Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3: 'every bit as ridiculous and exhilarating as ever'.
It's business as usual for
Modern Warfare 3 – though whether that's a criticism depends on expectations. Should sequels offer some form of innovation? Or are you one of the tens of millions of players champing at the bit for more of the same?
The single-player campaign provides ammunition for both camps. Set in several major European cities (with the odd African detour) during the third world war, it is once again a five-hour series of linear, over-the-top set pieces at the very limit of credibility.
Even Hollywood couldn't afford this. Players pitch up to one bombed-out landmark after another, blowing up what isn't already destroyed before moving on in search of the villainous Vladimir Makarov. It's as ridiculous and exhilarating as ever, and pleasingly without the occasional sudden leap in difficulty that blighted its predecessors.
Of course, the campaign is but an appetiser to the hundreds of hours that await in the game's multiplayer.
Modern Warfare 2's co-operative spec-ops mode returns in expanded form, progress here unlocking weapons for use in the new survival mode, where up to four players team up to take on untold enemies.
On the competitive side, developer Infinity Ward has learned from its
Modern Warfare 2 missteps and done much to prevent players holing up in safe havens and just waiting to take shots. There are fewer obvious hiding spots, and the division of the game's signature killstreaks into two categories – one for kills, one to help your team – means both teams have an unmanned aerial vehicle in the air more often than not and are therefore visible on each other's radars. This necessitates constant movement, the more enclosed maps making for a faster pace and a renewed emphasis on gunplay – though there are plenty of new toys to play with too.
These tweaks are subtle enough to please hardcore fans looking for improvements but also significant enough to have a profound effect on how the action pans out for casual players. Essentially more of the same, then, but that's precisely what the developer set out to do – and exactly what all those fans wanted.
