Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Review

• Developer: Infinity Ward
• Publishers: Activision
• Platforms: DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
• Genres: FPS
• Release Dates: 08/11/2011

This review is for the PS3 version of the game.

Fresh, innovative, unique. You won’t find any of that here.

I started off today without knowing what I was going to write about Modern Warfare 3, but as it turns out Modern Warfare 2 was a good game so by the same right Modern Warfare 3 ironically is. For that reason alone this will be a slightly shorter review than most of our others.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 pushes no ground, tries nothing new and instead just stays in its warm cozy niche where no one can seem to hurt it. If you want a brief overview of Modern Warfare 3, then play Modern Warfare 2 as the story follows on directly from it and most of the visual assets present throughout the game have been seen before in many other encarnations throughout the course of series. This does however feel like the finale in a series of copy and paste yearly titles. Modern Warfare 3 feels like it was just a test to see if Activision could get away with releasing another game following the exact same “take this, make it again” format.

A solid game despite lack of innovation.

Although I have many gripes about the lack of innovation present in recent titles, Call of Duty or otherwise, I find one thing that you can never fault Activision for is putting out a title that will sell well. Whether or not the game is a direct copy is irrelevant when you can slap a Call of Duty title on any game and it will sell like hot cakes. Does that mean the lack of unique and fresh content is the publishers fault or ours as the consumer?

There really is very little to say about the campaign, it follows on from the Modern Warfare 2 story. You spend the entire game being thrust from one playable character to another, making what was once a gimmick to allow the player to die but not lose, a core hallmark for the entire FPS genre. Scripted vehicle scenes are in abundance throughout the campaign. It feels as if you spend the vast majority of it rooted in place in some of the more heavily scripted chases that I have seen in a Call of Duty title.

All of my gripes about the lack of creativity aside; the game works. It’s what we’ve all come to expect from the yearly release of a Call of Duty title. You get your reasonable campaign with what is primarily a multiplayer title, which is what gives it all of its longevity. Let’s talk multiplayer then.

Unfortunately Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 seems to suffer in part from the same problem that Black Ops did. While MW3 is no where near as problematic as the original build of Black Ops was, it’s definitely got its own problems. Despite being touted by Activision’s own marketing department as the most ancipated game “in history” it seems like their tech department weren’t on the same page. In any one else’s mind, if you’re preparing for the launch of the biggest game ever, then you’re going to make sure that the server architecture can handle all of the millions of players flooding through the gates on day one. Unlucky for us, Activision don’t think like that, meaning that not only is Call of Duty Elite down and out for the count right now, but matchmaking is unpredictable at best and hit registration is still currently suffering from that ever annoying “I just unloaded a clip into you, oh wait, I’m actually dead” mechanic.

Solid Multiplayer experience with some teething problems.

While these launch problems are to be expected when you consider the insane numbers that are trying to get online to blow each others heads off, you would come to expect that the servers might have been a little better prepared.

Let’s move on from the initial problems and get into the nitty gritty of what to expect from the game itself. The multiplayer remains predictable, with only the addition of some new maps and game modes, all of which are plays on already existing variations. The maps are remeniscant of all previous Call of Duty titles, exchanging ruined city after ruined city with the insert of the random jungle based map just for good measure. The gameplay remains identical to that which was present in Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops, and all in all innovation is definitely not one of the games strong points.

On the flip side, many of us gamers complain frequently about products that lack a certain gameplay mechanic or don’t make enough use out of those which are available to it. I hate myself a little more each time I enjoy a Call of Duty title these days, simply because it panders to everyone’s fear of change, which shouldn’t be appealing. Activision’s Call of Duty definitely sticks to what it’s good at. While innovation may not be the name of the game, consistency and sales figures certainly are. Whether you like it or not, the Call of Duty franchise has become famous for a solid FPS experience. Even though the game doesn’t really push any new ground, and for the most part is rehashing the same old formula; at least it’s copying from an incredibly solid foundation.

Call of Duty Elite was supposed to be Activision’s stamp on gaming social networks. It was meant to provide all kinds of data for users to browse at their leisure, in and out of game and on their mobile devices. Right now the website is nothing more than a page saying “Attempting to Connect” or “Connection Problems” as it has been hit so hard by gamers eagerly looking to boost their e-penis, that it decided to give up all together.

If you want something new then you’re looking in the wrong place, but I suspect that you already knew that having no doubt encountered a Call of Duty game before. If you’re looking for a game that is going to be populated for the next year, and will inevitably receive updates throughout its lifetime, then this is the game for you. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 provides a solid multiplayer experience whilst never really pushing the boundaries. Fortunately for Activision their gargantuan franchise is what has set current generation boundaries, so where they go from here is completely up to them.