It’s a rehash, a remix, a remake. The same as the last one which was the same as the one before it. Not visceral enough, not gritty enough, not powerful enough. The graphics are rubbish, the AI is rubbish, the sound is disastrous. And don’t get me started on the plot: risible, re-rinsed nonsense that wouldn’t satisfy even the most ADD-riddled minds.
Right?
Well, wrong. Despite long-standing, enduring preconceptions that it would be exactly as I outlined above and the overwhelming, unshakeable thought that I was already going into this determined not to enjoy what was left of Infinity Ward’s latest, I actually came away thinking ‘you know what?, that was pretty good.’
[drop]Not ground shattering, not earth moving, not genre-defining. But pretty good. I mean, let’s be honest, there’s a core market out there hungry for more Modern Warfare and after nukes and rampaging Russians in the last two the developers had to up their game to keep people crowded around the water cooler talking about the key stand-out moments.And there’s a few.
Yes, I actually laughed out loud when I went sliding down a hill on my arse, and – physically – yawned when I was steering a little droid around shooting at dots in the distance, but MW3 is more than the sum of its parts because, looking back, the fairly dull first act is really only there to set the scene and remind you of lots of bits of previous games, if not always intentionally.
Getting shot at the end of a mission I’ve slogged my way through was interesting in the last game. This time, it’s just annoying. It doesn’t make the bad guy in the cheap suit any more threatening because – get this – I already wasted about a hundred of his buddies (and at not nearly such close range) but it re-introduced the character and in a game desperate to show off some exposition, it just about works.
It’s a real mess of a plot, mind. I lost track how many times I was supposed to be this guy or that guy and why this guy and that guy were doing what they were doing, and every time the level structure switches you out to someone else at the end of the section (or in the case of one mission, during the actual level) it’s disorientating and confusing.
I can hardly remember when my own birthday is, don’t expect me to remember half a dozen key protagonists barely introduced and almost certainly going to die a grizzly death, too.
[drop2]But there I was, swapping weapons, lobbing grenades and sprinting for cover. I can obediently follow a massive white ‘FOLLOW’ sign like the best of them and if I zoom in the gun snaps to the nearest enemy – both of which are most handy because it means I don’t need to think, just do, and stuff can come at me all it wants.I thought the graphics were pretty good, too. Yes, I’m hugely grateful that it’s still running at sixty frames per second and couldn’t care less whether it’s using up every pixel my TV is offering, but despite The Internet moaning that the game reuses assets and doesn’t have a unique visage for every single character I don’t really care – it’s snappy, slick and – especially during a rather sudden sand storm – rather splendid to gaze upon.
So forget the haters. MW3 isn’t anything sophisticated or even particularly deep, but it’s exactly what I thought it would be and – I assume – that’s why it has sold so well. People wanted more, and they got more, and the developers certainly delivered on that score. It’s certainly more interesting than Battlefield 3, which tried so hard to ape CoD but was more bothered about stabbing rats.
I had fun. I can’t really remember what happened and the flashbacks that inferred one of the myriad of player characters was something overarching and rather important felt incredibly retconned (I did a mini-sick in celebration of the amazing writing) – but I left the game thinking ‘yes, that was a blast’.
Of course, I’ve not played multiplayer. That’s bound to be rubbish.
You can read our full reviews of MW3 here (single player) and here (multiplayer).
Michael
@nofi Is that a trick question?!!?
C_S15
MW3 is definitely a game for the fans of the CoD series (Which makes it puzzling how it sold more than it’s previous iterations). You only need to have watched when Robert Bowling announced the series of changes (Yes, I said changes, don’t be an idiot) to MW3 and seen the applause that came from it to know that was the case.
They implemented the changes the fans wanted (mostly) and have wanted from CoD4 all the way to Black Ops.
Single player-wise, the throwbacks really held with me. Captain Macmillan working at the SAS, the airport mission, the nuke going off, Price’s snipe on Zakhaev all seen through the eyes of Yuri (and therefore, another perspective) served as a solid reminder of some of the series’ high points and that it really has truly been a great trilogy.
And yes, I like brackets.
JohnnyBoy
I haven’t played MW3 or BF3 yet but I know what I’ll be getting when I do get round to it… An enjoyable few hours of blowing stuff up, without having to switch my brain on just like the previous games in the series. And sometimes that is exactly what I want from a game. It doesn’t have to be innovative, genre-defining, etc – just enjoyable.
If I want something less ‘Michael Bay’ I’ll play Portal 2, Flower or other more cerebral games.
I think COD could do with a new engine, but when stuff is exploding and you’re shooting hundreds of enemies I’m not really looking too deeply at textures and counting pixels.
Grey_Ghost13
I enjoyed MW3. Ignored the hype before hand and went in expecting more of the same, it’s the third in the series what more could people expect? Yes there were terrible plot lines and the story was all over the place. And how many times can Captain Price fall out of a helicopter / boat / any vehicle and survive so many times!
*MW2 and MW3 Spoilers*
Playing MW2’s story I had the feeling this is epic, was shocked at the twist, went wow they did that, when they killed off Ghost and the other characters and realy enjoyed the final scenes, the struggle and the knife throw was nice.
Back onto MW3’s story, I enjoyed it, final level with the juggernaut suits was ace and the way it ended with Price lighting a big fat cigar was a nice touch. I was as shocked when they killed off Soap as I when Ghost was killed in MW2. This time it was more of a, oh finally he’s dead!
*Spoilers end*
But I enjoyed it. It will be interesting to see what happens with IW & Sledgehammers next game as I think MW3 finishes off this story ark in a good way and the oportunity to now start a fresh story and innovate with the next game is availiable.
Oh and the auto aiming, I hate it. even with it switched off it’s still there, even in MP! grrrr, buts that my only gripe really.
SpikeyMikey23
I’m just going to Highlight that there are MASSIVE SPOILERS IN ^^^ THE ABOVE COMMENT (just so you don’t get abused :D )
Grey_Ghost13
I tried putting the *spoilers* comments in as much as possible! Maybe should have made them caps and stand out a bit more.
AG2297
Just made the spoiler warnings stand out a bit more.
Grey_Ghost13
Thank you AG2297!!! I’ll try harder next time.
Michael
The article is NOT poorly written. It’s pretty darn eloquent, in fact.
kjkg
Exactly. There is a difference between “poorly written” and “not to my taste”. This most definitely does not fall in the first category no matter how much someone wants it to.
Boomshanks
I actually really like this article. It sums up quite nicely how everything surrounding MW3 is going and how the game itself actually is. Liked this better than the review. Can’t say I agree with the BF3 line though.
gazzagb
Great article, almost sums up why I love COD so much. The SP in the MW games is totally griping, it’s pure, not stop action, topped with a great (but ridiculous) story line that I really enjoy. You need to be pretty on the ball to follow the story, mainly because you are jumping from one character to another, and switching between multiple locations going after different objectives/targets. If you follow the game, I find that the story was totally gripping, right up until the very end, although it was predictable, there were still some surprises. Hence why I love the series so much, IW do a better job at telling a gripping storyline that most other Devs do that create adventure games.
The game only gets so much hate because it is so popular, just the same as Justin Beiber. Most people write off the game without even playing it. But the way I see it, it’s there loss. I’m fine with people that play the game and decide they don’t like it, the fast paced action isn’t for everyone, but I don’t like the way people criticise it without even giving it a go.
djhsecondnature
“The game only gets so much hate because it is so popular” – I detest this argument. It’s the same argument that you can’t make a negative comment against Nintendo without being a Ninty-hater. It’s easy to see the flaws in CoD and whilst a lot of people do go overthetop with it, it’s not hated because it is popular.
gazzagb
Most of the anti-COD comments you see don’t have any valid point, they just don’t like COD because it’s popular, and hate Activison because they’re a successful business.
There are flaws in COD – as someone who plays the games a lot, of course I notice them, but every game has flaws, and people seem to make out that any issue in a COD game is game breaking.
djhsecondnature
It’s the same as with Justin Beiber, people don’t hate him because he is popular. They don’t like him/his music and he just draws more attention because of his popularity.
The same is with CoD. Yes you will get idiots, but that is the case with everything. It will gather more attention because of it’s popularity, but it is (this time around) much more flawed than previously and ‘most’ of the arguments raised are not unreasonable (unlike some raised at Skyward Sword…).
And yes, every game does have flaws, but pointing them out neither makes you a CoD-hater, nor its competitions fanboy (in this case BF3). If someone says, “CoD is shit because you shoot people”, then yes, that is ridiculous; but claiming that it’s a tried and tested formula that is now somewhat dull is not an outrageous claim.
Forrest_01
Do my eyes deceive me?? Was MW3 just compared to Justin Bieber???
That’s going too far i feel. You say you love CoD, & then compare it to THAT?? How could you?
Grey_Ghost13
I dropped my coffee reading that comparison. Please, please do not compare Justin Beiber to games, ever again, ever!
fattyuk
good article! Nail on the head from.
GregHorrorShow
I would class myself as a ‘Battlefield fanboy’ in so far as I much prefer the Battlefield series but I have to say I agree with Nofi. Granted I’m only 3/4 of the way through the campaign but I much prefer it to BF3’s single player.
Not saying BF3’s was bad, just pretty average.
This is the best COD campaign I’ve played (only played MW2 and Black Ops).
FireasBall
According to the pro cod4 player Mazarini, MW3 is the same shiat as mw2 and black ops, just abit rewamped
ScottW-1976
Might be worth saving the post above as the perfect example of what a “troll” is…
bunimomike
That might be true but the opinion of someone who’s not even a member of this site is a bit useless.
david24
that’s a very interesting comment…
Forrest_01
According to my next door neighbour, he has full blown two-way conversations about the credit crunch with his dog.
Doesn’t necessarily make it true.
C_S15
Makes you wonder how pro this guy actually is if he can’t see the differences. There are plenty between MW2 and 3 but the differences the 2 have compared to Black Ops are extraordinary.