While Activision has officially denied that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III was originally intended to be DLC for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, there is ample evidence to the contrary.
With all this evidence in mind, it appears that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III was originally DLC for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. However, to hasten the end of the Sony marketing deal in light of Xbox acquiring Activision, the last title under the deal was moved up to 2023 (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III), freeing up Call of Duty 2024 and beyond from contractual obligations to Sony.
Regardless of whether Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III was originally planned as DLC or a premium release, it offers a huge amount of content for $70 and is in no way poor value for money, regardless of whether it should have been priced at $50 or less because it is believed to have originally been planned as DLC.
Image credit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III - Published by Activision and developed by Sledgehammer Games & Infinity Ward.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III allows players to access the entirety of their Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II inventory, including weapons, weapon skins, attachments, blueprints, operators, operator skins, and store purchases, a decision which was warmly received by the community, and ensures that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II remains profitable, with players feeling confident that their purchases in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II will continue to benefit them even when they start playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.
One major issue of controversy surrounding Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is the single-player campaign, and honestly, I can see why, to an extent, as it does not surpass that of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and comes nowhere near close to being as rememberable as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019).
However, that being said, it is still an excellent first-person shooter campaign and, honestly, a rather decent Call of Duty campaign.
One of the main problems with the new campaign is the inclusion of Open Combat Missions missions, which exist in a strange paradox between being excellent single-player content in themselves while being substandard and soulless compared to the cinematic experiences Call of Duty fans are used to when it comes to the single-player campaign.
Image credit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III - Published by Activision and developed by Sledgehammer Games & Infinity Ward.
Open Combat Missions occur in instanced areas of the warzone map. Players can complete objectives using whatever weapons they can scavenge and any methods they wish, from stealthy assassinations to explosive carnage.
They would have been well received as additional single-player content, and I could easily see new missions being added with each season. Unfortunately, they replace roughly 40% of the Campaign’s missions, which has resulted in many players feeling that the Campaign is poorly made.
While I can understand this view, I do not agree with it fully. Yes, the Open Combat Missions missions are not as good as the traditional liner missions, but this is not the first time we have seen non-standard missions in a Call of Duty campaign. While Open Combat Missions missions do not work in a narrative setting as well as cinematic liner missions, they do help to move the story along. Overall, I enjoyed my time with the Campaign, even though I will admit that many of the missions are forgettable compared to iconic missions such as “No Russian” (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)) or Clean House (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)).
While the campaign is slightly shorter than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) ‘s campaign, it is only around 30 minutes shorter, which is close enough to be the result of narrative flow and instead of laziness or greed, as some outlets have claimed.
For players who fully explore each Open Combat mission and unlock all of the weapons and gadgets for future playthroughs, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’s campaign is substantially longer than any campaign since Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012).
Overall, this is a decent campaign that is well worth playing and highly undeserving of the hate it received, even if it does not contain any missions that will stick in the players’ minds for years to come. However, many Call of Duty games lack missions as impactful as No Russian, and suddenly pretending the entire franchise is full of epic narrative encounters is dishonest at best and downright deceptive at worst.
Image credit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III - Published by Activision and developed by Sledgehammer Games & Infinity Ward.
Unlike most recent Call of Duty titles, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III offers persistent lobbies, meaning that players who play together can stay together, potentially making new friends (or enemies).
While I feel one match is enough time to gauge whether you want to send someone a friend request or not, many in the Call of Duty community missed the camaraderie of persistent lobbies, and for them, I am happy to see its long-awaited return.
At launch, all 16 of the standard multiplayer maps are remastered of the maps found in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009), something which has pleased longtime fans of the franchise, while newer fans and those who were too young to play the original find them dated and honestly as someone who was already an adult when Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 released, I can see their point of view.
Map design has come a long way in 14 years, and while I love the remastered maps, I will freely admit they do feel dated compared to newer maps found in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022).
In addition, at launch, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III offered fewer modes than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, indicating that the maps were not designed with newer modes in mind and that making older maps work with newer modes is more difficult than it appears.
While they will likely be added as the year progresses, at least for now, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III feels and plays like a nicer-looking version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
Image credit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III - Published by Activision and developed by Sledgehammer Games & Infinity Ward.
Joining the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III core multiplayer offering is a selection of new and returning modes, including the returning large-team modes Invasion and Ground War (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II), the objective-focused War mode (Call of Duty: WWII), and the new mode Cutthroat, an intense 3 v 3 v 3 mode inspired by the fan-favourite gunfight mode.
At launch, War mode is sparse, offering a single map; however, I expect to see a new war map added with each seasonal update. I see myself playing War mode a fair deal as Call of Duty WWII’s War mode is one of my favourite modes in the franchise’s history.
Image credit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III - Published by Activision and developed by Sledgehammer Games & Infinity Ward.
In a first for the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III includes a Zombies mode, and honestly, it is one of the best, if not the very best, Zombies mode I have seen in some time, and while I am sorry to see that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II’s DMZ mode had to die so that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’s Zombie mode could live; honestly it was a sacrifice worth making, and completing objectives in a large open world map with your team and running into other teams feels fantastic.
As the minutes tick by, Zombie hordes grow ever more dangerous, and by the time it comes to exfil, it’s not uncommon to see hundreds of zombies descending on the extraction LZ.
While I hope the classic round-based zombie mode sticks around in some capacity in future titles, I equally hope that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’s zombie mode continues to receive updates for a long time to come and perhaps becomes a standalone title, similar to how Call of Duty: Black Ops IV’s Blackout mode led to the creation of Call of Duty: Warzone, one of the best battle royale games on the market.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III introduces a new way of engaging in combat with a tactical stance, a near-perfect middle ground between hip fire and aiming down sights. This stance allows for more accuracy than hip fire while offering a faster-aiming speed than using a traditional scope, making it perfect for maps featuring heavily indoor environments.
Image credit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III - Published by Activision and developed by Sledgehammer Games & Infinity Ward.
Profanity in Pegi 18/M-rated games is nothing new. While I seldom use profanity myself, It doesn’t overly bother me, except for the double standards on display when “Jesus”, “Jesus Christ”, and even worse variations such as “Jesus F****** Christ” are used fairly often in games and movies. At the same time, no reputable company would dare use the names of other religions’ deities/figures in such a manner.
When did you hear anyone use Zeus, Mohammed, Allah, Thor, or Odin as a curse word? Probably never outside of someone making a point about how no one uses these names as curse words.
I am a follower of Christ and believe he is the only way to the Father (God); however, I would never seek to offend those of other religions by using the name of a major figure in their religion as a curse word; it is crass, disrespectful and is an example of double standards in mainstream media, where just about every other religion is shown more courtesy than Christianity.
Luckily for the developers (and others who engage in blasphemy), Jesus Christ addressed blasphemy against himself during his earthly ministry by stating anyone who speaks against him or blasphemes him will be forgiven (unlike those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit, the third member of the trinity in Christianity)
Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the one to come. - Matthew 12:31
While Islam wrongly lowers the status of Jesus Christ to just a major prophet, the developers of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 have potentially offended close to 4.5 billion people (1.9B+ Muslims and 2.5B+ Christians) by repeatedly having Soap and other major characters use variations of “Jesus Christ” as a curse word during the Campaign, especially when as a PEGI 18 game there are so many other curse words they could have just as easily used.
Image credit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III - Published by Activision and developed by Sledgehammer Games & Infinity Ward.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is not perfect, and I would be lying if I said it was; however, the terrible review scores it has received from several media outlets are dramatically lower than anything the series has received before, including less popular titles such as Call of Duty Vanguard.
While there are legitimate reasons why a reviewer could give Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III a lower-than-average score, it is highly noticeable that the worst review scores are from websites and outlets that appear to harbour ill will towards Xbox, with even critically acclaimed titles such as Starfield receiving a 6 or 7 out of 10, when the consensus is that while it’s not perfect, it is without question an 8.5 or better game.
While some outlets deny accusations of bias, and others may not even be aware they are actively biased, some outlets have embraced their bias by publically admitting they dislike Xbox and will always rate Xbox-owned titles lower than they warrant, with one reviewer stating that he deducted 20% from the score he would have given otherwise for Xbox titles.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III may not be the 10/10 that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) was, but 4/10? That rating is for shovelware and games that do not function as advertised, not titles with a slightly shorter campaign than usual or launch day issues with map spawns.
I understand why reviewers cater to angry gamers; controversy is a great way to increase views. However, as with all titles I review, good or bad, I must review them honestly. This is not only because you, the reader, deserve the facts and the right to make your own decision based on those facts, but most importantly, because I am a follower of Jesus Christ. Honesty and integrity are a core part of my walk following my Lord and Savior.
Image credit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III - Published by Activision and developed by Sledgehammer Games & Infinity Ward.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is likely to be the last Call of Duty title available natively on 8th-generation hardware, and all future titles will likely require access to a cloud streaming service, such as xCloud, GeForce Now or Ubisoft+, for those playing on 8th-generation consoles and weaker PC hardware.
On that note, due to a bizarre series of events, Ubisoft owns the cloud streaming rights to all Activision-Blizzard games previously released and those due to release in the next 15 years due to a deal between Xbox, Ubisoft and the CMA (UK Competition regulator), however, this will not affect the availability of titles on Game Pass or xCloud, despite Microsoft having to purchase a lease to stream games their own games on xCloud.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is the last Call of Duty title not to launch on Xbox and PC Game Pass on day one due to a pre-existing deal with Sony that granted the marketing rights to PlayStation for the Call of Duty franchise.
However, that deal ends with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III per Jim Ryan’s email, which was leaked during the FTC trial, and Activision and Xbox have confirmed that the Activision Blizzard Back catalogue will be added to Game Pass in 2024, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Diablo 4.
In the future, all Activision games will be available on Xbox/PC Game Pass day of release, like all other titles owned or published by Xbox.
Image credit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III - Published by Activision and developed by Sledgehammer Games & Infinity Ward.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is a first-person shooter video game developed by Sledgehammer Games & Infinity Ward and published by Activision, it was released on 10 November 2023 and retails for $69.99.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is available on the following platforms: PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III supports:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III offers the following matchmaking options:
The Call of Duty : Modern Warfare III in-game store sells:
The following peripherals are officially supported:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is rated PEGI 18+ and contains the following:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is an excellent game, and more critics and gamers would have said as much if not for the fact that it carries the “Call of Duty” branding, while Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III may not be better than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), it is still an excellent title in its own right, and while I feel that it has been rushed out the door to wrap up the Sony deal now that Xbox owns Zctivsion, It is still worth playing for fans of the franchise, and I for one will be sinking many hours into it over the next 12 months and beyond.
