for everyone’s delight.

At the same time, it’s not that difficult to get good maps, given that they’re taken exclusively from the first Modern Warfare 2, released in 2008. However, nostalgia aside, it would have been a good idea to take only the good maps from MW2, rather than taking them all, even the bad ones.

Indeed, with the new engine and new moves upgraded by the Modern Warfare reboot, some maps become even more horrible than they were fifteen years ago. Favela, for example, was already complicated with all its windows and campers on rooftops, but with the ability to cling to everything and climb wherever you like, you end up with enemies posted absolutely on every possible corner.

In the end, we feel more like we’re playing a Modern Warfare 2 Remake than a new Modern Warfare 3, because there’s nothing here that would make a reboot of MW3. For instance, it would have been interesting to have Dome, Hardhat, or Resistance, which are some of the legendary maps from the first game, and to go back to a simplified menu, as it’s still as messy as ever.

Learning from the Past

Even though we may not be convinced by this new proposal, there is one point that surprised us during our various play sessions, and that’s the desire to come back regularly for long sessions, as in the old Call of Duty days. It’s a feeling we’d lost a long time ago.

This feeling is undoubtedly boosted by MW2’s maps, but to our great surprise, the gameplay is really good on this Modern Warfare 3, apart from a few negative points we could have done without.

For example, there are daily challenges to unlock new weapons, equipment, and accessories from level 25. In our opinion, this is a bad idea. While it forces players to come back every day, it also eliminates the satisfaction of unlocking new weapons as you level up.

Next, if you love sniping, it’s a real shame, and it’s probably the worst sniper rifle in the franchise, with the longest aim time and the highest flinch. Even worse, there’s only one new bolt-action sniper, and that’s really disappointing for anyone who loves this gameplay style.

It’s a good thing we also have MW2’s weapons available, otherwise, we’d have the weakest arsenal in the series. Once again, this proves that this new opus is not ambitious enough, and continues to leave us feeling that this should have been a DLC.

DMZ With Undead?

A major addition to Modern Warfare is the arrival of Zombies mode, the license’s most iconic game mode, which first appeared in Call of Duty World at War developed by Treyarch.

This year, Treyarch, which is in charge of MW3’s Zombies mode, is taking a new, open-world approach to its iconic mode. But unfortunately, we don’t find the same excitement, and we have the feeling that this is a feature quickly added to the title in order to justify its high price tag.

In practical terms, players who tried out Modern Warfare 2’s DMZ mode won’t be disappointed, as it’s the same drop-based construction on the future Warzone map, Urzikstan. With an arsenal already in your possession or no equipment at all, you have to complete contracts and extract yourself to keep the weapons you’ve acquired, so you can use them in the next game.

However, here we’re dealing exclusively with PvE (player versus environment), and there’s no PvP (player versus player), but several squads are dropped on the map to defeat hordes of zombies, following the instructions of the various contracts and missions in the different story acts.

On paper, it looks promising, with all the main elements of Zombies mode present, such as the weapons on the walls, the mystery box, assets, bonuses like “instant death” and the famous Pack-A-Punch, designed to improve your weapons. Moreover, there are new features such as various interest points on the map, and zones classified by difficulty level.

Unfortunately, the formula fails to satisfy, as it lacks the soul of Treyarch’s Zombies mode, and just feels like a DMZ skin from last year’s MW2, with hordes of zombies and PvE programmed.

Conclusion

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 feels like it should have been a DLC for the previous game, given its lack of ambition. We do get a cinematic campaign, but it’s less epic and ends quickly. The only thing we’ll retain is multiplayer, which plays too much on the nostalgia of Modern Warfare 2, and has really good gameplay, except for the sniper. The Zombies mode, on the other hand, is nothing more than a DMZ skin, and a real disappointment.