Can anyone smell that? No, I do not mean the stinkers of games Activision has been pumping out the last 4 years under the Call of Duty (COD) title. That my friends is the smell of hope, the anticipation of the shiny new COD that will certainly be better than the last, right? It is the same exact loop that fans both new and old fall into every single year, and it is once again that time of year folks; we are less then 2 months away from the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (MW3).
There was a ton of hope for Modern Warfare 2 (MW2), content creators got to play early, and most raved about the game. The beta came, it played fantastic, people were locked in and ready for launch. Then launch came, a lot of the movement features were slowed down; Aim down sight times (ADS), strafe speeds, sprint to fire time (TTF). That was not all, for the entirety of season one multiplayer saw just two new maps. While this is their usual release schedule for seasonal content, both maps were remakes. The game got off to a horrendous start, and it never recovered. So why should we have hope that MW3 will be any better?
Sledgehammer Games (SHG) does not have a great history as the lead developer of COD titles (see: Advanced Warfare, World War 2, and Vanguard.) However, SHG does tend to listen to the fans, and they make an attempt to implement ideas that the majority seem to agree on. SHG is 0/3 when leading the charge but this time it could be different. Whether you liked or hated MW2, from a multiplayer standpoint the game has good bones. I cannot speak on Warzone because I strictly play multiplayer, battle royale is not my cup of tea. One thing SHG has been incredible at? Being the number 1 support studio. MW3 is basically just an expansion of MW2 with massive movement changes. The bones, which were good as mentioned, are already in place. All SHG had to do was what they do best, listen to the fans and tweak the game accordingly. I think that is essentially what MW3 is going to be, a fine-tuned MW2, so let’s see what we know so far.
Changes to be made:
Movement:
- Slide canceling is retuning, although it will NOT reset Tac-Sprint (Resetting Tac-Sprint was believed to be one of the reasons slide canceling was considered “broken” by some)
- Increased Tac-Sprint duration
- Brand new Tac-Stance: Toggleable when ADSing, Tac-Stance gives players the option to sacrifice some accuracy for improved mobility and weapon handling designed for close quarters gun fights.
- Reload canceling is back!
- ADS, STF, Strafe speeds improved
- Mantling speed improved as well the ability to mantle while sprinting
- Unlockable perk that will allow players to ADS while sliding
Gameplay:
- Map voting is back!
- Red dots will appear on the mini map when firing unsuppressed weapons
- BREAKING: ALL bundles you purchased in MW2 will carry over into MW3
- Total Health increased to 150, up from 100
- All new gear-based perk system, will function mostly as usual but with 4 perk options selected as gear i.e., Helmet, vest, gloves, boots (This is not the confirmed layout, just a visual idea per credible leaker @BobNetworkUK)
So, what else?
Maps: MW2 maps are here! All 16 original maps from 2009’s Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 will be in the game at launch which includes:
- Afghan
- Derail
- Estate
- Favela
- Highrise
- Invasion
- Karachi
- Quarry
- Rundown
- Rust
- Scrapyard
- Skidrow
- Sub Base
- Terminal
- Underpass
- Wasteland
I understand that some may look at this and say, “So we get zero new maps?” and I get it. I just also feel, personally, that map design has fallen off a cliff no matter which studio designs them. I do want to give SHG and Vanguard some credit here. The game launched with 16 multi maps and while none were memorable maps, they were not bad either. Aside from vanguard, which was woefully awful in every other aspect, I have not enjoyed multi maps since Black Ops 3. I can say from my own preferences, classic iconic maps remade > new bad maps that people stop playing when shipment, Shoot House, or whatever 24/7 playlists hit the game. Unless you are a COD OG, like me, chances are you have not played 70% of these original MW2 maps coming back, so they’re new to many.
Guns: There have been well over 20+ weapons leaked/confirmed, here are just some of the fan favorites coming back in MW3:
- Scar-H
- MP5
- Uzi
- Scorpion EVO
- F2000
Zombies: COD Zombies will be making its return after DMZ has had its run during MW2. We still have no news on if DMZ will be back in any capacity. Hopefully COD Next sheds some light on it, more on Next later. Zombies was a let-down under SHG with Vanguard, it was noticeably better under Treyarch with Cold War (CW). However, if you were not a fan of the mode outbreak in CW, MW3 zombies may not be for you. Zombies is another game mode that we do not have much info on until Next, but from the trailer and details they have released, it sounds an awful lot like outbreak with DMZ components thrown in there. The mode could be a blast, but as a traditional round-based zombies’ kind of guy, I will likely pass. That should not stop anyone else from giving it a go, I hope you enjoy it.
Call of Duty Zombies Cinematic Trailer
Key Dates leading up to Launch:
- COD Next: Thursday October 5th, 12:00 PM: An event that started in 2022 for the hype leading up to MW2, COD Next is hosted by Activision and invites hundreds of content creators to help showcase Warzone, Zombies, Multiplayer, and more for the world to see. The event also has multiple developer interviews and drops bombs of information regarding the coming release. We will get our first true look at Multiplayer and Zombies as well as hopefully learn the fate of DMZ’s future
- Friday/Saturday October 6-7, Start 1 PM ET on Friday: PlayStation early access (Pre-ordered MW3)
- Sunday/Monday/Tuesday October 8-10, ends at 1 PM ET on Tuesday: PlayStation open beta
- Thursday/Friday October 12-13 Start 1PM ET on Thursday: Xbox, PC early access (Pre-ordered MW3), PlayStation open beta
- Saturday/Sunday/Monday October 14-16, Ends 1PM on Monday: MW3 open beta on all platforms
- Friday November 3, 1PM ET: Early Campaign Access (Pre-ordered MW3)