Read this for an honest review from a serious gamer, aswell as a CoD and BF gamer.
Unfortunately, as a whole, it has failed in that department. Quite miserably in fact. However, that is not to say the game is poor because it simply is not. Truth be told, modern warfare 3 is highly enjoyable at times, but gamers should not expect too much innovation from this title. Otherwise, the only after taste would be one of sheer bitterness and disappointment of the highest degree. If this game was released three or four years ago before the other Call of Duty titles, then no such after taste would exist. Given that this is the third modern warfare title alone, nevermind the fourth or so that has been released each year, the game just feels a little too similar to its predecessors - an exhilarating, but overall short campaign, an often addictive multiplayer, along with the return of Spec Ops.
A huge criticism in the last year or so of previous CoD titles is the games look the same, or simply re-skinned. Modern Warfare 3 does feel like a re-skinned Modern Warfare 2. It would be hard for anyone to deny that. That is not necessarily a bad thing, as the game still looks fantastic and runs at a steady 60 frames per second - something that many other popular first person shooters tend to fail in. Sadly, many gun skins feel like that actually came from Modern Warfare 2 - a clear instance is the UMP45 and some perks simply being renamed to something else, such as cold-blooded being renamed to assassin (pretty much). Obviously, this was to be expected.
Not all is simply re-skinned though. Ofcourse there are new additions to guns, equipment, killstreaks, maps and perks that offer gamers something new to play with. The maps appear fresh and descent, although feel quite small in size and could of quite easily appeared in a map pack for MW2 - but who would of returned to MW2 when Black Ops was out, right?
The single player is what you have come to expect from a CoD title. It continues the story from previous Modern Warfares and moments of exhileration are instilled into the gamer. However, again, the newish addition fails to establish a longer campaign - it is still a 5-6 hour campaign and to some, that may appear as another huge flaw that continues to remain in the series. However, CoD is not known for its length of story, but rather the moments that capture your attention that make you want to play another level - and it does exactly that in abundence.
For millions, it is the multiplayer that creates what CoD is today. As mentioned previously, there are additions to the multiplayer - guns, equipment and killstreaks etc. The game feels as a CoD title and more importantly, a Modern Warfare title. Gamers who play CoD and just the Modern Warfare version will feel right at home, with just enough to perhaps distinguish it from previous titles. With that being said, the maps feel a tad too small or confined for my liking. There will be several instances where you'll consistently running and bumping into enemy players within seconds of spawning – sometimes it is hilarious, but often it feels that your veins are being injected with a rage-inducing variation of heroin.
Then there is the spawn system itself. For years in online gaming, a spawn system must be adequate enough for a player to enter a game, or respawn from death, without being killed within seconds of entering the online fray. Players previously pointed this issue out within the older CoD titles and yet, the issue persists almost unchallenged. The first thing that sprung to mind was had this game been sufficently beta tested by hardcore CoD players, would this issue exist in the release? Another issue seems to be the hit detection, particularly when players use Stalker (which allows faster movement whilst aiming down sights). Several times a game, players will be killed whilst running behind corners of buildings or going into the prone position. It is does not appear to be lag, but rather a delayed hit box detection that is most likely merely milliseconds behind a player's actual movements. Still, being killed for being in impenetrable cover, or whilst going into prone (where overhead bullets somehow hit you still) is highly annoying and quite frankly, inexcusable for a game that gains millions upon millions of pounds in downloadable content alone, nevermind in game sales. Whilst this may appear as slight niggles, they are sometimes impossible to ignore whilst playing. If you are lucky enough to experience this often (as for the most part for me they have been acceptable), the gameplay is just as enjoyable as before.
Another addition to multiplayer is the type of killstreak one is allowed to use per class. No longer are they generalised as a whole player, but are now custom-class-specific. There is the typical offensive killstreaks, involving your typical attack helicopter and whatnot which reset upon death. However, to improve lower skilled players gameplay (as it would appear), there is now support killstreaks, where they continue through death. Yes, you have read that right, they do not reset. These do not include offensive killstreaks such as helicopters, but instead contain UAVs, EMPs, ballistic jackets and even a stealth bomber - to which i can't understand why that would be there. Initially this may feel as a really subtle way to improve the online gameplay experience and in ways, it really does but unfortunately the only experience so far with it in games is there are far too many UAVs up, meaning you have to either shoot them down (or have a SAM turret already out), or have the assassin perk on (which is unlocked at level 27). On the other hand, it attempts to minimise campers after killstreaks (but many campers want offensive killstreaks anyway). Overall, the support idea is a nice addition, but playing a game where a UAV is consistently on by multiple players (so even a SAM turret is struggling to shoot them down because there are so many) gets old way too quickly for it to be enjoyed. Maybe after a few patches, these problems will be fixed.
Overall:- 7.5
The Good:- Exciting campaign that adds to the story of previous MW titles, addictive, descent multiplayer, Spec ops is always enjoyable
The Bad:- Very similar to previous titles - almost feels reskinned MW2, short campaign, some multiplayer niggles