Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 [Download]

by Activision

Product Details

• Downloading: Currently, this item is available only to customers located in the United States and who have a U.S. billing address.
• Note: Gifting is not available for this item.
• ASIN: B0060CSORI
• Release Date: November 4, 2011
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (324 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,452 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #87 in Video Games > PC Games > Games > Action > Shooter

Product Description

Platform: PC Download | Edition: Standard

From the Manufacturer

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is First-person Shooter rooted in a fictional, but ultra realistic near-future conflict of mostly American forces with those of the Russian Federation around the globe. The third installment in the Modern Warfare branch of the Call of Duty franchise, Modern Warfare 3 features a heavy focus on multiplayer gameplay which includes innovative new functionality that encourages multiple gameplay combat strategies, a new 2-player co-op option, new play modes, weapons and more. The game also includes a gripping single player campaign that picks up where Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 left off, and game integration with the Call of Duty: Elite online service.

Do What is Necessary in the Face of Invasion

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a direct sequel to the previous game in the series, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. In the game's single player campaign Russian Ultranationalist Vladimir Makarov continues his manipulation of Russian Federation forces in their invasion of the United States and Europe. In their way stands characters like Task Force 141 Captain John "Soap" MacTavish, former SAS Captain John Price as well as new playable characters from Delta Force and the British SAS. Engage enemy forces in New York, Paris, Berlin and other attack sites across the globe. The world stands on the brink, and Makarov is intent on bringing civilization to its knees. In this darkest hour, are you willing to do what is necessary.

Multiplayer That is Bigger and Better Than Ever

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 delivers a multiplayer experience that continues to raise the bar by focusing on fast-paced, gun-on-gun combat, along with innovative features that support and enhance a large variety of play-styles. Now, you can truly define your approach with a toolkit more expansive than any previous title.

Continue the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in the third release in the series.
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Best in class multiplayer action.
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Pointstreaks and Strike Packages

Killstreaks, benefits and abilities awarded for stringing together multiple kills, have been transformed into Pointstreaks, creating a system that rewards players both for landing kills and completing objectives. These rewards have been broken up into three different categories, known as Strike Packages:

• Assault - Pointstreaks within this package chain together and deal direct damage. It includes classics like the Predator Missile and Attack Helicopter. Your streak resets on death.
• Support - Pointstreaks within this package do not chain, focusing instead on surveillance and disruption. Your streak does not reset on death meaning they will respawn with you.
• Specialist - Pointstreaks within this package are designed for advanced players. Rewards come in the form of additional perks for optimal performance. These perks last until death.

Weapon Proficiencies

Just like your player, weapons now rank up, unlocking additional attachments, reticules, camos and the new proficiency category. Weapon Proficiencies not only allow you to get better with weapons, they also allow you customize your weapons with helpful attributes such as "Kick" for reduced recoil, "Impact" for deeper penetration through hard surfaces and much more. Many proficiencies are specific to their weapons class. And all are geared towards enhancing a certain play style and can allow for efficient use of your favorite weapons in maps and game modes in which they might not otherwise be the best choice.

Modes and Match Customization

Along with the return of the fan favorites Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 introduces several new game modes. Collect dog tags from killed players, including those on your squad while you prevent the opposing squad from taking yours in Kill Confirmed mode. In Team Defender mode, grab the flag and protect the flag carrier for as long as you can to increase your team's score. In addition players will enjoy user generated match mode functionality which allows you to configure any mode how you want it and then share these over the Call of Duty: Elite online service.

2-player Co-op Special Ops Survival Mode

Special Ops cooperative action returns with a bevy of additions, including 16 new objective-based missions and the all-new Survival Mode. Team up online, locally, or play solo and face endless waves of attacking enemies throughout every multiplayer map. Purchase and customize your weapons, air support, equipment and abilities to stand up against increasingly difficult forces and land a spot on the leaderboards. Earn experience and rank up with the newly implemented progression system. The higher the rank, the more weapons, air support, and gear armories you will have available to customize so you can change your tactics on the fly. In addition to the action packed battle for freedom, the cooperative Survival Mode also serves as an effective training tool for competitive multiplayer action.

Additional Screenshots

New Pointstreak system. View larger.

Customize weapons for modes. View larger.

Full-featured co-op mode. View larger.

System Requirements

	Minimum Specifications:
OS:	Win 7, Vista and XP
Processor:	Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 or AMD Phenom X3 8750 processor or better
RAM:	2 GB
Hard Drive:	16 GB
Video Card:	Shader 3.0 or better 256 MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT / ATI Radeon X1950 or better
Additional Info:	Broadband connection and service required for Multiplayer Connectivity. Internet connection required for activation.

Additional Information
Requires Steam account for game installation and activation.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

450 of 498 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars HUGE fan of COD...and fairly disappointed November 9, 2011

By Scuba Steve

Platform for Display:PC|Edition:Standard

Fun: 3.0 out of 5 stars   

Before I start, please allow me to preface this review with three points:

1) I love the COD franchise...and have played every title extensively. My wife will back that statement up...while she sighs and reevaluates her life choices.

2) BF2/BC2/BF3 are good games...and I will not bash them. That said, BF is a different experience, with huge battlefields, many different types of vehicles, and a range of player roles. COD is a different animal...and tends to be more of a "just drop into the action" experience. Choose whatever you like. This is a review of a COD title for COD fans...not a critique of BF3.

3) I play multiplayer on the PC almost exclusively, so I won't offer much in the way of comments on single player mode in this review.

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So how is MW3 on the PC if you are a COD fan? Well, in my opinion, it's a step backwards for the franchise...and a relative low point for the overall series. MW3 does have its good points, but on balance, the game is a disappointment. I know that this opinion may not be popular, so please read on if you want to see why I feel this way.

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>>> The good old days

I started with the original COD title in 2003...and then jumped into COD:UO, which my gaming group modified heavily. The ability to host mods and custom maps on UO servers kept those servers running, fresh, and populated for years.

COD2 provided a similar experience, but with much better graphics, but sadly, no vehicles. That said, we modded the heck out of it and just shut those servers down last month. That was the staying power of that game.

COD4:MW (modern warfare) hit the streets and it was revolutionary...sadly though, also with no real "controllable" vehicles. Regardless, it was a great experience with fantastic graphics...and many innovations.

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>>> Enter Treyarch...and World at War

The three prior COD titles were developed by InfinityWard (IW) for Activision and they were all "game of the year" level titles. During that same time period, Activision had Treyarch develop COD3 exclusively for consoles...and it paled in comparison.

After COD4, Activision had Treyarch develop COD:WAW (World at War) for the PC, which seemed to be a thin repackaging of COD4:MW, but set back in WW2. The good news was that they added drivable tanks and generally made a fairly decent game...but we were all still looking to IW for innovation. Treyarch, not so much.

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>>> (Re)enter InifintyWard...and Modern Warfare 2

The next part is long, but relevant to MW3...I promise.

IW next developed COD:MW2 and fans of COD on the PC were shocked. It was clear that IW's strategy was to converge the console and PC versions to the greatest extent possible...forcing PCs to drop to the lowest common (console) denominator. As part of that strategy, they also dropped support for "dedicated servers." The impact of that decision cannot be understated. PC fans were incensed. They were now forced to deal with "lobbies" instead of dedicated servers. No longer could they just join their favorite server and see their friends and get to meet other new folks who frequented that server. Instead, the game randomly threw 12 or so folks together, made one the host, and threw you into a match...after numerous stutters and hiccups. A bogged down or lagging host could also ruin the game...and if that host quit, everything came to a screeching halt while the server attempted to migrate the host...or not.

The bigger issue, however, was that no one in the game had administrative (rcon) access...so hackers ruled. Fans of previous COD multiplayer titles know that Punkbuster and VAC do very little to stop hacking. With dedicated servers, the server admins in game would deal with such obvious hackers...but in MW2, those hackers raged with impunity. Even if you were the host, there was little that you could do. I cannot count the number of times that I was forced out of a game because a hacking player was raging with an obvious aimbot...while the anti-cheat software was oblivious.

The sad thing is that MW2 was fairly fun...even if it was mostly just a minor evolution of COD4:MW...but lack of dedicated servers killed it.

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>>> (Re)enter Treyarch...and Black Ops

Treyarch stepped back up to the plate with COD:BO...and while it was once again a minor evolution of the franchise, dedicated servers were back. Well, sort of. You had to rent them from one provider and they were not very mod-able, but at least you could set game type, map rotation, and HAVE ADMIN ACCESS (i.e., rcon). Once again, hackers needed to run and hide...because they didn't last long on well-monitored servers.

Yes, a minor evolution, but still a very good time. BO also supported "unranked" servers that supposedly supported modding, but frankly, most players ignored such servers...because they preferred to chase rank and "prestige". I won't get into why I think that including such ranks and prestige has killed modding, but suffice to say that you don't see the level of community modding and custom map creation that we did under UO and COD2. Oh well, MW3 is coming...and InifintyWard is creating this one...so it's got to be good...right?

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>>> WHERE WE ARE NOW: (Re)enter InfinityWard...and MW3 !!!

I picked up MW3, installed it, and tried the single player campaign just to get a sense of the player physics. Controls largely the same? Check. Player physics the same? Check. Single player campaign pretending to be expansive but really very linear with far too many cut scenes? Check.

Exit single player.

Actually, to say the controls are the same is kind. "Lean" is missing...as it was with IW's MW2. Hmm. Now I am getting suspicious, but let's fire up multiplayer anyway and get it on.

Wait. What the...?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! LOBBIES ARE BACK!? ARGGGGGGGGGGGG!

Yes, once again, lobbies are back. From clicking "play", it took about 4 minutes to get into a game...as lobbies were created and then destroyed...and created...and destroyed...and as soon as I got into a game, the host quit...and we came to a halt while the game tried to find a new host...which it could not...so we were all thrown back out into "lobby creation hell."

Yes, lobbies...with all that statement implies, including no ability to have admins who can deal with hackers.

But wait! MW3 supports dedicated servers.

Yes, but not for ranked play...and if BO is any indication of the future, folks will not want to play unranked servers as they chase shiny little prestige icons. Of course, IW is not doing much to help this situation since for some bizarre reason they have disabled MW3's server browser by default. You have to hunt down a setting to turn it on.

Seriously, I cannot believe this step backwards. Granted, it's not a step backwards for IW...it's a step forward from MW2. It's only a step backwards for the franchise (from Treyarch's BO).

Is MW3 better than MW2? Seems to be. They added some innovations and are paying lip service to dedicated servers...but much of what they added over MW2 has no value in unranked dedicated server mode in MW3...so the folks who have labeled MW3 as MW 2.1 are pretty much dead on as far as I am concerned.

So how are the lobby servers once you manage to get into a game? Well, I actually just got out of one where I was playing against a Prestige Level 10 Rank 80...less than 48 hours after release. Seriously...and guess who could see through walls and didn't care who knew it...and guess who couldn't do a darned thing about it?

I could go on and review the MW3 gameplay and what IW added to MW2, but you can get that info from many sources, so I'll save you from more of my rambling. Instead, I just wanted to share a review of the PC experience for this title, which seems to get lost in the reviews of console versions. If nothing else, I hope that I help you avoid the surprise that I had when I fired up multiplayer. If you buy MW3, at least you can now go in with your eyes open.

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>>> Closing Thoughts

MW3 is a sequel to MW2...not Black Ops. We will have to wait and see what Treyarch offers next for a sequel to Black Ops.

So is MW3 worth $60? Well, I'll leave that decision to each of you. It's definitely not a 1 star game, but it's also clearly not a 5 star game...at least on the PC.

I suppose that what has really struck me in this experience is that for the first time I now no longer consider InfintyWard to be the king of the COD franchise...at least for those of us playing on the PC. Treyarch may actually now have the better vision. Yes, I know, IW leadership changed as the core folks left to go form Respawn Entertainment, but MW3 smells like their legacy regardless - i.e., a collapsed version for consoles and PCs...and everything in the game setup to motivate you to spend more to get DLC map packs, extra XP, and whatever else they can urge you to buy. Do they want a game with legs that can survive for years? Of course not...so in that respect, they knocked this one out of the park.

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>>> My advice

If you love BF3 and COD generally annoys you, avoid this game. It will NOT win you over.

If you love COD, well, you are going to buy it anyway, but at least I will offer you empathy...and I'll be on the battlefield next to you.

If you are on the fence, try "Hello Kitty Island Adventure" instead. There are fewer weapons, but at least you won't feel as used and abused. Read more ›

95 of 114 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars An embarassment even for the Call of Duty franchise. November 18, 2011

By J. McGarvey

Platform for Display:PC|Edition:Standard

Fun: 2.0 out of 5 stars   

In order to understand how pointless the COD experience feels, it's important to note the lack of effort on the part of the sound department. Many times you will turn around and end up shooting a friendly in the back because you just can't hear what's going on. Even in the sneakiest parts you will hear nothing but a cacophany of enemy chatter and weapons sounds and those overpowered by a lumbering and anticlimactic musical score. Good luck hearing a footstep or even determining the direction of enemy fire. It's as if the mix team just mashed the sliders all the way up and let it be. The sounds that one would expect to drown out all others, such as your own weapon or a tank firing directly beside your ears, are barely perceptible in the mush of everything else.

Because it's basically impossible to hear enemies, the simplest way to locate them is stand up in the open and wait until you start to get hit. Don't worry, apparently in COD world, bullets aren't lethal projectiles but merely wads of goo which slap you in the face, blurring your vision until you expire from blindness, so don't do this for too long.

If you're waiting for a pickup, keep your head on a swivel, because that SF little bird will just ninja on down behind you without a sound, and you'll be waiting for something to happen only to turn around and find a silent helicopter just chilling there a meter away.

Maybe it's unnecessary to expound upon, but graphically nothing has been done to this game for about four or five generations, so expect the same old same old as far as scenery. It may be that gamers feel a few 4 hour campaigns and some multiplayer kicks are well worth their $250 without any sort of development in terms of the actual game engine.

Now I know the vast majority of gamers couldn't care less about inaccuracies so I won't begin a tirade expounding on COD's "unrealism" but as a former Recon operator I can tell you there are thousands of them.

In addition to the lack of anything resembling realistic details, I found that with regards to scenario "preposterosity", COD takes the cake. As the Russian fleet attempts to displace the water of New York harbor by cramming as many boats as possible into the smallest area, your team takes a DPV ride down to an enemy submarine which is trying to fit into the Hudson to get its cruise missiles within range of California. After planting charges on the hull you detonate at a good safe distance of 5 meters, disabling the vessel. Fortunately for you, Navy SEALs are trained to absorb shock waves and turn them into large doses of awesome. As your team egresses via Zodiac, you weave in and out of the exploding Russian ships directly into the open hatch of a Chinook helicopter which is just hanging out in a few feet of water. No worries, we've got twin rotors---plenty of lift to handle a few tons of extra weight. Now, maybe some gamers will get a thrill out of performing such things, but I just couldn't stop laughing.

...and Operation One Man National Asset doesn't end there. The preposterous and impossible exploits just keep coming. One moment you jump from the 8th story onto the pavement and hop up to carry Soap away to safety... apparently he's just a weakling and is unable to shrug off such minor injuries. Another you fight your way through a large castle, placing three satchels from your bottomless rucksack, then end up driving over a cliff---but what's this? you just happen to have another full sized parachute on you---I wonder what pocket that one was hiding in...

At this point most gamers no longer expect to be handed a spoonful of sugar with their daily Commercialized Electronic Babysitting Session, but as an old time PC gamer I'll have to wait my turn for the next Portal or Company of Heroes. As the average gamer progressively drops in intelligence and creativity, the battlefield hand-holding seemingly increases. While playing COD one feels simultaneously god-like and completely unnecessary. There are no choices whatsoever to make, and no tactical ability required to succeed. If this is your cup of tea, go rent "Commando" and you'll have both hands free to handle the doritos and beer. If not, and you are interested in an experience with a shred of mental stimulation, look to Valve or Relic for something worth your cash.

Edit: I originally had written 6 hour campaign but looked at the menu and it said I had actually only spent 4 hours---and I'm the type who doesn't just sprint through games, I like to check out the scenery a bit too.

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Nothing new November 10, 2011

By Jon

Platform for Display:PC|Edition:Standard

Fun: 3.0 out of 5 stars   

They should have called it MW2.1. The campaign is basically gunning down one alley after another. The helicopter always gets blown up. The enemy troops are scripted. Multiplayer is basically the same as MW2 with some major revamps of the kill streaks, ect. Lucky for them, I liked MW2 so I like this game, but quite frankly, I am going to bed now rather than playing because it just doesn't draw me in like it MW2 used to.