Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

About 4 years ago, Infinity Ward developed what would become one of the best first person shooters of the decade. Snap back to today, and alot has changed. The line-up at Infinity Ward has been changed, and development for their latest game has been shared between them and Sledgehammer games, with Raven Software assisting. The FPS market has been flooded with greyish brown, gritty war games, so does Modern Warfare 3 have what it takes to hit that same high mark as 4 years earlier? Read on to find out!

STORY
Modern Warfare 3 begins right after the cliffhanger ending of MW2; so SPOILER WARNING!
The world is in turmoil after the Russian/American war in MW2 escalates into a full blown world war. Vladimir Makarov is still at large after beginning the conflict, and is using his resources to launch a series of terrorist attacks, while Soap and Price begin gathering funds to launch a counter attack to clear their names as public enemies.

The parts of the campaign that focus on Soap and Price kind of require you to have at least played MW2, if not CoD4: MW. If you're looking to just pick up and play, the whole World War 3 premise may be confusing for you. If you've experienced, and enjoyed the Modern Warfare campaigns before, however, then MW3 is more of the same over the top, summer blockbuster action you might expect.

The story may be out there, and have a fair few plotholes, but it could never be called boring.

PRESENTATION
While the graphics may not be as slick, or the lighting effects not as amazing as *other* games in the FPS market right now, Modern Warfare 3 runs at a smooth 60 frames per second, all the time, without exception. I've seen very few games run so well, despite the amount of craziness going on in a typical firefight in MW3.

The guns and explosions sound powerful, and really draw you into the experience. The soundtrack is suitably fast paced and loud; helping to raise the adrenaline levels. Voice actors for Soap and Price return, and while the supporting cast does great work with what they're given, no one, aside from Kevin McKidd and Billy Murray redally shine.
Timothy Olyphant excels surprisingly well as Delta squadmate Grinch, but doesn't have many lines with which to show this off.

GAMEPLAY
The strong CoD gameplay that we all know and love is most definitely back, just as we all remember it. The campaign remains as fast paced as ever, and if anything, the set pieces are even more spectacular than ever before. You'll be boarding submarines in the New York harbour, fighting down Wall Street, fighting through african slums and flying through the London underground into oncoming trains on the back of Ute's.

The core gameplay hasn't changed all that much, but the enemy AI seems more ferocious than ever. There's also some very cool new weapon attachments, including hybrid scopes and short range scopes for assault rifles and sniper rifles respectively. These attachments really open up another level of tactical playing.

MULTIPLAYER GAMEPLAY
Since the single player campaign has remained largely untouched in terms of gameplay, I figured I would talk about the multiplayer side of things for a while. The Perks and weapon unlocks return from previous games but with some changes. The CoD points from Black Ops have disappeared, and Pro perks require less annoying challenges to complete. The unlocking process seems more simple and less annoying than last time.

Weapons now level up independantly from players, and with each level comes new attachments, weapon specific perks and skins. This all helps with the personalization of the multiplayer, but the lack of customizable emblems, and gun tags makes it feel less personal than the last CoD game.

REPLAYABILITY
When you look at the single player campaign of CoD, you're getting 8 hours of gameplay, max. However, add in the copious amounts of multiplayer there to enjoy as well as the return of the Co-op "Special Ops" missions; which now includes a survival mode.

The survival mode, might I add, is a surprisingly large amount of fun, and a good way to learn the multiplayer maps.

OVERVIEW
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is exactly what CoD fans have been waiting for. It's fast paced, over the top and contains solid gameplay; all the while never being *too* serious, being more of an A-Team sort of movie feeling game as opposed to a Black Hawk Down.

The multiplayer is as addictive as ever, and while it isn't as team based as other games on the market, it's certainly more pure fun. On top of that are the fun, if extremely challenging Spec Ops levels. If you're a fan of the series, you'll love MW3 as much as any other CoD game.