Recently, we here at the Smoking Nerd had the opportunity to get our hands on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Infinity Ward's latest and greatest installment to the Modern Warfare series. Thanks to our good buddy at the local Family video establishment, we were able to play through most of the game's modes a whopping four days before the official release, and I feel ahead of schedule as I've beaten the campaign and the game hasn't even launched. Overall, the game was great, as we knew it would be, and I am in the unique position of being able to pump up the rest of you for the offical launch on Tuesday. I'll try to keep spoilers out of the article, but let's just say crazy shit goes down on numerous occasions, involving all of our favorite ass-kickers, Price, Soap, Nikolai, and the new guy Yuri (who isn't as new on the MW scene as he may seem...). We didn't get to play around with the multiplayer as we didn't want to risk banishment from the servers, but in addition to the campaign we also got to play the new survival mode and some of the special ops levels.
The special ops mode in MW2 was a great new addition to the game, and the special ops in MW3
continues the legacy of awesomeness. There are a total of sixteen missions that are divided into groups of four based on difficulty. The missions themselves are fun, but as in MW2, trying to do them as fast a possible is where the real fun is going to happen. You can take these missions on solo or co-op, and you still earn stars for each mission based on how well you do. The new mode, survival, seems to be Infinity Ward's contribution to the wave based game mode craze that has been sweeping through shooter ranks in the last few years. Much like Nazi Zombies in Treyarch's Call of Duty games, or Horde in Gears of War 2/3, survival sends a number of waves your way, with "boss" waves every ten, and the occasional helicopter wave. Luckily, they don't send you into endless battle without the proper equipment. There are weapons, equipment, and air strike crates in each level that allow you to buy and upgrade the guns of your choice to allow for the most efficient bad guy destruction. Unlike the buy-off-the-map style gun purchases in Horde and Nazi Zombies, you can actually use the guns you want, when you want, as long as you've earned enough money, and upgrade them to your specific play style. Spec ops and survival are great alternative play options, and will steal countless hours of my life in the future I'm sure.
The main part of the game that we looked at in this super sneak preview was the campaign. Without wanting to divulge too many of the game's secrets and twists, I cansay that the campaign is rife with the betrayals, heroics, and badassness that we have come to expect from the Modern Warfare franchise over the years. The campaign takes you all over the world, and one of the best early game sequences involves the operators fighting out onto the floor of the New York Stock exchange. Other awesome battle settings include African slums full of pissed off militias, under the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and inside a hijacked and stalling airliner among others. The size of the campaign is about the size of the other MW campaigns, and I was able to finish the entire thing in about five and half hours. The graphics haven't changed much since the last MW, but that isn't nesessarily a bad thing. The game was full of stunning laandscapes to fight across, the best of which, in my opinion, were the skyscraper-city scenes. Modern Warfare is not shy about taking the fight to the streets of America, and they tear New York apart in this game. The enviroment seems to be a little more destructible that in previous games, which is an imhem provement, but didn't get me as giddy as Battlefield 3's destruction potential does. The AI also seems to be a bit better in the campaign, as there were less whack-a-mole moments as you sit and wait for an enemies head to predictably pop out of cover. However, the enemies do seem the have the uncanny ability to always know where you are and only shoot at you even though you may be surrounded by allies. This wasn't always the case but was noticable. Your allies can and will be lost as you progress through the game, but they will be replaced by other generically named soldiers. Plot characters can't die, unless they're supposed to, so sticking near them is often a good idea, or essential.
Overall, the gmae was everything I expected it to be. I don't know if Infinity Ward could have possibly made a bad MW game at this point; just sticking to the formula and continuing the plot could have guaranteed them at least a good game. However, they eally made MW3 stand out from the others in a number of ways, from survival mode to the amazing visuals and fights in the campaign. The multiplayer remains uncharted territory, but with the rest of the game looking so good, I can only expect great things.
Smoking Nerd Score
Presentation- 9.0
Like all the Modern Warfare games, MW3 gives the player a fantastic combat experience from the main menu to the credits and beyond.
Graphics- 8.5
There were a few moments during the game when I noticed some patters were slow to load or remained fuzzy for too long. I also noticed numerous instances of the old limb sticking out of wall situation. This is made up for, however, by the stunning settings and environments the game takes you through.
Sound- 8.5
The firefights and effects sound awesome, and they lay off the army cliches so common in military shooters. This score would probably be a nine if my speakers didn't suck.
Gameplay- 9.0
What's not to love about awesome settings, super fun game modes, and a huge arsenal with which to destroy the evil Russians?
Replay Value- 9.0
MW3 could have some of the best replay value in recent memory, with an awesome campaign to beat, online multiplayers modes, as well as spec ops AND the new survival mode.
Overall SN score 9/10....Awesome
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