If you’ve played any of the other installments in the Modern Warfare series, a lot of what you’ve seen and now expect will be provided for you in the latest installment, Modern Warfare 3. Infinity Ward, despite recent shaky history with Activision has delivered a game that brings all the non-stop action that the series promises, a well-executed, if not a bit noob-unfriendly multiplayer experience and a nice extra bit of game with the spec-ops mode.
I’m not going to lie; I didn’t really remember what happened in Modern Warfare 2 all that well. For whatever reason, that’s not really what stuck with me. There’s not much of a transition into where MW3 takes over, either. It doesn’t take long to catch on, mind you, but it doesn’t make it any less jarring to follow, which is a trait that’s pretty consistent throughout the entirety of the single player campaign. That’s not to say that I didn’t understand what was happening in the game, the story was simple enough, but the way it’s told and the transitions in between main points of the campaign do not flow.
The individual levels themselves, on the other hand, are well-prepped mini roller coasters. The initial climb can be a bit slow, and the closing a bit jarring, but every point in between is fun, exciting and at most times a treat to play. The “monster closet” phenomenon makes a triumphant return, and while its appearances are mild, there are some points where I just scratch my head at a lack of understanding of their reason for being a part of the game. When enemies are blocking my way into a tunnel, why can’t I kill them all and be done with it? These parts of the campaign are accompanied by some other random difficulty spikes that result in some unexpected deaths that mandate replay, but like the closets, are few and while I can remember them, they don’t ruin the experience. The biggest thing holding the single player portion of the game back is that I’ve done it all before. It feels very much like the first two parts of the series. And while, as a whole that’s not a bad thing, stagnation leaves a bad taste. So, while I found myself enjoying my time with the single player, and the appropriately climactic ending, it was still an overall middling experience.
But let’s face it; the single player campaign was never a go to reason for picking up any of the Modern Warfare games. They can hold your attention for a bit, but when push comes to shove, the multiplayer is where most people spend a majority of their game time, and I am no exception.
I was never anything special with the previous COD games, so I won’t try and compare the intricate differences in the multiplayer between MW3 and its predecessors. Nevertheless, the multiplayer is a top notch experience. The design of the maps and the game types is solid and kept me interested for quite some time. And time is something that you’ll hopefully have an abundance of, because if you hope to make a dent in the unlockables that MW3 keeps secured, mostly through level requirements, you’ll be putting plenty of hours in. As you continue to lay waste on the battlefield you are rewarded with experience that ups your overall player level. This unlocks additional guns, grenades, game types and more. In addition to this, the weapons that you use have their own level ups as well, progressing completely independently and reward you with useful add-ons such as new sights, grips, silencers and the like. This is the case for every gun, so unlocking a red-dot sight for one gun does not do so for another, which, for me, means that I will not have a red-dot sight for a lot of guns. The amount of game time required to level up individual weapons was hefty for me. I don’t have the kind of time to sink into repetitive level ups like I used to, so finding that there was such a substantial time requirement for the attachments was a big letdown. For those that sink, or have already sunk 100+ hours into the game would see it differently, I’m sure, but even the hardcore might be daunted by the fact that they will need to re-obtain each attachment for each gun on every prestige.
Aside from the grindy nature of the level ups, my only real complaint was the lack of low experience lobbies for when I first jumped into the multiplayer. I didn’t have early access to the game, and played through the campaign first, which meant by the time I was on the multiplayer, it was about a week into release. As a level one, the next lowest level, on average, in a match with me would be about level 15 or so. This was a huge difference in experience. More than anything it was about knowledge of the maps; running around without any familiarity of my whereabouts meant VERY negative kill/death ratios for my first 10-15 games. Once I had become acquainted with the majority of the maps, this was a different story, but it’s a real downer to get matched up against folks much higher level right from the get go. One thing I found helpful during this rough period was using the new suite of perks. In addition to the standard kill streak perks, a new subset has been added that count kills across deaths. These perks are more support oriented, but it means that for those who are more death prone, such as myself, you can still feel like you’ve been rewarded for a contribution to the team.
Once I had my fill of standard multiplayer, I moved into the final offering of Modern Warfare 3, the Special Ops mode. Not focused on nearly as much as it should, the “Spec Ops” is a wonderful addition to an already well filled game. Though it’s already made a debut in Modern Warfare 2, the offerings this time around still stay fresh. The introductory levels are simple, yet still have a lot of room for self-improvement if you want to get the full rating. While they won’t be teaching anyone how to rule a multiplayer match, I could definitely see basic skills developing from the multitude of missions in Spec Ops. The mode does also feature matchmaking, along with an entire co-op selection of missions, if you don’t happen to already have someone on your friend’s list with the game.
Modern Warfare 3 might feature a lot of elements that are beginning to age, and while some may focus on that more than others, when it comes right down to it, the game is still well made and fun to play. The campaign is a quick, fun romp and the multiplayer has more staying power than ever with the current incarnation of its leveling system. Even for Call of Duty first timers, it’s a game worth playing.
This review is based on a copy of the game for the Xbox 360 provided to SideQuesting by Activision
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