Unsurprisingly similar, but fun nevertheless
User Rating: 8 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 X360
For anyone who has ever immersed themselves into one of the annual Call of Duty hits, this game will come as no surprise. While there are a few additions that have a significant impact on the game, the overall look and feel of the gameplay remains almost indistinguishable from its predecessors. The campaign, averaging about 6 hours to completion, adds nothing noteworthy from the previous title and feels repetitive and slow as you finally reach the homestretch. Undoubtedly the most fun gamers will have during the campaign is when they are allowed to experience some of the new additions to the Modern Warfare series, like being a juggernaut, or controlling an assault drone, but these new features take primary stage in multiplayer and special ops. As with previous Call of Duty games, the most fun to be had lies not in the campaign, but in the multiplayer, and the third installment to the series features an excellent multiplayer experience. While many of the core concepts stay the same, additions like the ability to rank up individual weapons, which lead to unlocks on that weapon alone add a sense of ownership of everything you unlock. A kill-streak bar in the bottom right corner of the screen allows you to see what streaks you have available and how close you are to the next one, and also lets you scroll through them so they can be used at just the right time. A new mode, called Kill Confirmed, takes an honorable stab at eliminating (or at least decreasing) "camping" by only giving teams a point if they pick up the dog-tags dropped by the enemy when they are killed. While this mode may not have done as much as Modern Warfare 3 creators would have liked, it still provides a fun alternative to the game types we've been playing for years. With these new online features, however, the multiplayer experience is too similar to the previous installments for there to be as much replay value as there has been in the previous years. Ranking up to level 80 takes time, and the lack of variety from last year's installment may leave gamers content with only one prestige. On the other side of the main menu, however, sits the familiar mode called special ops. Almost unanimously, the best addition that this installment has to offer to the series is survival mode. Gamers can play solo or team up with a friend and take on waves of enemies, ranging from levels consisting of a mere 10 weaker enemies all the way to levels where 3 juggernauts are deployed with 30 strong enemies by their side. Survival mode is a blast to play with a friend, and the new ranking system built into the survival mode/special ops game type make for a very strong replay value. The actual spec ops missions are entertaining, but survival mode takes the stage in the special ops menu. Overall, many fans of the series will be disappointed by how similar the newest addition to one of the most popular series of all time is to prior experiences. The graphics are nothing special, sound effects are as "explosive" as ever, and the game play makes minute improvements, but avid Call of Duty fans will love the game for exactly what it is: another notable addition to the remarkable Call of Duty franchise. 
