Customer Reviews

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

5 star:		(272)
4 star:		(137)
3 star:		(113)
2 star:		(93)
1 star:		(129)

 

 

Let me just start by saying this is only a review of the online play after a few hours logged in. I will come back and update more as I log more hours online.

Up front, was very disappointed in the presentation of the game. Graphics I thought came up very short. I actually think they took a step back in the before/between game presentation. Everything is very cold and nothing jumps out at you. I expected to be impressed before even getting into the game but I wasn't but then again it's not the gameplay so I can get passed that. The emblems and banners were different but looked cheesy compared to Black Ops. The maps were pretty cool but once again the graphics didn't impress. The cars looked cartoonish to me. But this may not be important to you as is it to me.

What is up with the voices of the players in multiplayer? Everyone sounds very tinny and I know it's not my headset because I have not experienced this in Black Ops or Battlefield. It's almost like they sacrificed voice quality for improved bandwidth for gameplay. I asked others I was playing with if they were experiencing the same thing and they said they were.

The online gameplay was laggy. I am going to give this a pass and attribute it to the first day of online play and likely a high traffic experience. It was really tough to play. For example, while playing Headquarters, I shot someone 5 times with a shotgun at close range only to have them kill me. Watching the replay from their vantage point right after, It showed me only getting off 2 shots cleanly while dying as a third shot was being fired. A 2 shot lag was a bit much. And don't say it's my connection as I have a high dedicated bandwidth connection. I will give this a pass for now since it was day 1.

One thing I did like a lot about Black Ops was that you could buy attachments and equipment early on which sort of evened the playing field a bit as opposed to having to rank up and earn the right to these things. Well it's back to the latter again.

Some of the new killstreaks are pretty cool. I especially like the attack drone (I think that's what it's called) which could be great for Headquarters games. But why do we have to unlock these for each different class we setup?? UGH!

Game invites took a step back as well. Remember in Black Ops how you could go to your friends list and just hit "select" to invite them? Well, no more! Not sure why they didn't adapt this into this release.

I used to be an Infinity Ward fan and always thought they put out a better product than Treyarch. I think the tables have turned. I am not alone on this either. Everyone I played with last night that was mic'd up agreed with me that Black Ops is a better online experience except for one person that liked this game better.

Who knows. I might feel differently the more I play it but as of right now, I may spend more time playing Battlefield 3 and Black Ops than MW3.

**Update**

I've given it another week and I have not changed my opinion of the game. I am not sure if I am the only one experiencing this issue but this game lags terribly. I did not have, and still do not have these issues on any other FPS game including all of the previous CoD releases or the Battlefield games. On almost every match, I am seeing the game freeze for a split second then jump forward. It doesn't happen in the beginning of games, only when the action picks up so I am left to believe that the game is coded in such a way that it's being overloaded with data at the host. I also believe this to be the case because in one game I was in, my game aborted and I got an "out of memory" error on my screen. What is that?? Never seen that happen before on any other game. I've seen less of this on the smaller tactical games where the number of players are kept to 6-8.

I still have not got into the campaign but think I will spend most of my time there since I cannot tolerate the multiplayer any longer. I did however play the Survivor mode and really liked that a lot. It actually might be the best part of this game.

I still stand by my rating.

**Update**

Ok so I played the game off and on for about a month and I got to be honest, my feelings have not changed. The lag issue is not as bad as it was the first week the game was out but there is still noticeable lag. Let's face it....when playing online there has to be some aspect of lag and I completely accept that but I don't know why it's so much worse in this game than it was in other CoD releases. For me, it seems for the most part, the online games start ok with the lag not being that bad in the opening seconds, but as each match progresses it starts to become more noticeable. I am not sure if this is a memory issue or not but it seems the more action that is taking place, the more I notice the lag issue. I have not been back online in a few weeks, which is a CoD record for me. I've actually been online enjoying the BF3 multiplayer much more but that's not for this review.

Because of my frustrations with the online multiplayer performance, I turned to the single player campaign. I had no issues with the performance of the game in this mode, nor did I expect to. The single player campaign was actually pretty easy even on Veteran difficulty. Now I am just going back and completing the trophies to close it out.

Overall....the feeling is still the same and my rating will stick. I don't think it's a bad game but I expected more, performance wise and also in terms of creativity. I don't think this game delivers but it's just my opinion. ;)

Let's be honest, this game is very similar to MW2 and CODBO (more so MW2). However, the gameplay in both multiplayer and single player modes is smooth and exciting. Some multi-player improvements I appreciate - noobtubes have been nerfed and last stand is only a death perk. Some bads - sniping seems too easy in this game and getting into a match can take quite a while (hoping this gets patched soon).

I have owned all the call of duty titles, and I feel that this one fell way short. The single player is entertaining as usual, but the multiplayer, which is why most people get the game is a step in the wrong direction. The multiplayer maps are very unimaginative, just a bunch of buildings with little creativity compared to other COD titles. Weapons are basically the same but with more options. The gameplay is the worst yet. I have a 35MBPs connection with a 35ms ping to the closest major city yet each game I play is laggy as heck and many games I get booted due to server connectivity. You would think that they would have servers all over to accomidate all the users across the US! I still think due to poor online gameplay and lack of map creativity this is near the bottom of COD titles.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 starts with Russia continuing its War with the United States, and expands through the UK, Germany, and France. You play missions in Africa as well, and both Soap and Price are back for the finale, but the story is not as good as it could be. This game seems like it suffers from, "Ok, Modern Warfare 2 was great, what can we do to continue that success?...Uh..." The story, compared to the first two Modern Warfare games is garbage, not engrossing, and, after playing for three hours, I turned it off and went back to playing Akham City. In comparison to the previous games, the weapons, graphic, sounds, control mechanic, and characters are the same (minus those killed off). The storyline is less stellar, the soundtrack is not as phenomenal, and the voice acting, while decent, can't match upto the likes of Keith David from the last game. Its almost as if Infinity Ward couldn't figure out how they wanted to end this story so they spent three days in a think-tank with five gallons of coffee and pulled a series of boring levels out of their orfices. If you're a multiplayer fan from the last game, then you'll like this one, but might as well just stick with MW2 or Black Ops....I spent $60 to get it the day of release, and I feel like I got ripped off.

Before all the disgruntled fan-boys accost me, try and hear what I am going to say. This is a recycled version of MW2 and it appears that when the majority of the Infinity Ward studio left the new people had no new ideas to implement, so they took what was already there. This is similar with what happened to the Madden franchise. They got the exclusive rights and now they recycle the same lousy game over and over again every year. There is nothing new or innovative about this game. This "effort" was nothing more than a shallow way to make a buck and insult the consumer's intelligence. The sycophants will eat it up and try to justify their purchase however the objective player will indeed concede that this is not what should be expected after two years and constant hype of what is supposed to be "the most anticipated game of all time...".

***UPDATE (11/18/11)***

After playing this in MP mode and comparing it to prior releases I can honestly say visually this even looks worse than its predecessors. The maps are horrible, flat, congested mazes with no unique features. The colors are drab and there is a real challenge trying to spot players afar because of how dull everything is. Heck even opposing teams look exactly the same with that dull grey color for all players unless you are up close and personal. I'm probably going to trade this in for something else. Having never played any of the Battlefield titles I might give #3 a chance but for all I know it could be just as bad. Save your money and don't buy this game. Put your money towards something else like Uncharted 3 or Arkham City.

To say I had high hopes for this game would be a lie. However, I did at least expect to see a repeat of MW2 and regretably it is not that. There are similarities the bare bones are the same but you can tell they tried too hard to change just enough to make it appear new.

-Multiplayer

I loved Black Ops and MW2 it was addictive and challenging but they simply ruined MP with this game. For starters I'm not terrible at the previous COD titles I'm not the best but i held my own. This game is all about camping it might as well just have a bunch of RV's and Tents set up. A good summary of your average match is this: 1-2 people hide in some random corner near an objective and kill you and everyone else trying to enjoy the game and not just try and level up. After they killed enough people they get a ridiculous amount of easy kill streaks and it feels like the place is raining fire. You spawn your killed before taking a step repeat that until the round is over and your looking at 6 kills and 20 something deaths. I know it isnt BF3 its not a "tactical" shooter its run and gun but there needs to be some level of tactics in a military shooter. The worst thing they did was the new kill streak support package where you die but your kill streak keeps going kinda ruins the idea of kill streak but live your dream. I quit playing this game after a couple of hours i was so frustrated.

-Campaign

I have no complaints about the campaign i thought it was pretty good you can complain all you want that its the same thing as the last games but when your playing a continous story thats kind of the idea why would you make some radical new story if you havent finished the first story? Its the same as assasins creed revelations but no one complains about that, that literally is the same story with different objects.

-Summary

I know this review wont matter everyone will buy it no matter what because of brand loyalty but just read and heed and know what your getting. Don't have some fantasic hopes of Black Ops or MW2 just know what your getting.

I have been an avid FPS gamer for some time now. From the first Call of Duty, to the old school Medal of Honor PS2 games. I enjoy Battlefield, Killzone, and Call of Duty. Much different styles of first person shooters. Unlike most, I enjoyed Modern Warfare 2 and extremely loved Black Ops, though made by a different studio.

Those trying to compare Modern Warfare to Battlefield don't understand a thing about games or shooters. You cannot compare two totally different styles of games and expect it to all match up.

I wasn't hyped or excited about Modern Warfare 3, as I didn't pre-order till 1 week before release.

This game had a lot of potential. Granted, I have not played a single moment of the single player campaign, so my review will be solely directed toward Multiplayer, as most people only buy this game for that aspect.

One of the big issues I have, like many others is the map variety. They seem so..small. Compared to previous Call of Duty games, these are so cramped and terribly small. I believe the lack of Infinity Ward's core group really crippled this games multiplayer abilities. There are so many levels to the maps, in such tight spaces it is almost annoying to play. There aren't many instances you can flank enemies, so you are forced to fight for small narrow choke points that are terrible.

I imagine they will release new maps via DLC, but sadly I don't think this will please to many people. Why couldn't they have went back to the drawing board, created lushes open world maps, like Modern Warfare 3 and Black Ops...instead you have an arcade style shooter that isn't that fun.

Granted, the class leveling is amazing, as well as the new point streaks. Those are great and make the game totally different and fresh. No longer is Call of Duty putting SO much emphasis on Kills/Deaths, but more of an objective based game. I hope they continue to build on this as Call of Duty evolves. I would like to see more of this.

My BIG issue, and why I had to give this 2 stars is the terrible connection between friends. I cannot play with my friends that I live with because Modern Warfare has issues with routers, and more than 1 game system playing on it with this game (in a party) on Xbox of PS3. I can play fine in different games, but whenever trying to connect or play with one another, it times out and will not allow it to happen.

I have searched the web for fixes, and noticed a lot of the community is having the same issue. I have tried the old open specific ports for one console, while making the other DMZ..etc etc. To no avail has this helped. Many have suggested having another ISP. That would mean paying for two ISP providers to play 1 single game that isn't that great to begin with. There is no easy or clear fix to this, as they seem not to care about this issue.

It's rather sad, that I can play with my household on any other game on any other console, but Modern Warfare seems to give me so many problems. I spent days trying to fix this issue, with no avail.

I will be trading this game in for Skyrim. The is the worst Call of Duty game to date..at least I have Black Ops, Modern Warfare 2 and Battlefield 3 to fall back on ;)

I would not recommend this game, to anyone.

I tried really hard to like this game but I just don't. I played CoD4, WaW, MW2, and Black Ops and thought they were all good at the time, but this game is just not fun. I probably played about 15 games total and just didn't have fun at all. Surprisingly enough, Black Ops is loads more fun than this game.

I know there are many out there who will enjoy the game and i'm just one person of the few who don't like it, but I just had to write this review. I cannot believe how annoying and not fun this game is. I only wish I could go back in time and not buy the game. CoD games seem to just be getting milked out every year.. it's just the same thing over and over but gets worse every time.

I like Battlefield 3 a lot more. And I am not a BF fanboy. I actually hated Bad Company 2 with a passion and played MW2 instead, but this time around BF3 is better than MW3 BY A HUGE MARGIN.

If you are like me and CoD games seem to get boring within the first 2 months or so, then TRUST ME and don't buy this game. I can't believe it didn't even last for 2 hours for me.

Ive been at this game for a bit but just cant get into it for some reason... i find it boring and very aged common let freshen up the call of duty series for god sake... out with the old in with the new... his is old stuff repackaged

Ignoring the story line, you'd swear you put in MW2 by mistake. It's basically the same game with some adjustments. If you LOVED LOVED LOVED MW2, you'll wonder why you had to buy this one because it's the same as the last one-- that's how I felt at least. Don't get me wrong, I like it. I just can't figure out why, given that I loved MW2, this game feels so bland. I'd recommend waiting for the price to come down before purchasing. Do purchase. I'm just saying wait a bit as you aren't missing much.