There are many things that are done today in a very different way from how they were done ten years ago, but if we had to take into account how video games are developed, it is curious to think about the fact that the sector has evolved over time. It's gone through a kind of opposite industrial revolution. As generations of hardware have passed, the times required to create ambitious video games have expanded on average rather than contracted, and if once releasing a series annually was quite common, today it is almost inconceivable that a franchise like Call of Duty manages to hit stores every fall without ever accumulating the slightest delay.
The series published by Activision achieves this small undertaking thanks to an effective alternation between the studies that depend on the American publisher, a precise mechanism that in the last twenty years has produced extraordinary economic results, but which for some is responsible for a qualitative decline. something that, looking at the critical ratings year after year, it is difficult to deny that it has happened. This vicious circle is probably at the base of the complex situation in which Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III finds itself, the new iteration entrusted to the care of Sledgehammer Games, and which according to a recent Bloomberg report was originally born as a simple expansion, before quickly becoming an independent game.
Because of how things really were, in ours. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Review We want to tell you our impressions of Activision's much talked about shooter, perhaps the last of its kind, given that it has all the potential to seriously question the way all future Call of Duty games will be made.
A paradox difficult to unravel
At the base of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III there is an enormous paradox. This is perhaps the poorest episode in terms of real news in twenty years of Call of DutyHowever, from a pure gameplay standpoint, we're also looking at the best chapter in the franchise's recent history, thanks to the return to more fluid movement following the reintroduction of slide canceling. Therefore, if on the one hand Modern Warfare III can be considered a simply exceptional shooter, it must also be recognized that most of its content derives from a careful recycling process, aimed at slavishly re-proposing the material already found in other chapters of the series. Ironically, this also applies to Modern Warfare III's single-player campaign, which ends in just four hours, is characterized by insufficient narrative quality across the board, but above all is largely composed of directly salvaged and reused levels. of Warzone maps. .
A dive into memories
The campaign of this chapter is, therefore, one of the worst ever seen in a Call of Duty, but it must be recognized that in the case of the multiplayer sector, we welcomed the presence of non-original content with much less aversion. As you already know, For the first time in the history of the series, Modern Warfare III does not include new maps, but rather a pack of 16 environments taken from Modern Warfare 2, the 2009 masterpiece signed by Infinity Ward.
Of course, it would have been nicer to see them proposed again in a simple expansion than in a game sold for €80, but playing again maps of the caliber of Terminal, Skidrow, Afghan, Scrapyard and Favela gave us a lot of strong emotions. They are all there, reproduced down to the smallest detail and without any change or renewal. After all, All the maps have aged very well., and the surprising thing is that they adapt perfectly to gameplay with modern connotations, which Sledgehammer Games has perfected by first listening to all the feedback that the Call of Duty community has expressed in recent years.
The love letter to the Call of Duty community
Precisely when it comes to the gameplay of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, it seems that Sledgehammer's only priority was to condense, in a single shooter, all the best that the reboot cycle has been able to offer in recent years, limiting in I change those design options. that the community has shown that it has never digested. First of all, the Californian studio chose to start from the reintroduction of the slide cancel, a stratagem linked to the movement system, which players used in 2019's Modern Warfare to move with extraordinary fluidity within the game's maps.
With the cancellation of the slide, also returns the classic minimap (which indicates with a red dot to players who shoot without a silencer) and the interruption of the reload animation, which now does not have to complete completely before you can start shooting again . A completely new feature is represented by the so-called Tac-Stance., Tactical Aim, an alternate mode that can be activated during the aiming phase, which involves tilting the rifle to the side to sacrifice some accuracy in exchange for faster aiming. This is an excellent add-on capable of guaranteeing more depth to the gameplay of Modern Warfare III, although using it with a controller is decidedly more uncomfortable than with a mouse and keyboard.
In short, apart from some small problems due to the respawns, which are rarely too close together, it must be admitted that the gameplay of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is truly the most enjoyable in the series' recent history. Slide cancellation guarantees fast, fluid and dynamic action, the feedback provided by the weapons is wonderful in the Infinity Ward tradition, but above all it is the new time to kill, one of the highest in the entire franchise, that influences predominantly in the rules of Shooter's Engagement published by Activision. The difference is of the order of thousandths of a second, but this is enough for the shootings of this Call of Duty to be much more technical than in the past, given that now it is finally possible to nullify the result of a shooting by proving that Be more precise than your opponent.
Modes, weapons and perks, what's new?
In an effort to give up the things that didn't work in Modern Warfare II, Sledgehammer has brought a small revolution to menus of its new shooter, removing from the equation some of the modes that debuted last year, to introduce a couple of new playlists. The first is Guerra, an old acquaintance of World War II players, who here mostly follows the same script as then. The other, decidedly more interesting of the two, is Cutthroat, a mode that aims to improve the experience that Gunfight offers. In this fast-paced playlist, three teams of three players each must try to eliminate each other without the support of respawns, ultimately trying to capture the flag that appears when time expires.
In addition to War and Cutthroat, we find the usual multitude of multiplayer modes, including Land War and Invasion, which take place on particularly large maps and support up to 64 players.
With regard to weapons, it is interesting to emphasize that This Call of Duty is the one with the largest arsenal ever created, thanks solely to the "transferable content" mechanism. In case more evidence was needed to corroborate the thesis that Modern Warfare III was born as a DLC for Modern Warfare II, both games offer a complete integration of their contents, and that is why in the new shooter developed by Sledgehammer we will also have access to all the weapons, accessories, operators and gadgets from the previous chapter. Despite all this abundance, 37 weapons debut this year, a very respectable number, although after its introduction there is no news about the gunsmith, the weapon modification tool that could have benefited from some intervention aimed at modernizing it.
Finally, a small note about the advantages, which in Modern Warfare III, fortunately, are no longer obtained during a game at regular intervals. All perks are now activated at the start of a match and now refer to specific categories of equipment, a change that is more aesthetic than functional, but capable of giving proper context to the bonuses granted. Do you want to select Ghost, which makes you invisible to UAVs? Here the benefit is tied to a specific ghillie suit. Do you prefer "Running"? You can find it in the boots category. Fortunately, no matter what equipment you choose to use, they will have no effect on the aesthetics of the new operators added to the cast of Modern Warfare III.
Zombies and Modern Warfare, an unusual pairing
That maybe it's the truth, The only new feature of the entire Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III offering is the zombie-based cooperative mode which Sledgehammer Games modeled after DMZ. Unlike that playlist, which was set in dusty Al Mazrah, we are now in the heart of Urzikstan, the open world region that will host the new Warzone map coming in December, and which is currently invaded by hordes of monstrous undead creatures.
This new cooperative playlist remains deeply anchored in the fundamental attributes of DMZ, which is why even in "MWZ" the goal of 24 players in the gameA, divided into teams of three members each, have to get into action, complete missions and useful activities to enhance the character, before reaching an extraction taking with them all the loot accumulated during the raid. The good news is that although the structure of a game is light years away from the typical zombie game in Call of Duty, the developers have included all the characteristic elements of that type of experience, such as the Pack-A-Punch, the can Juggernog and the mysterious chests.
As in DMZ, here too Players will be able to follow a long series of missions to complete in the field, all tied together by some sort of underlying narrative that we're very curious to see where it will end. The hope is that Sledgehammer will carefully support Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III's Zombies mode, especially since once we tried it we really had a hard time putting it down, as much fun as it is to slaughter hundreds of zombies in the company of two other friends in an open world map filled with activities, quests, and even some easter eggs.
Technical sector
Last year we had the opportunity to praise the technical goals achieved by Modern Warfare II, and now that we find ourselves commenting on what was probably conceived as an offshoot of that experience, it's almost superfluous to point out that the two shooters look awfully similar. in every sense appearance of the technical system. In fact, both are based on the most modern version of the IW Engine, an engine that has been able to demonstrate its full potential, and that is why the new chapter inherits from the previous one the excellent visual performance that impressed us last fall.
Fortunately, the similarities do not also affect the state of the game at the time of release, as last year's episode was plagued by numerous problems, while Modern Warfare III showed up at the review appointment in very good shape, relieved of any type of error. Once again we must highlight the excellent quality of the audio sector, perfect for reproducing the effects of weapons and explosions that reverberate during a game. In short, Modern Warfare III, at least from an aesthetic point of view, is a beautiful Call of Duty, although we did not expect anything less considering the closeness between this chapter and the previous one.
Conclusions
Tested version Xbox Series X digital delivery Steam, playstation store, Xbox Store, battle.net Price 79,99 € Holygamerz.com 7.5 Readers (40) 7.1 your voteIt cannot be denied, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III thrives on contradictions and is surrounded by a complex paradox: how can the best Call of Duty in recent years also be one of the worst of all time? The answer must be sought among the links of a product that slavishly recycles the vast majority of its content, combining it with an insufficient campaign in all areas, which nevertheless achieves perhaps the only real aspect that a shooter should take advantage of: multiplayer gameplay. It will be up to each fan of the series to establish the specific weight of the ingredients in this intricate mosaic.
PRO
- The best gameplay in recent years.
- Playing the original Modern Warfare 2 maps is a unique experience
- Zombie mode is interesting, but must be supported.
AGAINST
- One of the worst single-player campaigns in history.
- Lots of recycled content from other chapters.
- The new methods do not have the impact we expected
