After finishing the traitorous colonel shepherd with a knife to the eye at the end of Modern Warfare 2 and getting Sargent Soap Mactavish patched up, him and captain Price with the Russian loyalists including Nikolai and Yuri in tow, set out on a worldwide manhunt for the infamous terrorist. Makarov as the US and Europe fend off many, many attacks by the Russian army on cities like New York, Berlin, Prague and even London at one point. This is world war three on an enormous scale and the action has never been more intense or thrilling. Scenarios can get so ridiculous with hundreds upon hundreds of explosions rocking the screen and authenticity being almost completely benched for awesome action sequences the story will be a blast for any action fan. There is one major plot point which links the three games in the modern warfare series flawlessly and aside from one moment which fails to create much emotion, a possibly controversial scene in London and the little attachment to characters involved, Modern Warfare 3 concludes the story well with an epic last stand sure to get the heart racing.
Just like Black Ops and Modern Warfare 2 before it MW3 is loaded with features. The campaign may only be a meagre five hours long but it certainly provides the most thrilling ride of all three games, setting down some truly awesome moments like infiltrating a Russian submarine in New York and heading through a treacherous sand storm. The lack of coop through the campaign is still a mild disappointment but the refined Spec Ops mode returns, offering a new survival mode as well as thirty two missions both for two players. Survival mode proves a worthy follow up to zombies in that there are different and increasingly tougher enemies in each round and you have a greater variety of tools to hold off the waves including sentry guns, air support and even AI controlled teammates. Infinity Ward has even included matchmaking for spec ops this time, truly escalating it to its full potential. The legendary multiplayer returns with just a few refinements to tweak the experience while keeping it familiar to series veterans. Annoying perks like one man army and commando are gone, replaced with new strike packages for assault, support and specialist. Assault is the typical kill streak setup, aiming to cause grief for the other team and resetting upon death, support is for the more passive players, willing the support their team through spotting enemies with the new recon drone or handing out ballistic vests to help teammates take a little more punishment. The specialist package is for the lone wolf, hard core players with each two kills up to eight adding a perk to the ones you have already. Some of the new toys include the highly powerful but slow moving juggernaut suit, the strafe run which flies over the map, cutting down anyone in their line of fire and a special surprise for those using the specialist package and earning the insanely difficult twenty five kills in a row using only guns. The removal of cheap perks has made the online game more balanced than ever but it's still baffling why the developer chose to keep the infamous martyrdom and final stand death streaks which rear their frustrating heads once again. Weapons now level up as players rack up kills, unlocking attachments, camouflages and all new weapon proficiencies such as kick which reduces recoil or stability which makes the weapon more accurate. This is a welcome change from prior games, instead of completing specific challenges, allowing players to find a favourite weapon and lean on it. Combat training and wager matches may have been removed but Modern Warfare 3 mixes things up with some new game modes of its own, the best of which being kill confirmed where players must pick up a dog tag to add a point to their team's score which suffers little to no camping in one location. Players can prestige ten times with new prestige tokens earned at every prestige level then being used to purchase new call sign names, symbols, extra custom classes, double XP for two hours and even unlock your favourite piece of equipment to carry through. It's all topped off by the Call of Duty Elite system, a social networking service, offering stat tracking, clan progression and tips for maps and weapons. The package comes in either free or premium version with the latter including video walkthroughs, monthly competitions, early access to map packs and regular episodes of Elite TV for about £40 a month ($49.99 a month for US users) the service is fairly robust be it the free or costing version and is sure to be carried over into future Call of Duty titles. The multiplayer will keep players going for many years or at least until the next game in the series in released. Pair this up with an explosive campaign and brilliant spec ops play and the package value skyrockets significantly.
Gameplay remains fast and addictive as ever, aim down sights and occasionally take control of air support to take down both AI and player controlled enemies. The series refuses to change or innovate with vehicles or squad commands in favour of the plain, old fashioned first person action that has dominated the series since Call of Duty 4. It's hard to believe that the little innovation to the series has still recruited millions more players into its ranks over the years. The fast paced action of Call of Duty is an acquired taste and players hoping for some major changes will be sorely disappointed but veterans of the series will get what they want and then some. There are still no vehicles but again, this focuses the action on the perks and different weapons on foot. Difficulty in the campaign is far more manageable than in World at War and Black Ops with more frequent checkpoints and less infinitely respawning enemies. Artificial intelligence remains as average and basic as ever, enemies with occasionally take cover and mount heavy weapons but like so many other shooter games, it falls well short of games like Halo. Intensity has been ramped up to a pitch point for the series with many action sequences practically dominating the entire experience. Combat training has been thrown out which can be alienating for newcomers as the only way to practice and avoid getting dominated by hard-core players is in private matches.
It may still be using the original Modern Warfare engine but the third entry from Infinity Ward demonstrates some epic looking scenarios including a decimated New York City as well as a full scale assault on Berlin. Lighting effects are still fantastic with sound design remaining as immersive as ever. Both realism and brutality have been toned down since the last few instalments which end up making the warfare in Modern warfare 3 slightly less immersive than its main rival. Still the game is no slouch, compared with other awesome looking games. The controversial airport scene is gone, replaced with more gritty death scenes and action throughout.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare is an epic first person shooter, filled with action and brimming with value. The campaign, coop and multiplayer modes are all highly polished though it does fall short of legendary status due to a lack of innovation but of course any fan of shooters won't think twice about buying this straight away so what are you waiting for? Jump right into what will probably be the most popular games of 2011.
Rating: 8.5/10
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