Modern Warfare 3 picks up where the second game left off. John "Soap" Mactavish has been injured severely after his run in with General Shepherd in the final moments of Modern Warfare 2. The Russians' invasion of the United States' mainland is well underway and the Americans are fighting tooth and nail to keep their land and people safe. Like previous entries in the series, Modern Warfare 3 follows three different protagonists and shows you different fronts of the war through their eyes. The American front, European cities, and North Africa all see action throughout the game. The locations all look great and there are some incredibly memorable set-pieces throughout the campaign that stick in your mind long after the credits roll. The game brings the Modern Warfare storyline to a spectacular close as the final part of the trilogy.
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| The problem with giant clocks is that you're always reminded how late you are, no matter where you are in the city. |
Modern Warfare 3 continues to use the Call of Duty 4 engine, though the graphics have been spiffed up a bit. There's absolutely something to be said for not messing with a good thing, and while the engine is 6 years old and has seen numerous games utilize it, the engine still feels solid. I suppose having a game that works so well is a good reason for the almost-unimaginable sales that the series has seen in the past few years. I'm not a huge fan of the recent Call of Duty games, but I have to admit that they are the best FPSs I have played.
The single player campaign comes in somewhat short, lasting only around 4-5 hours on the lower difficulties, and around 7 hours on the hardest. I would highly recommend playing on either Hardened (hard) or Veteran (hardest) as it greatly increases the intensity of the game. Running through a huge battle on easy mode, taking bullets in the face like a champ, and spraying enemies with your endless stream of lead really isn't challenging at all, and as such doesn't let you enjoy the game very much. Now if you're the type of person who just enjoys running through war as an invincible demi-god, go right ahead, there's no way I'm going to try to stop you! If you want the single player to be the most enjoyable and last for the longest possible amount of time, challenge yourself! I have played every Call of Duty on Veteran and I can honestly say that this was the easiest to complete, so even if you're afraid of it being too tough, give it a shot!
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| Umm yeah, go online Mr. Easy Mode Rambo and see how well you do. |
In addition to the campaign mode, Modern Warfare 3 offers Spec Ops mode, a game mode which offers a number of challenges to be completed by the player. These challenges range from running a shooting-range course, to clearing a map of enemies, to surviving a horde of enemy soldiers for a certain amount of time. You do not have to go it alone for these challenges, however. You can have friends join in either locally, or via Xbox Live to lend their gun to your cause. In Spec Ops mode there is also a Survival mode. In this mode, waves of increasingly tougher enemies throw themselves at you. Through surviving and clearing the waves you earn money which can be cashed in for weapons upgrades and other perks to make combating the horde more manageable.
I'd be obviously lying if I said that the majority of gamers play Call of Duty for the single player. The multiplayer in the series has become one of the most popular ever offered by any game. As with the single player, not much has changed other than graphics in multiplayer. A few new weapons and perks have been added, as well as some new kill-streak rewards. The matchmaking still works perfectly well, the game modes all work well, everything is enjoyable (if you're into that sort of thing). My problem is, it's ALL THE SAME. I understand that people enjoy playing an updated version of their favorite game, but this is the 3rd Modern Warfare, not to mention World at War and Black Ops, that all have the same multiplayer. It's as though people don't realize that they are paying for the same game repeatedly.
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| I don't even know what war this is anymore! |
Achievements for the game are pretty straight-forward. Most of them are story-related and are unlocked by completing the game. Others are unlocked by completing the game on Veteran. There are a number of collectible items strewn throughout the levels which reward their discoverer with achievements as well. Random tasks, such as kill 5 enemies with one grenade, and Spec Ops/Survival challenges round out the list.
Rants about personal opinions aside, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a quite decent game. I honestly can't bear to lower its score just based on the repetitive nature of the series in general. As I said, the single player really does a great job of feeling like an intense action movie due to its set-pieces and mission structure. The Spec Ops and Survival modes add some longevity to what would otherwise be too short of a game, and the multiplayer, while it hasn't changed much, is still one of the best multiplayer games on the market, and will last fans for hours upon hours.
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