Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 review

After last year’s Black Ops explosively covered the Cold War, 2011’s obligatory Call of Duty game returns to the present day for a third instalment of Modern Warfare. With series creators Infinity Ward back at the helm, MW3 treads familiar ground with its unique spin on global counter-terrorism, an action-packed campaign and intense multiplayer action.

Picking up right where Modern Warfare 2 left off, MW3 begins with a grievously-injured Soap MacTavish and an emergency evacuation from a sandstorm. After that, it’s typical Call of Duty all the way – a rollercoaster ride from fire fight to fire fight with huge explosions, awesome set-pieces, taciturn US Special Forces and sarcastic SAS.

The run-and-gun mechanics have barely changed, with the emphasis still very much on inching forward; as with previous Call of Duty games, enemies keep spawning until you’ve pushed past a certain point. As most of the missions have a sense of urgency (find the hostage, chase the buy guy and so on) this doesn’t feel too forced, but your comrades’ constant shouts of “we’ve got to keep moving!” begins to grate after a while.

There have been some tweaks to the formula – support units such as Predator drones and AC-130 gunships are now more smoothly integrated into the action. In some missions your character can reach some dug-in enemy troops, take cover and whip out a laptop to call in a drone strike or toss a smoke marker to show the Air Force where to bring the rain. Even missions where you control the guns of an AC-130 to support ground troops flow seamlessly between controlling airborne howitzers and running with the grunts on the ground – there’s even a picture-in-picture feed from the infantry to keep you in the action.

The variety is welcome, the trademark globe-trotting locations and astonishingly visceral action scenes are what really draws you in. The plot makes more sense than MW2’s quagmire, but really acts as an excuse to fly all over the world making things go boom. Highlights are an assault on a Russian submarine complete with jaw-dropping speedboat escape, chasing a Tube train through London and assaulting a Czech castle by night, but the whole game is one astonishingly exciting thrill ride. Its six hour length is virtually standard fare for a modern Call of Duty title, but also acts as the perfect transition to the multiplayer portion of the game.

Continuing the Call of Duty tradition of instantly gratifying persistent weapon, perk and kill-streak unlocks, Modern Warfare 3’s multiplayer is as fast paced as ever. Infinity Ward has done well to keep the action intense, yet still address the arguably imbalanced Modern Warfare 2 experience. XP is now earned for more than just scoring kills – teamwork and objective-based play is encouraged through the new point streak and strike package system.

Traditional kill-streaks still remain in the form of the Assault strike package – offensive abilities that grow in power as you accumulate more points, but reset on death. The support strike package won’t reset if you die, but its unlocks are almost all defensive actions such as UAVs or radar jammers. The final strike package is Specialist, which unlocks extra perks rather than kill-streaks. You earn one for every two kills up to six, then unlock every single perk at eight.

A large collection of military hardware, both old and new, is available to inflict pain on your enemies, but these two have undergone some revisions. You now don’t have to complete specific challenges to earn weapon attachments – instead, every gun has its own weapon level that unlocks camouflage patterns, attachments and proficiencies as you use it. The splash damage from the notorious under-slung grenade launchers has been greatly reduced, which has already led to a lack of n00b-tubers online.

We have our concerns about multiplayer; dedicated servers return, having been sorely missed in Modern Warfare 2, but only for non-ranked games – you’ll still need to use the lag-prone peer-to-peer IWnet system if you want to level up. The PC version also currently lacks the COD Elite stat-tracking system available to console gamers, although this is apparently still planned for release in the future. However, even with these issues, it’s still just as fast-paced and addictive as it was in previous games.

If you find learning the 16 new maps while under heavy fire from hordes of elite teens a bit of a challenge, the new Survival mode lets you play against waves of AI enemies instead. Enemies spawn across each map and converge on your position, starting as poorly armed militia, but progressing into more capable foes such as suicide bombers, attack dogs and armoured juggernauts. Thankfully your mini map always works here, so you know where they are coming from.

Defeating enemies and completing spot challenges earns cash, which can be spent on weapons, ammo, explosives, body armour and air support. Most are copied from the multiplayer, but some are Survival-specific such as the computer-controlled Delta Force squad.

Survival can be played solo, but is far more fun with a wingman online. It’s incredibly addictive, as working out which weapons and tactics work best on which maps becomes key to staying alive. It also has its own experience point and levelling system, starting you with a meagre arsenal that expands as you play. It’s great stuff, which has quickly become a lunchtime favourite in the office.

With its finely-tweaked multiplayer, returning Spec Ops missions and the addition of the excellent Survival mode, there’s plenty to Modern Warfare 3 beyond its short campaign. Whether you intend to take it online or not, there’s more than enough here to justify the price of entry. Don’t buy it expecting innovation, as little has changed in terms of gameplay, but Modern Warfare 3 still has everything needed to set pulses racing.