Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III

Modern Warfare 3's campaign is exactly what I expect when I sit down and boot up a Call of Duty title. The plot featured enough predictable story beats to benefit from my nostalgia for the franchise. However, there was a noticeable lack in big, memorable action sequences for itself. Multiplayer has been some of the most fun I've had in COD in a while. I was even pleasantly surprised to find Modern Warfare Zombies to be a good time.

With Modern Warfare 3, Sledgehammer has tried to offer something both for fans of the classics and those who want to see this series evolve, and like Ghosts, Black Ops 3, and Infinite Warfare before it, I suspect this will be an entry that people will be calling underrated five years from now. I’m not waiting that long to show it some love, though. I’ve had a blast playing Modern Warfare 3, both in the campaign and in multiplayer. The Zombies mode may be lacking, but I can live with that. My only real concern is that I hope Sledgehammer and Treyarch aren’t forced to crunch like this again for the sake of annual release deadlines.

By borrowing here and there from the past Sledgehammer has played it too safe, but has forgotten to provide fans with truly new and valid reasons to dig into their wallets again this year. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III seems like a DLC that is saved thanks to more solid gameplay than ever, but much more is needed to enter the hearts of fans.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was a tough game to review. The campaign almost completely lost its way with respect to the soul of Call of Duty campaigns. Meanwhile, the multiplayer and new iteration on Zombies are fun, with Zombies in particular being a real surprise. As a total package, it is deeply flawed, but taken as disparate parts there is a lot to like, depending on your personal tastes.

Although a lackluster campaign and reused content holds it back, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III has a few great tricks up its sleeve. The multiplayer engages in a way its predecessor missed the mark, and open-world Zombies is exactly as entertaining as it sounds. There's more to be desired as a whole, but as rushed as it was, MWIII has solid elements that can be enjoyed.

CoD Modern Warfare 3 hides one of the best multiplayer modes in years between a crappy campaign and an insignificant zombie mode.

With weaponized nostalgia, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III delivers a satisfying experience in multiplayer and zombies. A diverse selection of returning battlegrounds augments the competitive action and the deep open-world undead mode is entertaining for hours, making it worth playing despite the disappointing campaign.

The Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 3 campaign is a by-the-numbers experience with few of the thrills or high-points the series is known for.

A weak campaign and a fun but unimaginative multiplayer mode and the addition of zombies make Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 a mixed part of the series.

Audiovisually it looks awesome, the gorgeous graphics and very well done animations, which are especially noticeable in the cutscenes, are complemented by great-feeling combat, and it all moves very well. The big problem with the game, however, is the unnecessary clutter. [Issue#332]

Modern Warfare 3 is a worrying misfire with a shoehorned campaign, saved only by excellent gunplay in multiplayer and its reworked Zombies.

A fun but technically unstable Zombies mode and some nostalgic additions to Multiplayer probably don't make up for the worst Campaign we've seen so far in a CoD game, nor do they fully redeem the game's integrity, a game which would have been better off released at half price as an expansion for MWII.

The team behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III seemed uninspired and directionless, which probably led to the release of a game in 2023 that perhaps shouldn't have been released at all.

Without immediate course correction, Activision is likely to discover that even the most loyal playerbase can smell when it's being cheated. [Issue#392, p.104]

Call of Duty Modern Warfare III is the ultimate proof that the franchise's annual release schedule is breaking down. The campaign feels uninteresting and rushed, the multiplayer mode appeals to the nostalgia of the community and isn't fundamentally different from its predecessor, while the zombies mode comes across as a PvE version of DMZ, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. All in all, Modern Warfare III struggles to justify its price and each of these elements would have benefited from a modular release rather than the hastily put together package we have on our hands.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is an unambitious and in many ways completely unnecessary installment of the series. It doesn't introduce any significant innovations to the formula, and even the single-player campaign - usually a solid offering - completely disappoints this time.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III does exactly what it needs to in the multiplayer to catch on, and the Call of Duty formula is undeniably addictive when it all clicks. But the single-player campaign hits a new low.

Overall, it can't be said that Modern Warfare III is explicitly bad. However, the issue lies in the fact that it largely consists of recycled content, and everywhere you look, there's an effort to simplify the work. If it were released as DLC or at a lower price, it would be acceptable, but the full price and the attempt to present it as a full-fledged Call of Duty title bring down the rating. The brighter moments of the game include some campaign missions, Makarov, as well as nostalgic maps in multiplayer, but that's about it.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is not a full-fledged Call of Duty, but it is marketed as such. This has major consequences for quality. Whether that quality is relevant to you depends on the mode you buy the game for. The single player is boring, short and bad. The multiplayer is nostalgic, but is also too safe an update of the predecessor with old maps. The Zombies mode is different, big and exciting. So have fun, maybe?

Better-than-expected Zombies, decent Multiplayer with flaws and one of the worst campaigns in the series mar this year's Call of Duty, making it difficult to recommend, even to the hardcore.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a disappointing anniversary for a series that really should take a break.

Having played through the Campaign, Multiplayer, and the MWZ I have to say I have rarely enjoyed myself. At times I felt the multiplayer was inconsistent, the campaign was a laughable waste of time, and the zombies were missing their usual magic. It was always a question whether Activision could get MW3 to the gold standard in just one short year, unfortunately, the verdict is in and it’s a resounding no.

Modern Warfare 3 is an uninspiring trip down memory lane, hacking together old ideas in an attempt to create something new. With a campaign that even the most die-hard fans would struggle to enjoy, and a multiplayer mode that offers nothing fresh, it’s best to steer clear of this full-price travesty.

With Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, Activision has unfortunately proved right all those who have been criticizing the franchise since the dawn of time, with arguments that are sometimes a little excessive. This time, it's impossible to prove them wrong. Under the guise of nostalgia, we're treated to maps we've already seen and heard of, and nothing new, nor any major changes, just to get the ball rolling again. The campaign is short and uneven. There are a few memorable sequences, but they can be counted on the fingers of one hand. As for the zombie mode, it's a simple mix of DMZ and Cold War Zombie thrown together on the new Warzone map. Even if it's not all bad news - the game's multiplayer is pretty solid, and the sensations and gunplay are cool - Activision knows that when we hear you talk about a "premium experience", we don't believe it for a moment. And yet it's a very good customer who's telling you here, not without a certain sadness.

Discounting versions that were developed for dedicated handheld systems, the 2023 version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III represents the series at a low. The campaign is painfully short, and while the open combat missions are a neat idea, they needed more time to feel substantial. Zombies are still fun enough, and the same can be said for multiplayer, but the absence of new maps feels wrong for a brand-new game. If the original plan to make this a DLC package were still in play and the price were reasonable, then one could see it being a recommendation for dedicated series fans. As a $70 full price game, however, what's available is pitiful to the point that gamers should stay away from this title and stick with the older stuff instead.