User Score
3.5

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 8685 Ratings

User score distribution:
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
  1. Jul 30, 2018
    9
    I always find myself coming back to this masterpiece. Solid story and an entertaining multiplayer experience that will have you plugging countless amount of hours into.
  2. Sep 3, 2018
    8
    I've always felt that this is the Call of Duty game that has the most replay value due to one vital component that has kept me coming back to it: Survival Mode.

    Everything else is forgettable re-dos of MW2, but Survival Mode and the new Missions from the Special Ops mode will certainly keep me open to jumping back into what I would consider my favorite game in the series!
  3. Jul 20, 2020
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. To be completely honest, I really don't think this game deserves the hate it gets, I might come off as biased since this was my first AND favorite Call of Duty game in the series, the reason why I enjoyed this title so much was not because of the campaign or the multiplayer, the spec ops mode in Modern Warfare 3 was one of the most enjoyable and satisfying spec ops/survival modes I've ever played in a Call of Duty game (next to zombies of course). The main argument that people use to describe this game is that it is strikingly similar to MW2, that might be true but you have to remember that even the best games such as the Fallout franchise, have their similarities with each title, the only difference being that there are a few improvements sprinkled in. MW3 itself has some notable inspirations taken away from MW2 and some much-needed improvements, the third-party modded game modes such as infected, were added into MW3 as an official community game mode and this might be one of the only Call of Duties in the franchise that has taken ideas from their community and put them into practice. The survival mode is an amazing example of improvement to MW2's spec ops mode, the MW3 survival mode is nothing short of fun and exciting (even more so with a friend), there is a lot of strategy and tactics involved in MW3's survival mode in order to chew through waves and survive for as long as humanly possible, not to mention the many unique strategy-oriented community game modes, which adds an extra layer of complexity and thinking to MW3's game modes and overall gameplay. Just because I have a lot of good to say about MW3 does not mean it is safe from criticism, for example; the campaign was a bit of a downgrade from MW1 and 2's campaigns, as MW3 simply didn't take as many risks and narrative techniques as the 1st and 2nd MWs, however, the characters were written really well, especially the main villain, Makarov, we were able to see just how sadistic and evil this character really was and in MW3 we got to witness his satisfying downfall which was a dramatic but much needed and satisfying ending to the Modern Warfare trilogy, MW3 also took the heartbreaking approach in the narrative, by killing off arguably the most popular and loved MW1 and 2 player character, soap, this obviously devastated and infuriated die-hard MW1 and 2 players but it was ultimately a clever way to tug at your heartstrings. So overall the campaign was decent and well written but was ultimately not as captivating and exciting as the previous campaigns in the trilogy. In terms of normal multiplayer, IT WAS in fact almost a carbon copy of MW2's multiplayer, however, it was still very enjoyable and could pass as a solid and tolerable multiplayer on any given day. I've had fond memories of this game growing up so this review might be a bit biased but overall this game has its downsides but it is nowhere near being a "bad or mediocre game", the more often you play it, the more you come to appreciate it's gameplay, simplicity, and it's complexity alike. Expand
  4. Oct 12, 2021
    8
    The End of the Original Modern Warfare Trilogy, personally my favorite story in the series, with even more action, and some fantastic & emotional missions, but a less enjoyable Multiplayer experience.
  5. Apr 4, 2020
    10
    One of the BEST Game i've ever played...
    I am Sorry for the People who add Low Rate for This Amazing Game, They're Don't Deserve an Amazing game Like This... They're Not Gamer at All...Piss Off...
  6. Jul 22, 2019
    10
    Great campaign, great multiplayer, amazing spec ops and survival! One of the best COD's in history. I highly recommend it!
  7. Feb 21, 2021
    10
    Easily the best CoD game in the franchise. Brilliant ending to the story, phenomenal multiplayer and excellent spec ops mode. You can play this for hours. (if you can find a multiplayer match today, although that isn't really the game's fault.)
  8. Jun 26, 2021
    9
    This game has it all: a heart-wrenching campaign, addicting and rage inducing multiplayer, and the occasionally fun spec ops mode.
  9. Jun 21, 2022
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Again, I don't understand why people hate this game so much. Sure it's got issues but I thought it was great. The campaign is the sad but perfect story end for this sub-series. Makarov. **** Gets it. Every one was devastated when "Soap" died and the twist of Yuri being there the whole time was phenomenal. I never got to play the multiplayer so I'm just gonna skip over that. The mode I love the most is by far, survival. So, so addicting. Expand
  10. Mar 27, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Niceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Expand
  11. Jul 30, 2020
    10
    Definitely one of the best first-person shooter games and the best trilogy ever. All three games are a must-play for a complete experience.
  12. Jun 21, 2020
    9
    the story concludes the trilogy in a bitter sweet fashion but it is a perfect ending for the best call of duty trilogy
  13. Sep 11, 2022
    8
    This game shows how the original Call of Duty Modern Warfare trilogy is the model of consistency bringing a cool action-packed story with kick ass characters and fun environments and weapons. The only thing I wish they would change is making the story last longer than 6 hours cause all the modern warfare games feel a little too short. This game was a little disappointing due to the setupThis game shows how the original Call of Duty Modern Warfare trilogy is the model of consistency bringing a cool action-packed story with kick ass characters and fun environments and weapons. The only thing I wish they would change is making the story last longer than 6 hours cause all the modern warfare games feel a little too short. This game was a little disappointing due to the setup from the previous game, but it still manages to deliver a great experience and a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. Trying to understand all of the bad reviews for this game >.> Expand
  14. Nov 14, 2021
    8
    Idc what people say this is one of my favorite cod games ever made and a great final, looking back in 2021 this maybe be not to good of a game but it’s surely better than the others, I recommend a try and you will love it campaign amazing and heartbreaking, multiplayer enjoyable (now) spec ops enjoyable,
  15. Rt1
    Dec 29, 2020
    8
    I don’t understand why this game was so hated. It might look almost the same as MW2, all the mechanics might be the same, but taking the newer games into consideration, MW3 deserves a lot of praise.

    Campaign- Great story, mission locations and atmospheres are very diverse compared to the last 2 modern warfare games. Characters very memorable as always in the MW trilogy. A fitting end.
    I don’t understand why this game was so hated. It might look almost the same as MW2, all the mechanics might be the same, but taking the newer games into consideration, MW3 deserves a lot of praise.

    Campaign- Great story, mission locations and atmospheres are very diverse compared to the last 2 modern warfare games. Characters very memorable as always in the MW trilogy. A fitting end.

    Special Ops- A drastic improvement from MW2. IW and Sledgehammer packed loads of content into MW3’s spec ops. 16 missions, survival and chaos made it a lot of fun. Multiplayer- I’m not gonna lie, the multiplayer maps are pretty mediocre. But solid weapons and killstreaks keep you invested in it. And amazingly, micro transactions aren’t blown in your face! The developers had the ‘if you want it, go and earn it’ kind of attitude back then.
    Expand
  16. Apr 21, 2021
    8
    i love this game the zombie which is like gta survival series is the best part the online stinks and the story mode is great awesome game.
  17. Sep 15, 2021
    8
    The biggest thing about MW3's development was that most of the original Infinity Ward Team left to form Respawn Entertainment, that original Infinity Ward development team would go on to make the Titanfall Games. Since that team left, the developing cycle became shorter for the making of MW3 going around 6-8 months which was the shortest COD Game development cycle. But, Infinity Ward stillThe biggest thing about MW3's development was that most of the original Infinity Ward Team left to form Respawn Entertainment, that original Infinity Ward development team would go on to make the Titanfall Games. Since that team left, the developing cycle became shorter for the making of MW3 going around 6-8 months which was the shortest COD Game development cycle. But, Infinity Ward still was able to conclude the Modern Warfare Trilogy in a pretty good way.

    The Campaign was amazing since it actually wrapped up the real story unlike with Black Ops 3 which didn't take place after BO2 and it didn't follow-up on your decisions from the BO2 Campaign.

    Spec Ops was brought back from MW2 making new missions, an endless survival mode, & a brand new mode called Chaos Mode which is a Quick PVE Mode where you chain kills to score as many points as possible before time runs out. MW3's Spec Ops was a big step-up after MW2 but its still not better than Treyarch Zombies.

    MW3's Multiplayer didn't stand out that much compared to the rest of the Modern Warfare Trilogy but we still got new features like Specialist Kill-streaks (which can transform the players into super soldiers by giving them all of the perks) & community game-modes like All or Nothing & Infected. One significant change about MW3's Multiplayer was the Season Pass because it was sold like a big Battle-Pass for 12 months and it didn't have 4 DLC Drops like Black Ops 1. The system was dropping new Maps & Game modes like the Face-off Playlist (1v1, 2v2, 3v3, & Hardcore 3v3), the overall Season Pass really shook up the game a lot. MW3 Multiplayer also has the most overall launch content having over 50+ Guns to use & 16 Maps to play on, it has the best launch multiplayer IMO. Overall, if the development cycle was longer than it would've been originally, it would've been the best game of the Trilogy.
    Expand
  18. Jul 22, 2021
    8
    Gameplay : 8/10
    Design (video + audio) : 7/10
    Story : 7/10
    Technical aspects : 8/10
    Repeatability: 8/10
  19. Aug 20, 2021
    8
    Rating based of single player campaign. I do not play multiplayer. With that said, decent game with a decent ending.
  20. Jan 8, 2022
    10
    It was my first Call of Duty game, my mother bought it for me in 2018 (or 2016, or 2017 oh my good i can't recall!). And when i played it i was very happy and ready to fill Makarov with his terrorist face! And for haters i have only one sentence: shut up and don't touch my nostalgia! Even if we lived in a utopia, you still wouldn't **** like something! I absolutely do not give a ****It was my first Call of Duty game, my mother bought it for me in 2018 (or 2016, or 2017 oh my good i can't recall!). And when i played it i was very happy and ready to fill Makarov with his terrorist face! And for haters i have only one sentence: shut up and don't touch my nostalgia! Even if we lived in a utopia, you still wouldn't **** like something! I absolutely do not give a **** about bugs, shortcomings of something, or the simplicity of the plot! It was my first ,,Call of Duty" game and i love it. Expand
  21. Jan 22, 2022
    8
    The end of the original Modern Warfare Trilogy.

    Unfortunately it's not innovative in terms of gameplay but it's still very fun. My favorite story in series, more action and some very iconic missions. The Multiplayer is unfortunately a little bit uninteresting and the maps are decent. Last but not least, the Spec Ops missions are even better than before, there's a good amount of
    The end of the original Modern Warfare Trilogy.

    Unfortunately it's not innovative in terms of gameplay but it's still very fun.

    My favorite story in series, more action and some very iconic missions.

    The Multiplayer is unfortunately a little bit uninteresting and the maps are decent.

    Last but not least, the Spec Ops missions are even better than before, there's a good amount of content.

    Final Rating: "Great" ~ 8/10.
    Expand
  22. Jul 19, 2023
    10
    my favorite modern warfare. this is basically a fixed mw2 but in my opinion way better. the story is a step down but the multiplayer is super fun with the customization, maps, and the player icons. and spec ops is the best part with a survival mode. survival is kind of like zombies but with less things to do. and spec ops missions can be multiplayer and a lot of missions.
Metascore
88

Generally favorable reviews - based on 81 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 79 out of 81
  2. Negative: 0 out of 81
  1. Jan 11, 2012
    85
    Ultimately, Modern Warfare 3 feels similar to it's brethren, but that doesn't mean it isn't a great game. The single player element is still exciting, and multiplayer has more options than ever – if you're a fan of Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 3 is a no brainer.
  2. Dec 28, 2011
    84
    Modern Warfare 3, while still an excellent thrill ride in its own right, feels far too similar to MW2 or even Black Ops for my taste.
  3. I never expected Modern Warfare 3 to go toe-to-toe with EA's juggernaut this year, but it came out of the gates with a tour de force campaign and co-op mode. It loses points with a perhaps too-familiar multiplayer that caters to the juvenile on Xbox Live; though don't be mistaken, Modern Warfare 3 is one hell of a shooter and a highlight for a series that just won't die – no matter how much we wish it bloody would, at times.