Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)

The game continues the intense, cinematic single-player campaign, picking up right after the events of Modern Warfare 2, you are thrown into a global conflict with dramatic, high-stakes missions. The campaign is action-packed but can feel a bit formulaic for veterans of the series, escalating even more from the events of the previous titles, being way less shy when it comes to it's story exaggerations.

Multiplayer, however, remains the heart of the game, with new maps, killstreaks, and perks, it offers refined mechanics that improve upon its predecessors, overall it is an improvement in almost every way compared to the previous entries, and I spent a ton of time in the competitive mode. The game also introduces Survival Mode, where players fight off waves of enemies, but this mode was way less popular than the regular competitive multiplayer.

Overall, Modern Warfare 3 is a solid conclusion to the trilogy with great multiplayer action, though it doesn't offer much innovation for those expecting a radically different experience. It’s a must-play for fans of the series but might feel repetitive for those who’ve played the earlier titles, I also recommend the new entries which is a nice refresh in comparison, but I admit that I have not played them yet.

This review is for the Xbox 360 version.

Modern Warfare 3 gets far too much hate for what it is. It had the difficult job of following Modern Warfare 2, one of the most iconic Call of Duty games ever made, and although I can admit it did not quite reach the same level, MW3 was still an amazing game in its own right.

The multiplayer is incredibly nostalgic to me. The shitty Xbox 360 microphones, everyone talking trash in the lobby and those iconic menu and lobby sounds perfectly capture that era of Call of Duty. The maps and game modes were brilliant, the weapons felt satisfying and the multiplayer was simply fun to play for hours.

MW3 also easily had some of the best-looking prestige emblems in the entire series. Levelling up and progressing through the prestiges actually felt rewarding, and the designs made you want to keep grinding.

Spec Ops was goated. Playing the survival maps with a friend, purchasing weapons and equipment and trying to survive for as long as possible gave the game so much extra replay value. The missions were also a great addition and were perfect for co-op.

The campaign was a brilliant conclusion to what I consider one of the greatest gaming trilogies of all time. It continued directly from MW2, delivered some massive and memorable missions and gave the original Modern Warfare storyline a satisfying ending. The final confrontation felt like a proper conclusion after everything that had happened across all three games.

I can acknowledge that MW2 is probably the better overall game, but MW3 will always be special to me. The campaign, multiplayer, Spec Ops, maps, game modes and pure Xbox 360 nostalgia make it one of my favourite Call of Duty games.

FPS - Task Force 141 embarks on a high-stakes, globe-trotting mission to thwart the sinister Russian Ultranationalist leader Vladimir Makarov from igniting World War III.

PROS:

++ Satisfying conclusion. With this entry comes the end of the Modern Warfare trilogy and I was very satisfied with the ending given. I shouted in victory when Price was finally able to pay Makarov back for all of the deaths he caused in MW2 & MW3.

++ Exhilarating campaign. I'm pretty sure this game did not have a single boring level. Every single one had at least one crazy set-piece or one memorable moment take place. It starts at 100mph, continues at 100mph, and ends at 100mph. Never a dull moment. The opening mission in New York was great and it was a spectacle to fight in. Playing as the bodyguard trying to protect the Russian president while in flight was also great. Other moments such as fighting in the sandstorm, the bombing in London, the fall of Eiffel tower, the deaths of Soap, Yuri, Sandman, and Kamarov, attempts to rescue the President's daughter in a fallen Berlin, and even the final confrontation with Makarov were all highly memorable moments. I really liked Price and his team, and also grew to like Makarov as the villain.

++ Co-op content. MW3 brings back Spec-Ops mode with 16 brand new missions. And although it's personally not my cup of tea, I appreciate its inclusion and recognize that it definitely would be fun to play with a friend. But what I did play around with was the new "Survival" mode that is COD's take on horde mode. It's basic in its premise and execution, and does nothing to innovate on the horde mode, but I still found it very enjoyable. Younger me would have had a field day with this mode.

++ Gameplay and presentation. The gunplay was as smooth as ever, and presentation was as slick as ever. No complaints in either of these areas, just praises. It isn't memorable, but it certainly isn't worthy of any criticism.

CONS:

-- Familiarity. Although the overall experience was highly enjoyable, it still felt very familiar and similar to MW2. It didn't really make an attempt to move forward or innovate, but was content in just refining the formula and providing similar thrills. If you gave me a screenshot from MW2 and MW3, it would be hard to say which one is which.

-- Multiplayer. I have no experience with the multiplayer at launch, but I couldn't connect to the multiplayer servers (in 2024). Not necessarily a huge fault, but I didn't have a problem with this in all of the previous entries (COD 4 - Black Ops).

We are getting close to the end of my personal journey with the Call of Duty series, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 did nothing to stop that fate. The “mixed feelings” that arose from Modern Warfare 2 are back, stronger than ever.

In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, you continue the story from Modern Warfare 2, finally ending the manhunt for Makarov, which escaped from grasp more times than any other villain in a game. You take control of “Yuri”, right after the extraction from the previous game. Yuri is a former Spetsnaz with a deep hatred for Makarov.

The United States are now under attack by Russia, leaded by Makarov, and in the first mission you Defend New York City and eventually, repel the invasion. Three months later, the official president of Russia, which did not want this war, is on his way to Hamburg for peace negotiations but his plane is shot down. Makarov captures him from the crash site. Negotiations are futile and Makarov takes over Russia and invades Europe.

The president of the United States is also still in Hamburg for the peace negotiations and is rescued in the next mission. After that, it is off to Somalia to find the warlord there that is associated with the chemical weaponry that Makarov uses to destroy Europe. A failed (and ambushed) attempt to catch Makarov in Prague leads to the death of Captain Soap, which was with us from the beginning of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Meanwhile, the hunt for the kidnapped daughter of the Russian president continues and she is tracked to a mine in Siberia. A rescue operation is carried out and is successful. Makarov is exposed to the world what kind of scumbag he is, and also all of his deeds, including the “No Russian” massacre from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 comes to light, being the one that ordered and carried out that tragedy. Makarov is put out of power and the Russian president is reinstated.

Makarov goes into hiding. He is later found in a hotel in Dubai and, after a glorious struggle and chase, he is hanged by Priced from a steel cable. Brutal….

In terms of graphics, not much has changed, it is still the same game as all the others, but slightly more polished. There is not that much to say here.

Same goes for the audio and sound effects. It is still pretty good, but nothing special or innovative about it either in comparison.

In terms of gameplay, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 plays exactly the same as all the other games. Smooth gunplay, rechargeable health when not taking damage, cover, the same as all other installments. There are no noticeable “problems” or game breaking bugs, it just works.

Besides the above, there is not that much more to say. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 did not have that much special features, besides the failed “Call of Duty: Elite” service and is, like mentioned a million times, just another game in the series.

Overall, the closure that the story offered was nice, the Multiplayer never disappoints in Call of Duty, but other than that, I thought Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was not that special and I got the feeling that I did not miss anything, had I not finished it.

For multiplayer reasons, I would still recommend it, although even that has shifted already to the current games.

Great way to close the Modern Warfare trilogy and say goodbye to our heroes Capt. Price and Soap. This 3rd entry was criticized upon release date for not innovating and giving us more of the same, and that's true but MW3 is an immensely satisfying shooter with epic firefights that feels like an adrenaline rush every time you go through the campaign.

There are some dramatic moments that lost their bite or effect on us given the recycling of resources and scenes. Every bombastic piece that is new, is yet somehow familiar as they all feel the same as previous MW entries. Despite this recycling, the campaign is still a blast to play and the gameplay experience is still satisfying.

first play

played on gt 730 i3 7100
A Downturn from mw1 and mw2 storylines and missions. Too many missions with too little storyline(main storyline). a lot of new characters without a proper impact on the story. Packed a lot in this game, but lost the vision of the trilogy, and seemed like the game was rushed. At least the game continuity is on par. fans won't be disappointed.

Missions:
Black Tuesday: really good continuous play in new york, liked the small story, and the mission is fun to play.
stronghold: the concept of two men taking down a fortress that was really nice, and the story impact was good too.
Bag and Drag: this was a fun mission with enough enemies and bombs to fight with the car chase was interesting and fun too.

All other missions are okay, not great, or are memorable because they are trying to end the trilogy with this one, they added all the missions and side storylines in this one, which made the storyline really diluted.

Story:
Once mw2 is done, I started mw3 directly and they just continued the story which is a really good way of engaging the audience.

the storyline seemed a little too complicated, like they showed the Russian perspective in clips, and with yuri's back story, which is a really good turn.

The past of yuri is interesting and how they connected the 3 MW sequels is really good.

The death of soap was really impactful but seemed kind of stupid in a manner, but still acceptable.

The climax where they go into the Mountains and then the hotel is not good, just guns and bombs without a clear reason why.

At least the Climax shot of Price and Makarov are good and really elevated.

Weapons:

The collection of weapons is not an upgrade from mw2, few good guns but are really for one or two missions, most of the time has to play with ak guns from enemies. Snipers are okay compared to mw2. The Big guns like lmg or tank attachments are really really loud and not accurate. Just spam and pray.

Played the game at veteran and is a good difficulty too.

Won't be playing this game again.

Edit 2024:

played on rtx 4060 amd 7700x
played after playing the remastered versions of mw1 and mw2 which means the devs didn't like the mw3 enough or people care it enough to get a remastered one.

so after playing I kind of liked it, still not updating the rating from 3, but the entire storyline and arc as described in the below review is still accurate. few moments are ok but overall too much stuff if not following accurately down to the tee.

Finished Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 3, mainly because I didn't have enough time to start another RPG and finish it before returning to the hostel. I didn't dislike it. But, it became boring quite fast, I couldn't follow the relevance of the story (maybe because this was the first time I was playing a Call of Duty game) and I couldn't really get immersed into it because I don't like First Person Shooters in general (especially those where I have to kill other humans only). I did like the stealth and sniper sequences of some of the missions and the missions seemed to offer more variety compared to earlier FPS games that I have played. By the way, 13.8 GB for a game this short is frustrating. Yes, I know that online play is where the greatness of COD lies. If I played FPS games like these regularly, I would have most probably completed close to a thousand games by now.

Actual Score: 1.5/5