As the 20th mainline instalment in the Call of Duty series, Modern Warfare 3 defies the odds this year in the wake of rumours suggesting its accelerated development. Despite reports suggesting Modern Warfare 3 was originally meant as an expansion to 2022's Modern Warfare 2 and despite reports that the game's been in development for less than 18 months, it has in fact materialised as a fully-fledged release. In terms of what you'd expect from Call of Duty, the core components are all there, albeit with a diminished campaign and a lack of brand-new 6v6 multiplayer levels - but our focus here is more on the technical aspects of the game. The IW9 engine continues to impress, but there are signs that the signature polish on the experience isn't quite up to snuff for all users. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X fare well, but Series S seems to take a hit compared to previous franchise entries.
MW3 doesn't skimp on the options, though it does use the same front-end menu as last year's game - now called the COD HQ. Here everything Modern Warfare 3 is laid out on its own row: multiplayer, ground war, and the zombies mode. We get a new campaign mode too of course - 14 story missions, many of which boast the linear, often bombastic, set-piece heavy design we expect of the series. Except, these are now mixed in with new, open world style missions letting us loose on large sandbox areas. Between planting GPS trackers across a fortified dock, or blowing up helicopters around a military compound, these open areas are the biggest departure from the Call of Duty formula.
Even on first glance though Modern Warfare 3 is clearly more of an iterative release. It's hard to ignore that shortcuts - at times, smart shortcuts - are taken to hit its November release. Firstly, the campaign is short. Also, too many levels use the open-world mission type to pad out the adventure. Often in these you'll spend time navigating the map, ticking check-boxes before going to a final marker. There's potential in the idea of more open-ended Call of Duty missions - but the goals here often feel detached from the main, often well-choreographed missions.