Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

MW3 is probably the weakest game in the trilogy, but is still a pretty good game. After the first two MW games. expectations for this game were through the roof and that was probably one of the reasons people overreacted a bit when it came out, admittedly this game isn't as strong as it's predecessors but is still a good game, the campaign is short and unfortunately it doesn't have as many memorable set pieces as the previous games, with only two of them being stand outs for me, the score is good but again not as good as the previous ones, gameplay is the standard stuff, not many changes from MW2, the story is actually better than MW2 in my opinion, with the stakes actually feeling pretty high and the game has a pretty satisfying conclusion. Even though MW3 was weaker than what came before, I would still recommend this game solely to see how this particular storyline is concluded.

As sure as winter follows fall, the final quarter of the year sees another in the Call of Duty franchise pop onto shelves giving fans more of what they want but with new maps, weapons, story and so on. Having been badly burnt with MW2 (where I found myself a paying beta tester for the massive problems with that game) I was wary but was able to get it cheap as supermarkets tried to lowball each other to get volume in place of profits. Part of the reason for this was that, although short, I do enjoy the MW campaigns and, wary of spoilers, this is where I started.

The campaign continues the OTT plot and takes the same model of playing several characters across various global settings. OK the device of making Makarov all-powerful and central doesn't totally work but what does work is the delivery. The game play allows for some flexibility within the "rails" on which you're on; I found I could rush direct or flank and the layout of the levels. It is gloriously over the top and it is like being in an action movie. The voice action is manly and urgent, the soundtrack is loud and dramatic and the overall effect is that you really feel you're in the middle of a Michael Bay action movie. It is very short if you're only buying the game for the campaign, but I found it enjoyable and very satisfying as a game. It manages to be incredibly cinematic but yet I never felt like I was a tiny part of something bigger (like I did with the World at War campaign) and instead it was focused, with skirmishes having global meaning and urgency but yet being tight and contained. It doesn't all work in terms of plots and events but I enjoyed it a great deal and the ending was a great build-up to a really satisfying conclusion.

The Spec Ops part of the game remains a little stuck on in terms of the missions – on hardest setting some are near impossible without 2 players but mostly you'll get through them easily enough and their standalone nature means they are not that engaging. Massively better though is the addition of the Survival mode wherein you try and hang on through waves of increasingly difficult enemies. I enjoyed this mode a great deal and it was the one I played most – the supernatural force of the zombies in the Treyarch games (which Infinity Ward have ripped off here) never appealed to me because it felt like just battling the tide. However here the "human" foes armed with guns and moving tactically (as opposed to rushing mindlessly) made me feel I could outsmart and out play them. I'd have loved the fun of 4 players in a party doing it but it does work best with 2 players in terms of the challenge and gameplay.

This leaves the multiplayer – a game mode that has eaten so many days of my time on COD4 that I would be embarrassed to write it down! I have noticed that over the consecutive games I have put less and less time into it, to the point now that the game is social for me – I play it with friends but never alone. Even with friends though MW3 is a weirdly frustrating experience. The spawns are terrible and even in domination (a very stable game mode) you'll appear in front and behind of people all the time – I guess it balances out but it is still annoying. The game play is frantic but not in a good way, streaks are difficult and (with the spawns) deaths are often random. I liked some of the changes to the pointstreaks but too much felt like a step-back from Black Ops – the theatre mode is terrible, the lack of caps/defs for objective games is poor, but these are all details, it is the gameplay that matters. Sadly it is too frantic, too random and too lacking in tactics to be fun. I used to love the mode Domination and "understood" the flows of the game so well I could even "feel" when the other team sort of gave up trying to win. With MW3 there is no "flow" to feel, no tactics to read – no point in trying to flank to the far side of the map when you'll probably spawn there in a second or two! For my money MW3 was worth it because the campaign gave me about 15 hours of fun (a few playthroughs) and the Survival mode alone saw me clock over 35 hours (and enjoy them all) but I must say I'm tiring of it all. The multiplayer is uninspired and too frantic to be fun. Infinity Ward always talk about capturing the COD4 magic, but I don't think they can – they just keep "adding" stuff and the overall effect is to detract from the multiplayer, which is a real shame. A decent game that is worth getting but neither as bad as the haters suggest nor as good as the fanboys proclaim.

Although the single player campaign only lasts about 10 hours, it is well worth it! Each mission is fast paced and leaves little time for a breather. You will find yourself wanting to replay certain levels (such as the presidential plane dive bombing whilst you're trying to neutralise certain hijackers).The storyline carries on from MW2 and is just as brutal as its predecessor. As usual the acting is as good as you'll get in a game,such as William Fichtner and Kevin Mckidd.

The multiplayer again stands on its own and introduces new maps, new guns, new rewards and a couple of new game modes! Playing for 1 match or 10 you'll still feel like you've achieved something. You'll be so caught up in the game that when you hear the achievement sound it'll keep you thinking what else have i done? There are a few tweeks here and there to the old style that you'll be used to but all for the best.

The only criticism i can give this game is that there is no space for sniping within the maps that i can find. However that could easily change with DLC in time.

All in all, a brilliant sequel to juggernaut of a series.

Did you play CoD4: Modern Warfare? Great! Did you play CoD: Modern Warfare 2? Great! Because this is the same for better and worse. In keeping what must be exactly the same formula of the first two Modern Warfare installments in both campaign and multiplayer, Infinity Ward delivers nothing new with this installment; fortunately that formula is a pretty great one. Survival is the only thing I can think of that is new, it was a nice distraction but nothing huge. Spec Ops and multiplayer are still fun, but again, nothing new. The campaign is once again well directed and voiced, with a satisfying conclusion and a nice twist in playing as Yuri for a time. The problem is, as you've read before here, we've seen it before. All of the hallmarks of the CoD campaign gameplay returns without any new fun twist that makes it disappointing. Look, all in all it's a fun game. I enjoyed it. I have good memories with it. But was the beginning of my disinterest in CoD, especially because it was the beginning of Activision trusting the once legendary formula so much turning out bad Call of Duty games.

I am one of those people who is judging this based on the campaign alone. The online is good as always. The story modes in the MW series have always been interesting, and the backdrops are breathtaking. Some of the scenes with the the US Marines and Army are really cool, and the whole nuclear war, conspiracy theory thing is enough to make you think. While this campaign was a bit longer than MW2's, it still felt kinda short (I probably beat it in around 13 hours).It also isn't the great ending and climax that one may want. There are also the same old endless waves of enemies, who will completely disregard their own safety to try and kill you. But overall, its a great ride, and if they made it into a movie it would be amazing (as well as cost near a billion dollars)...