Customer Reviews

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

5 star:		(393)
4 star:		(185)
3 star:		(148)
2 star:		(178)
1 star:		(236)

 

 

I bought this game knowing it would be a redux of MW2, I didn't care as I enjoyed that game. COD has always been a game that I could easily pick up and play for a few hours a couple of times a week. The good news is that this game still runs smooth as butter and has the same smooth controls. The bad news is that the new maps are all garbage (well ok not all of them, but you get the point). Its a total --to borrow a phrase from Fantastic Mr. Fox-- "Clustercuss". The maps are decently sized, but they're also cramped and claustrophobic. Way too many small alleys and corridors that eliminate the ability to get a feel for where the opposition is coming from.

Any indoor/enclosed area is a death trap, apparently in the world of COD there are building laws and building codes that require every wall in every structure to have at least one door and one window. Meanwhile the open areas are full of boxes, crates, burning cars, and yes even ANOTHER downed helicopter (really? we already played Crash twice). The turf war aspect of multiplayer is what I enjoyed about COD4 and MW2, that dynamic is sorely missing from this game, basically you run around and hope that when you come across someone you are behind them, and not the other way around.

When I go to the firing range I don't go there to shoot targets four feet away, if I wanted if i wanted to that I'd go play Lasertag with a bunch of 11 year olds, which is think is actually the age demographic this game is trying to appeal to.

If you are going to release what is essentially a re-do of your old game at least create some new and interesting maps. If you've ever played paintball at a speedball/indoor course then you know how every map will play out in this game, except that when you play indoor paintball people don't magically spawn 10 feet behind you.

COD we had some fun together, we knew it wouldn't last forever, and we've both changed. I'd love to tell you that it's not you, it's me, but that would be a lie. It's you. Sorry. Now go make me a sandwich

I have always loved the Call of Duty series but as of late it has been given the same treatment as the Madden series (IE they add TINY features each year and ask you to pay 60$ for a """new""" game). But this latest installment has crossed the line. Most of the fanboys constantly ask well WHY do you not like this game? (Valid question and i shall go through that in multiple points)

1. The maps are the smallest in ANY Call of duty game to the point your nearly always spawning right on top of someone.

2. The graphics engine is the exact same as MW2 regardless of what any fanboy tries to tell you. This may have been ok if this game was released a year after MW2 but not now.

3. Already new Wall glitches in the game and similar problems MW2 was plagued with (Youtube and see it for yourself).

4. P2P servers....again....in 2011? REALLY? Why on earth would you use P2P servers which are Laggy,Slow,Disconnect often,Easily hackable when most other major IP's use Dedicated servers.....Activision will make 3-4X more money then EA will see from BF3 and even they put dedicated servers into BF3.

5. The Campaign is Short/easy and Extremely predictable....a rather large disappointment for a direct sequel.

6. Rampant Killstreaks What i mean by this is since the maps are so insanely small you can rackup killstreaks way way easier then in previous CoD titles. So you see 3-4X more killstreaks then in previous versions.

7. The leaderboards have ALREADY been hacked again....(Look at the leaderboards see for yourself)

8. The hit detection....is the worst i have seen in any shooter since...hell ever?

9. No Marathon perk (Opinion)

10. EVERY gun is insanely overpowered, literally even the SMG's kill in 2-3 Shots at medium distance. Combine that with small maps and it becomes a Camp fest of who runs around corner A first.

All in All this is the biggest disappointment in the series in my mind...Save yourself the 60$ and take a woman out to dinner.

Activision would prefer to build games that do not require servers, since servers cost money. The alternative is to have one of the players in each game act as a server (host). In several other games the host gains an advantage because other players experience a short delay in receiving data from the host. To try and combat the host advantage, MW3 and Black Ops use lag compensation. Lag compensation attempts to put everyone on a level playing field by predicting player actions and have the host put the puzzle back together later. Unfortunately, this method has created a very frustrating environment for gamers. On your side you may take several shots when going 1-on-1 with another player, but with lag compensation you may lose without the game showing you took a single shot (I recommend you youtube 'MW3 lag compensation').

Lag compensation ruined that last call of duty game (Black Ops) and it continues to do so in Modern Warefare 3. If multiplayer is the main reason you are picking this game up, then please read reviews from other online gamers before purchasing. Call of Duty has been a series with record sales for each release, so there isn't much incentive for Activision to fix this major issue with game play. As a consumer, I regret contributing to this games sales records and I will not be making that mistake again in future releases.

I have enjoyed the COD series, but gave up on Black Ops after a bit - it just wasn't any fun. I was getting butchered all the time. Whether or not people cheat isn't clear to me. It may simply be that a 12 year old boy raised on FPS's can kick my 52 yo butt with ease.

I missed the game play though, so took on MW3. The single player is fine. Lots of scenarios and fun ops. Not terribly hard on normal settings.
Multiplayer has so many games that I haven't touched, but I enjoy Dominion and Kill Confirmed. I like Barebones, which is still present. Somehow I tend to do better there.
My issue with the game is that it disenfranchises the marginal player. You enter a match with your Sergeant's stripes and everyone else has Prestiged a couple of times around. You are really fresh meat. There is just not much that a sucky player can engage in without invoking the wrath of little punk brats, dragging down your team, or just feeling like you spend more time dead than alive, all of which seriously diminishes the fun of the game. It would be nice to have some stratification of talent, and advance through a grouping of more similar talents and expertise rather than just throwing us all in together. Or have casual rooms to play in.

If you are in the same boat, what helped me a lot was finding a clan. They do help coach me, tolerate me, and make for just a good time rather than a harrowing experience.

I do think that the online service has improved. I don't get dropped nearly as much. There is occasionally some lag, but not often enough to matter. You occasionally respawn right in the middle of the other team's presence, but this is sort of funny - you gotta laugh at getting pummeled soundly at some point.

To sum this game up in a few words, "not much new to see here." This is an at most 30 dollar game(prob better off as a rent), and thats assuming you like playing the campaign/spec ops.

Campaign 4/5- Was nice to see the story come to an end, kinda a mixed bag, alot felt been/here done that, while there did seem to be just enough interesting things throughout the story to keep it interesting. This is very short lived however, as eas can be beat in 4 hours, and youd be lucky to squeeze 10 hours out of a veteran play through(took me 8 taking my time).

Spec ops-5/5 Has the missions just like MW2 had, I personally enjoy these quite a bit. If you didnt like these on MW2 though, youre not going to like them here either. There are only about half as many of these as on MW2, but they added a survival mode which i found quite addicting, and where ive got 80% of my playing time invested. Not having the ability to play with 4 people here is really frustrating.

Multiplayer-1/5 The reason you prob want this game, and this game delivers..............the worst experience yet. Its all the things that killed mw2 noob tubing, overpowered guns, ridiculous perks and maps that could make a Monk Swear. If you like camping and/or fighting every battle at knive distance then youll love the maps. Its really to bad 2, because the killstreak setup is a neat addition and the weapon unlock system is interesting.

I played through the campaign in a day and it was just so-so. I was very disappointed that they did away with the multiplayer combat training, which (in COD: Black Ops) a good place to warm up and a nice refuge when it became tiresome being paired with foul-mouthed adolescents. I can't recomend this game.

I, like most people were looking forward to playing this game that would be very similar to mw2, After reading the gameinformers I knew this game wouldn't be too different... The campaign had a lot of good in it, but who plays the campaign twenty four seven? As soon as I stepped into the Multiplayer I got discouraged... Every map was terrible, it was like the people who previously made this game died and passed it to their 10 year old children. This game needs completely different maps. Seriously... The maps make the main part of the game, A grotesque, poorly made game.

If you love Call of Duty, then this is your game. If you have already bought Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, you shouldn't even be reading this. I have always been on the fence. After CoD 2, the single player of every game that followed, even CoD 4, was just a light gun game. You are continually led on rails to every checkpoint by bullet hose spraying enemies. There is no actual squad or enemy AI to speak of, they all just fire blindly and never reload. I know there are a few people who still play these games for the story mode, but I don't. I'm not going to go on too long because these things come out every year so there's not much new to explain.

Spec Ops is greatly improved and includes ranking and perks this time around which, as far as these modes go, is a HUGE improvement on the zombies and horde stuff from WaW and Black Ops. I like it so far, but as with all of these side mission/survival deals, I usually get tired of them after a week. Good improvement, but not a game changer.

Well on the good side for multiplayer, there are a lot of maps. On the bad side, the guns have had a serious working over. More than ever before the weapons shoot like frickin lasers. Nothing sways and you die much much faster than even in MW2. I'm pretty amazed they bothered to include a weapon power up to kill the weapon sway. What sway?!? Overall, the game really feels a lot more like the way Black Ops played than that intangible "Feel" of the Modern Warfare games. Black Ops was the best selling game of all time, or something like that, so I doubt many will complain, but I feel a difference. The theater mode does return, but there are no wager matches, which is kinda weak, but Kill Confirmed is good. The kill streaks have been warmed over with strike package streaks that differ on classes. This is welcome as some classes you can continue to rack up your points in objective based achievements instead of just kills, but lets be honest, people play this game for klilstreaks and I haven't seen any differences yet in how people approach their play styles here. It's kill or be killed as it has always been.

Oh well, I'm just looking over this thing after a few hours, and its just the same fun you always look for in CoD, but I'm sensing there isn't much left in this tube of tooth paste from here on out. They are still relying on the stupid P2P host networking which means lag and ended games still crop up. You still can hide in a tin building during an airstrike and live to tell the tale. You still have massively overpowered guns that all feel the same. And yes, you still can have fun with all these things deep into a Saturday night. I'm just wondering what they are going to do next. Unless they come up with something new, I don't see myself buying another one of these next year. Heck, I still play MW2 a few times a week. You aren't missing a whole lot if you pass on this, but if you're a fan, you'll enjoy it.

****

To be fair, I fired up the single player and I just made a few notes Infinity Ward missed. -- You can play through most of what I have without firing a bullet. You just run to the checkpoints and duck. Sooner or later the enemy there will get shot and you move on. -- Sandman is the worst Delta Force short gunner in history, he can't hit the broadside of a barn. -- Also, Sandman is wearing reflective eye protection - big no no in the Army. Eye protection should be clear or non reflective ***READ Reply from T.A. Frank in the comments on the eyewear. Best info you'll find *** A real veteran could clear this up if I am wrong. -- The Multiplayer is fun, but the "Lost host connection" hasn't gone anywhere. I'm enjoying , but just like any other heavily marketed product, just play it for what it is, don't expect this game to do your laundry for you.

****

After going between MW2 and MW3, I can say a lot of the quick death and lag issues come down to the fact that MW3 is simply set to play much faster. Back to back, you can just tell by running and toggling iron sights - in addition to the new avatar stances, the animations really are quicker. I think Black Ops was also faster than MW2. Unless you happen to be host, some games you are going to have a bad day. I'm on 10 meg and watching kill cams and the Vault videos, about half the time, the delay I see from my character is not what I actually experienced. Other times I get what seems like an endless supply of hit markers and no kill. I've even killed people I'm not aiming at. I'm not really sure if it is connection related or the networking part of the game is simply unable to keep the sync up accurately.

****

IW's Rober Bowling via twitter: "Yes, both platforms will be receiving updates to address lag concerns"

The multiplayer is a mess. The latency issues are crippling the gameplay as in it will appear on your end someone shot you with a single bullet and killed you after you fire multiple rounds into them. Then the killcam will show you standing there not doing a damn thing while the guy who it appeared shot you once and killed you actually put 4 bullets into you before you even aimed.

This is a recurring problem from past COD games, except this one it happens literally every match you play, not just occasionally. When you have to question WTF just happened every single time you lose a gun fight, something is not right. The maps are all tiny as well. Small maps are okay as long as they don't rule the entire map selection of a game, like they do here. The enemy will respawn right behind you a second after you kill them (assuming you do actually kill them and don't get one shot wondered by the horrible latency issues) I can't recall ever being so disgusted from playing a game online in all my years of gaming.

This review mostly details the online game play, and doesn't take into consideration the campaign. The campaign is quite fun, but will only take about 5 hours to complete. Remember kiddies, this is a $60 game which will require more and more $$$$ to keep playing it online as they slowly roll out the maps that should have been included in the first place. Now they are even trying to sell you additional online experiences. Just picture the horse being led by a carrot on a stick and expect to continue forking out money to keep playing this game. Another thing to note about my review, is that it is based on me owning and playing all of the COD games ever created. If you are new to this game, and it's your first experience with the Modern Warfare series, you may likely enjoy this game immensely. So my 1 star review may not apply to the newcomer to this series, and it could merit a much different rating.

If you are a huge fan of the COD series and want more and more of the exact same thing, you are in luck with this game. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with this, only that this is what the game still is, and has been since day 1. The player will be able to take an average 5 to 20 steps (depending on the tiny map) from the spawn point and immediately find some fun action. It is a very intense, "in your face" type of game, that will keep you on your toes at all times. There isn't much for team effort with this game and its more about stats, K/D ratios, and bragging rights. This game was designed for the runner and gunner aspect, not much for team effort or strategy. I suspect this version is geared more towards the younger generation. This is pretty much the same game as what it has been for release after release. They did make some very minor tweaks, but it is essentially the same game. In my opinion, this was the highest costing map pack I have ever purchased. This is fine for some I suppose, but then again this review is simply my opinion, not everyone's opinion. I imagine that there are many people who still enjoy this type of game immensely, so it will probably maintain a large following. This game is still fun, it's just not "new" as it was hyped up to be. So if you want even more of the same old COD, then here it is with a $60 price tag, and then some, as they roll out more maps and bait you to spend even more money.

I have enjoyed playing Black OPs over the past year, I enjoyed MW2, and greatly anticipated the release of MW3. I, like most people, was hoping for a "new" game with some freshness after seeing the commercials and hearing all the hype. After picking up my pre-ordered copy of MW3, and a few hours of online game play, it became very apparent to me that I was extremely dissatisfied with my purchase. I sat there playing, just waiting for this "new" game to come alive after cycling through all of the tiny maps. It never did and I found myself extremely bored with it. I shook my head in disbelief as I looked back at myself standing in line for over 40 minutes to pick up this game. I calmly got up, put the disk back into its case, and put it up for sale or trade for a 2nd copy of BF3 for the wife. Thank goodness there was still a demand for this game when I traded it so I didn't loose any money. I really expected to keep both games (BF3 and MW3) and thought I would end up playing both. But there simply is no comparison. I'm afraid that my copy of MW3 would have just collected dust and lost value. Hence, my decision to get rid of it so quickly and not add to the collection of old games that I no longer play that aren't worth anything to trade in. I still shake my head in disbelief when I look back at myself standing in line for this game.

I should have known better then to expect something new from this franchise. They aren't exactly known for developing anything "new". They are using the exact same engine that they have been using for years. I knew that it would be similar of course, but had high hopes that it would be more then just some new (tiny) maps and some very minor tweaks. This is the worst $60 that I have ever spent on a game. I have enjoyed the COD franchise for years, but its grown old and tired. To call this a new game and sell it at full retail price is a crime. It should have been sold as a boxed expansion pack for what it is. It is "still" sort of a fun game to play, but there isn't much new about it. One star may seem harsh to some, but I am sticking with this because I can't think of any other game that I have purchased and was bored with so quickly. They are even still using the same outdated P2P hosting system with all if it's known problems so nothing is new there either. This is the very last game that I will have ever pre-ordered without reading reviews by real people who have experience the game for themselves. I should have known better then to trust some of the so called "expert" reviews before game launch. I'm not exactly sure what makes them "experts", other than some are sponsored and paid by the developers themselves. With this, I've learned a valuable lesson about pre-ordering games. I won't make this mistake again.

I do appreciate MW3 however for forcing me to try alternatives. I may have never even given the alternative a chance otherwise. There is much better out there, and I like it immensely better. Farewell my old friend COD, its been fun through all of these years, but its time to move onto something better until you come up with something truly new and innovative.

Please don't be angry with my review if you are a fanboy of the Modern Warfare series. This isn't an attack on anyone personally, just my personal opinion of this game, the way it was marketed, and my disappointment in it. I don't stand to gain or loose anything by taking the time to write this. I only wished to inform those about to make the purchase so they didn't repeat my mistake.