I was excited to dive into Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III finally. The Call of Duty franchise has a special place in my heart, having spent an extraordinary amount of time playing games like Modern Warfare II, Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops 2, and Infinite Warfare. It’s not just the multiplayer modes either, as the campaign was the first thing I’d do before getting online with the squad.
While I do feel that the game should be able to stand up on the campaign without the multiplayer, these days, it’s just not the same, especially in this genre of game. With that in mind, the reboot of Modern Warfare III became available a few days ago, so I put it to the test to see if nostalgia came flooding back or if it is a new animal entirely.
CAMPAIGN
As I mentioned above, I always go for the campaign first in games like Call of Duty and having played the original campaign from the 2011 release quite extensively, I expected more of the same, and I could not have been more wrong, and it’s not a bad thing.
Modern Warfare III’s campaign story is entirely new compared to the original release and builds on the campaign from 2022’s Modern Warfare II. The opening mission sees the players infiltrating a prison with the purpose of breaking Vladimir Makarov out. The mission itself is titled Operation 627, which in itself is a fun Easter Egg for fans of the original Modern Warfare II release as it is the prisoner number of main character John Price when he is held in the mission called The Gulag.
“All of your favourite multiplayer game modes are back in Modern Warfare III.“
The campaign that follows is the team from Task Force 141 (Price, MacTavish, Ghost, and Gaz) and others trying to stop Makarov from beginning World War 3 (in a nutshell). It does have to be said: the campaign feels a little short. When all was said and done, it took me about 7 hours to complete it on Regular difficulty, with some headaches here and there.
One aspect I really enjoy about this game’s campaign is that the missions provide a good balance of both linear and open-ended levels. Some missions take place in big, open maps that let you choose your own path and approach the objectives however you want. But other levels are more linear, with just one set route you need to follow.
For example, there’s this one mission where your goal is to defuse a bunch of bombs scattered around the area. Rather than forcing you to go after the bombs in a predetermined order, you get to decide which ones to prioritize and which path to take. It’s nice to see the team mix these concepts up. It shows the team’s care for the concept, and variety keeps things interesting!
Early in the campaign, there is a mission that takes place in a freight/shipping yard, and it immediately gave me Battlefield 2042 vibes, as it felt eerily similar to its EA counterpart. It’s things like this that make me wish for more development time to make the environments unique and fluid. Unfortunately, it took me out of the immersion of this mission, and even though the rest of the campaign had no similar issues, this one stuck out to me.
A lot happens quickly in the Modern Warfare III campaign, and it is clear that this feels more like an add-on than a full-fledged campaign. Not that the campaign is necessarily bad, but a bit more development time and expansion could have seen this story get a lot more love.
Multiplayer
This is what many Call of Duty fans have been waiting to dive into since Modern Warfare III was announced as a full release. There are 16 fan-favourite maps from that 2009 game that have been brought back for this new release. The developers gave all the maps some graphical updates and tweaks to make them play well with the new gameplay. It’s awesome to revisit these classic maps and see them looking better than ever.
The only bummer is that a few of the remastered maps aren’t available yet when I’m playing online. Activision has temporarily removed some maps because they are still working out issues with the spawn points and stuff. I’m hoping they fix those up soon so I can play all the classic maps. But for now, it’s still fun to jump into the available remastered maps and get a hit of nostalgia. Replaying these old maps with new graphics really takes me back!
“First things first, Modern Warfare III’s campaign story itself is a entirely new story from the original release and builds on the campaign of Modern Warfare II that released in 2022.”
That being said, maps like Derail (which is my all-time favourite due to the sniper capabilities it offers) and Wasteland are still here and are just as fun as ever. I will say that the system in place to detect inactivity during the game is a little flawed. As I mentioned a moment ago, I like to play as a sniper and as such, prefer to lay down in one isolated spot across the map and pick people off, as a sniper does traditionally. I found that even though I was taking shots and looking around, I would get booted from the match due to inactivity. They’ve effectively removed the ability to be a sniper proper.
All of your favourite multiplayer game modes are back in Modern Warfare III. Modes like Kill Confirmed, Hardpoint, TDM, and Search and Destroy are all here to be enjoyed and are well-populated. Personally, I set my Quickplay filter to include TDM, Kill Confirmed and Hardpoint as those are my favourite of ones available in the Quickplay. I also play hardcore Kill Confirmed, but I have to go to the dedicated playlist for that.
Zombies
The Call of Duty games I enjoyed during the late 2000s-early 2010s were all Infinity Ward-developed games. Games like Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3, etc., received far more game time from me than their Treyarch counterparts like Black Ops, Black Ops 2, etc. As a result, I never really got into the PvE Zombies mode. I was always far more interested in playing against real players in the MP section.
The new Zombies mode in Modern Warfare 3 called Operation Deadbolt is a really cool change of pace. Instead of the usual smaller zombie maps we’ve seen, this one is set in a massive open-world map, the biggest I’ve ever had in COD Zombies! It’s based on the Warzone map Urzikstan, and you can freely explore this vast environment.
I like how this new open approach adds a survival element that’s different from the classic zombie formula. In the past games, you’d be trapped repairing doors and windows while fighting off waves of zombies. But now you can choose where to go, and there’s more freedom to survive how you want.
The map is divided into different threat zones, almost like difficulty levels. The low-threat areas have more docile zombies that are easier to take down. But work your way up to the high-threat zones, and you’ll find way more aggressive and tough zombies to battle.
It feels like you’re progressing through rounds like in classic zombies, except in an open world. I think moving to an open world is a fantastic change that breathes new life into Zombies. I can’t wait to dive back in, squad up, and battle the undead hordes on this massive new map.
There are a ton of objectives to complete, contracts, and a massive map to explore. I actually really enjoyed playing Zombies for the time that I spent with it. I will say that I need to play it with people I know. Having jumped into a few matches with randoms, I was left on my own almost immediately as none of the people in the lobby had mics to communicate with or receive any sort of assistance when I got promptly overwhelmed by zombies upon taking and finding my first Contract.
“I enjoyed playing Modern Warfare III, in spite of the controversial campaign length.”
With the open map and interesting objectives, I will definitely be going back to Zombies when I can find a squad to run with, as the gameplay is responsive, and the map is fun to explore. I had a Fallout 4 moment when I explored in the wrong direction once and wound up finding a very powerful zombie that made quick work of me, so having reliable reinforcements is a big asset.
Overall
I’ll be honest: I had a blast playing Modern Warfare III, even though some folks complained the campaign was too short. Sure, the developers probably could’ve taken more time to extend the story experience. But it makes sense why it ended up being a shorter game when you consider it was initially planned as DLC for Modern Warfare II. The real issue is that Activision is charging a full AAA price, especially with a campaign that only takes 5-7 hours to finish if you mainline the story. That’s super quick, even for Call of Duty.
Modern Warfare III offers a solid, if brief, single-player campaign along with the familiar, well-rounded multiplayer mode that the series is known for. The revamped Zombies mode also adds some fresh fun. I found the campaign and its story enjoyable; I wish there were more of it! The characters felt familiar yet new, allowing for the franchise to grow. Even though it’s on the short side, Modern Warfare III provides a solid re-introduction to the Call of Duty series for a new generation of first-person shooter fans.
Ultimately, for me it comes down to replayability; how much will I play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III to justify the price? And my answer is that I expect to play this game a lot over the next few months. I’ve spoken to some of the team, and they’ll be loading up in the next few days before our Gran Turismo 7 league starts in the spring. So, if you can justify the replay value, Modern Warfare III may be worth it, but for anyone else, I would probably wait for the prices to come down closer to the holidays.
