Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Xbox 360) > Reviews (41)

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 offers pretty much everything the first two had - Loads of explosions, over the top violence and addictive multiplayer. The campaign's have never been fantastic in the series and this is no different, with duck and cover, wait for back up, then escape being the gist of most of the short levels. As usual you switch between a few different characters, battling through Paris, London and Manhattan causing huge damage and witnessing the tragedies of war and basking in the often hollow victory over your enemies. You experience the same old situations like providing cover from the back of a truck, boat, helicopter and inevitably track down the elusive Makarov. Some of the locations are really well made and you always know where you are even with all the debris and rubble strewn about all over the place, with several monuments and famous architecture obstructing the skyline, with the very real possibility of being reduced to a smouldering crater. Weapons don't vary much except via different scopes and the graphics throughout don't seem to have been improved but the last offerings weren't exactly hideous.

Typically, MW3 excels in online multiplayer. The fairly simple controller configuration remains mostly unchanged so everyone knows what they're doing and veterans of the past games can still dish out the punishment. I can't really comment on the maps because I'm not terribly into the game as it is, let alone addicted enough to pay a tedious subscription fee. The cooperative mode Survival isn't really much to get excited about as you burn through hundreds of waves of troops, dogs, choppers and the aptly named juggernauts, earning dollars to upgrade weapons, purchase ammo, drops, supplies and air strikes, across scenes found in the campaign. Fight through the cramped, collapsing apartments that surround the Eiffel tower or even the London Underground. Such a shame that the return of Special Ops proves to be rather underwhelming, lacking the exciting level designs, with trivial tasks that feel repetitive and dull compared to MW2.

No one can really blame Activision for what presumably is the final instalment of the Modern Warfare series, being a familier gaming experience. Although it must be said that they could have released pretty much anything related and it would sell considering its fan base is largely based around gamers under the age of 18 despite its clear rating. I won't give away too much but this can be considered a slight spoiler - look away now - Scenes towards the end get so much more believable with main characters dying from wounds and there is some very effective, emotionally distressing images. But my biggest beef with the story is one moment of pure 'meat headedness' as the Americans effectively bomb the Eiffel tower to take out a handful of enemy troops then claim victory amongst the collapsed landmark. I personally hope it is the end of the MW series because it could have been worse..

Also reviewed on Dooyoo by myself - Joe Clarke.