Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Reviews
Even by the tempered expectations of this fatigued franchise, Modern Warfare III deserves nothing less than a dishonorable discharge.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)'s campaign is comically bad, its Zombies mode is zonked and its multiplayer just kind of sucks.
This isn't the groundbreaking experience we were promised; instead, we're left with a sense of déjà vu and a longing for the series' glory days.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is a work that should never have been made. The fact that it was initially supposed to be an expansion of the previous title speaks volumes. The sequel blatantly copies what the series came up with long ago and in an even more dysfunctional way. The title is in the vein of Warzone's battle royale mode, which is crammed into both the campaign and zombies mode, and the multiplayer delivers virtually identical gameplay, environments, and weapons to what we played last year. Not even great graphics or technical artistry can salvage the fact that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is below average.
Review in Czech | Read full review
A Call of Duty game of this low quality released a decade ago would have been a scandal. Now, it's emblematic of an approach to a franchise that's in desperate need of a reality check.
As much time as I try to put into Modern Warfare III, and as many chances as I try to give it, it’s just way too rough. This feels like an early access version of the game. It’s missing way too much that would make it it’s own game in its own right, including original maps, an original zombies experience (with maps that aren’t just the DMZ map), and a campaign that is actually engaging. Playing four hours of a campaign you don’t really have any interest in isn’t worth $70.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is a disappointing new entry in the franchise that should never have seen the light of day.
Modern Warfare 3 isn't a bad game per se, there's just the very concrete idea that it's not a game built from scratch, but built on top of MW2 and shuffled over again. These are mere visual notes and changes to some mechanics that give it a marginally different image, it's not for me a new and complete game, it's more of an extra component of last year's work. It was enough to have been put out here as additional content where the highlight would be the Zombies mode and the tiny campaign of just over 3 hours. Those who own MW2 don't have much appeal to buy it here, unless they are unconditional fans of the Zombies.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The real question is; is MW3 worth the price? I would say no. Although multiplayer is insanely fun, there seems to be more in store with the addition of the new maps. The campaign and zombie mode let down the game as a whole. The campaign in Call of Duty has always been one of my favourite story-driven games, especially with the heights of MW2 and MW3. But yet, this campaign has left me wanting more. Especially in the longevity of the mode itself. And while I commend Call of Duty for trying something different in regard to zombies. It unfortunately does not hit the mark. And it is with this in mind, I am awarding Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 the bronze award.
Call of Duty HQ needlessly complexes the game loading process, as switching between games and modes requires relaunching a different executable. The campaign is hurried along in an unenjoyable way with open mission design that takes away from what makes the series great. Zombies mode is completely forgettable and a rehash of DMZ, which is not included or playable in Modern Warfare III . Multiplayer does the heavy lifting, and really only stays strong through nostalgia of the original Modern Warfare 2. While the maps hold a timeless appeal, it doesn’t feel fresh or new as an experience. This is a game that barely stands on its own. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is unlike other games, it’s not broken, just bad and lacking any redeeming values.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III recycles old ideas in a stale package that is a downright slog for most of the experience. It commits the ultimate sin of being boring, and it does not bode well for the future of a franchise that, for the last 20 years, has been the pinnacle of popular FPS games.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare III is the most minimal effort we’ve ever seen from the franchise being essentially the exact same game from the previous year. It really does feel like an expansion pack. They literally took last year’s game, sped it up and shoved maps from fourteen years ago into it.
Regardless of your relationship to Call of Duty, your feelings about military shooters, your investment in the rebooted Modern Warfare saga, or how much or little you like to play the new Call of Duty online multiplayer every year, the Modern Warfare III campaign feels more like an indicator of a series in decline than a misstep.
If the original Modern Warfare 3 represented the culmination of a genre-defining FPS trilogy, then Modern Warfare III encapsulates everything wrong with contemporary Call of Duty.
The MW3 campaign gets by on Call of Duty's expertly refined gunplay and little else. Its nonsensical narrative comes across as pitiful and dull, further hindered by the uninspired mission design that never extends beyond "go here and shoot them." Purchasing MW3 for its campaign is a massive waste of money, let alone time.
With this Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3. Activision has unfortunately proved right all those who have criticized the franchise since the dawn of time with arguments that are sometimes a bit excessive.
Review in French | Read full review
"We need a new Call of Duty game every single year," the Activision executives bellowed, and out popped Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 after the development times caught up with them. A truly anaemic release, there's never been a surer sign to press pause on the series. 14-year-old content is the best thing about this year's entry and if that's not enough of an indictment of where Call of Duty is at in 2023, we don't know what is. A franchise in serious need of a complete reboot, Modern Warfare 3 has to be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
Underbaked, rehashed, and cobbled together from multiplayer parts, Modern Warfare 3’s single-player campaign is everything a Call of Duty story mode shouldn’t be.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, which can be completed in about three and a half hours, is designed as a story mode of Warzone, and this is what ruined the game.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
In short, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 doesn't honor the title it has been given. The campaign is just plain bad, multiplayer mainly banks on your nostalgia with the return of classic maps, and zombies is just the DMZ mode from Warzone but with zombies roaming the map. Gameplay is mostly what you would expect from Call of Duty but seems to have some inconsistencies. You can still have some fun with the title, but it's painfully obvious that this should have been an expansion for last year's MW2.
Review in Dutch | Read full review