A Fitting End: A Modern Warfare 3 Review

After the debacle that was the Infinity Ward implosion, very few thought they would be able to crank out a high quality new Modern Warfare game by 2011. Those few were partially right. Sledgehammer Games had to come in and assist and after watching the credits Activision took an all hands on deck approach to development. Treyarch, Raven, and Neversoft all assisted in getting MW3 to market, albiet in much smaller rolls. With that many hands on the game, were they able to capture the magic of the previous titles? Activision dropped us a copy, so let’s break it down to see how it stands up:

Single Player Review -Sergio Lugo II

Last we saw Price and Soap, they had just killed Lt. Shepherd and had vowed to find Makarov. Obviously Modern Warfare 2 was not designed to be the end of the story. MW3 picks up right where MW2 left off. Soap has been stabbed and both him and Price are in pursuit of Makarov. Like the previous games, the single player campaign has very few slow points. The action is fast, and the story is shocking. Everything that happens feels like its on a constant drip of steroids.

The moment in Call Of Duty 4 when Sargeant Jackson is killed by the nuke, sets the tone for the Modern Warfare series. It shows that nothing is off limits and that anyone can die. This sentiment was carried through MW2, and is present in MW3. This design choice is prevalent in the begining of the game when you are battling through New York City and again when fighting in London. Much like Uncharted, the meat and potatoes of MW3, are the set-pieces. From the gun fight in a crashing airplane to the traversal of a freshly collapsed building, one of Infinity Ward’s strengths is making memorable moments and MW3 carries on this tradition.

Many players may be turned off by the ultra linear story and the large number of turret gun sequences, but both of these contribute to the greater plan of crafting a specific experience. Its an experience that’s hard to find seams in that promotes binge 4 hour play sessions. Its easy to complain about aspects like short length, stagnant graphics improvement and static gameplay improvements, but those things aren’t why a player comes to Call of Duty.

Multiplayer is clearly the star of the show here, and single player experience doesn’t have to be awesome, that’s just a plus. Single player rocks a concentrated memorable experience, with tried and true gameplay, and concludes an exciting story.

Verdict – This is exactly what MW3 needed to be, if a player is foolish enough to expect something different, then they should probably look somewhere else.

Multi-Player Review -James Knotts

On the whole, the multiplayer for MW3 is what you’ve come to expect, fairly good level design, tight responsive controls, large amounts of play modes, and the ability to party up with friends and go. There are however, a few changes to the formula.
First up, on the PS3 version you can now have two people play online split-screen…finally. That’s right, you and your buddy can both hop into the fray together on the same screen off the same system. Unfortunately there is no ability to have the second person load their online profile. They will be (guest)1, and go with whatever perks and unlocks the main account has.

The level system has been changed up as well. Each weapon has a level system to it now. So, instead of having to get so many kills to unlock attachments or weapon perks you simply level up the weapon. There are also secondary perks you can unlock to use like having 2 attachments, reduced recoil, faster movement while aiming down the sight, etc. I personally enjoy this setup much more than how it was done previously. The amount of weapons has been upped as well. Old favorites like the M4A1, MOE60, Barrett 50 cal return with some new kids on the block such as: FAD, PP90M1, AS50, and KSG 12. However you like to play, whether it be run’n’gun, or sit back and camp, your sure to find a loadout that completely fits the bill.

Kill-streaks have been revamped as well. You can now pick the kill-streak setup you want. There is Assault, Support, and Specialist. Assault is just that and its all about aggression. It has predator missile strike, AC-130 gunner, PAV Lo, etc. Support is obviously more support based. Also when you die your killstreak count is not reset, so you can get that big Juggernaut suit even if, like me, you die all the time. Specialist is an interesting set in that as you get kills you unlock perks, like faster reload, scavenger, ninja, and so on. This basically means that if you’re awesome at running around killing and not dying, then this set is for you.

The game modes have been split into two sections in the menu section. You choose between Standard and Advanced modes. Advanced adds the ability to pick Hardcore mode where Standard is of course your normal game modes. Infinty Ward has added in a new game mode called “Kill Confirmed”. This is TDM with a twist, when any character is killed they drop dogtags. These dogtags must be collected to move the points system forward in your teams favor. If you see your buddy drop you can grab their tags and deny the other team the kill. This helps to make the game a bit more frantic, and gives youthe opportunity to set up traps and wait for the other team to attempt to pick up a set of tags.

Verdict- Overall the multiplayer component of MW3 is excellent. With great variety in maps, modes, kill-streaks, and level rewards, there is always something happening to give you a sense of accomplishment.