Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

I'm hearing a lot of buzz both unnecessarily negative and unnecessarily positive. With absolutely no agenda or brand loyalty I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring.

Firstly, loved MW1 and MW2 - really, really wanted to love Black Ops - bought and played the hell out of it, multi-player was good at times, but the graphical downgrade from MW2 (I know they're made by 2 different companies - but still) just bugged me and the bits I thought would be innovative (Gun Game etc) or just plain fun (Remote Car bombs!!) Felt gimmicky very quickly. Single player was an unbearably dull shooting gallery (for me anyway).

So, with this in mind I was kind of reluctant to pick up MW3. However, after clearing Batman Arkham City, needed new entertainment so thought I'd give it a shot (no pun).
I, for one, am unbelievably glad I did! Its always about multi-player as far as I'm concerned. That's what I'm paying for, anything else that works well (i.e. Spec Ops) is just gravy.
I LOVE the new progression system - levelling up your character, your weapons etc. Basically means I feel I'm being constantly rewarded for my efforts in small ways! I'm a veteran player - just not a particularly skilled one! My kill / death ratio always hangs around the break even mark, but I'm having an immense amount of fun anyway! I do confess to playing with all other players pretty much muted, so if you're giving me grief or praise when I'm playing - I hear none of it!

Along with the new progression system I'm really enjoying some of the new modes - especially 'Kill Confirmed' which brings a different tactical element to the mayhem (that and I seem to be pretty good at it), the basic premise here being that when you shoot someone, they die and drop their dog tags which must be retrieved in order to 'confirm' the kill. Similarly, if one of your team mates collects the tags - the kill is also confirmed. On the other hand, should an opponent collect those tags of his fallen comrade then the kill is 'denied'. The good thing about this mode is that, though you still pick up EXP for the kills - your team only scores points for collected tags (which brings extra EXP for the one collecting AND the one who made the kill). This promotes team work in a way that a standard team deathmatch tends not to.

As for the moans, I have none. For two reasons: Firstly, I have little to no interest in the single player, I'll probably try it, but will be pleasantly surprised if it holds my interest (that said MW1 and MW2 actually DID hold my interest - Black Ops not so much); Secondly, the graphics are basically MW2 (i.e. very bloody good) quality, but smoother and more consistently held at a high frame rate. I really don't understand the problem that others have with the graphics on this game. They look pretty sweet to me! Maybe I need a new TV? Maybe they need a new TV? Who knows?

Anyway, I heartily recommend ignoring all of the reviews and making your own mind up. If you like this sort of game, chances are you're going to love this one!

Sadly, this will be the last Call Of duty I buy. It's exactly the same as the past 2 games, with only a couple of changes to the multiplayer.

Single player campaign is woeful, completely scripted with terrible story and it's over in 3 hours. Why oh why does this get such high scores? The multiplayer. But really? is it that good?

I ask myself because realisation has set in - its just kind of boring. I've got fed up with the same old thing. The fact is, what we have here is nearly a decade old concept that is basically being cleaned and recycled once a year for the same price. There is no heart to this game - no flair. The whole experience is so cookie cutter that I actually got bored of it within a couple of hours.

It's by no stretch a terrible game, but it just doesn't need to be here, if you have the original modern warfare you have this. Don't bother wasting your money.

I loved modern warfare 2 and black ops took a bit of getting used to but I enjoyed that. After getting modern warfare 3 I felt dissapointed. Now I do play mostly online so that is what my review will be mostly based on. The single player is what you'd expect from the cod series, massive explosions and chases. I really like the survival mode, where the player must survive waves of enemies, similar to zombie mode of black ops. However it has an arcade feel to it which I found refreshing. Sadly this was all I enjoyed of the game which is where I move to the online play.

Now this is my opinion and I would suggest renting before buying to absolutely sure this is for you.
The maps are aweful. Previous cods, its always been majority are good with 1 or 2 maps which are annoying to play. MW3 that's the other way around. I understand that the maps were designed to reduce sniper camping, which is why there are very few high vantage points. Which, ok , I understand , the flip side though since the maps are "flatter" with more twists and turns. The amount of corner rat campers are rife. As someone said in a previous review. Bullet damage is high so the campers are thus rewarded for camping. Since by the time you notice the rat camping in a bush/corner.... Your dead. The maps are maps of rubble and dust. Another major flaw is the slight lag. So many times in a firefight you think you have ducked around the corner for cover only to die. After watching the killcam it shows that you never actually got around the corner. So many times I've felt like snapping my controller. I thought maybe I was too used to black ops, but I have since prestiged 3 times and its as annoying as ever and the campers are getting worse. I will be trading in once metal gear hd collection is released