Alyxx Thorne

I've never been much of a CoD fan. Aside from occassionally being forced to playing MW1 on my brother's PS3 with him and just scraping the surface of MW1's singleplayer campaign, I have absolutely no experience with the franchise at all. I have not played MW2 in any shape or form and so I have really gotten into MW3 with a rather fresh perspective. Therefore, I don't really have anything to compare it to since I haven't played Battlefield either, so this review will be of the game pretty much on its own merits rather than compared to anything else...

I've always been fascinated by World War III games though. Growing up with PC games, I think the first experience I had with the concept was with Command & Conquer and a whole slew of RTS titles. I think when World Trade Center was destroyed in 2001, it sort of created a new era, an atmosphere of terrorism and war between the West and the Middle East the likes we had never seen before. The Modern Warfare series is absolutely drenched in this atmosphere, which is probably why it resonates with so many people and sells so many games. It's something everyone in today's world can relate to and see as a possibility.

Modern Warfare 3 is sort of a multidev project. While Infinity Ward had worked on it in the beginning, after the feud between them and Activision, it was up to Sledgehammer Games to finish the game and Raven Software helped develop the multiplayer. Because of that, MW3 has a sort of modular feeling to it as it's really divided into 3 main parts. The campaign, which continues the story from where MW2 left off, the Special Ops campaign which is comprised of special co-op missions and the Multiplayer where you can play online in a whole suite of different game modes.

The campaign is a short but intense thrillride with plenty of great set pieces and standout moments, the ending probably being the biggest climax for me. While MW3 is an extremely linear experience and the engine is starting to show its age, especially when compared to the extremely rich visuals of Battlefield 3, it still looks quite impressive, especially when considering all of the things happening around you, with entire buildings collapsing around you and the game as a result feels immensely immersive and really places you in a thick atmosphere of war. The campaign has some really good moments, like the fabled scene where an American family on a trip in London are blown to smithereens by a chemical bomb. I think it's the first time I've actually felt close to the sudden rawness of terrorism and the game does a very good job at emulating a real war experience, though a very cinematic one, making it feel at times like you are sort of playing an action movie.

Don't expect them to reinvent the wheel here, this is the same old CoD you played last year, just with a new campaign. You're still pretty much limited to carrying 2 weapons, your health regenerates and the game flashes you with a ton of obvious messages such as "you are hurt, go for cover" which gets REALLY annoying after a little while. I mean, isn't it obvious enough from the fact I have blood all over my vision and my heart is pumping? I really need the text to further state the severity of getting to cover? Sometimes I feel like the game is treating me like a retard, especially when placing a "follow" marker on one of the team members, even if I pretty much have no choice but to follow them due to the linearity of the game. It's like they expect me to be a total idiot and run the other direction. Other than such annoyances though, the game is pretty enjoyable if you don't mind the cinematic style of the gameplay. It's very good at what it does and I was honestly having a lot of fun with the campaign and I'd love to play through it twice. However I doubt it's a campaign I will be playing a lot since you pretty much see everything the first and second times around.

The multiplayer feels a bit more balanced than in MW1 and features a slew of game modes that are sure to please all tastes. The customization options, as you gain points to unlock them, really gives you the chance to taylor the game to your taste, whether you like playing as support or assault, and getting points is pretty much easier than ever, making it very fair to noobs. I haven't had the chance to test out the Elite system since, well, it's not available on PC. To put it short, they have kept the core experience, and all the additions are for the better. This is really the most complete and satisfying Call of Duty Multiplayer experience yet.

So is MW3 worth the 60 bucks? Considering you're getting probably one of the most polished shooters this year with the most complete multiplayer experience I've seen in recent years, I would say so. Keep in mind I haven't played Battlefield 3 so I can't really compare the two. But from what I can tell, aside from treating you like a retard at times with all the blatantly obvious messages, MW3 is a great shooter experience and the multiplayer will last you a long time, maybe even longer than it takes Activision to pump out another title next year.

I give it 9 out of 10 dancing chickens.

So it's basically just to show off?

I remember back in the late 90's, a lot of nintendo/super nintendo cartridges were being sold for super cheap at my local walmart. It was pretty freaking sweet, considering this was back when those bargain bins actually had stuff worth digging through. I got a bunch of Godzilla VHS tapes like that.

Yeah, I remember that too. Good times.

Pepsi Cola.

Mac OS on a PC? Isn't that a trifle redundant?

I don't really care about the lore of the game, it was just that "dragonborn" did sound a bit dirty to me, but then again I have a dirty mind.

Dunno if anyone has thought about this before but doesn't the title "dragonborn" sort of imply that you happened as a result of bestiality? That's kinda nasty...

Oh well, considering I know nothing about the game I'm probably not wise to judge it.

Congrats to the winners. Nice Apogee classic images there.

The sun, do you remember what it looks like, Axel?

Of course, the game renders it beautifully.

Banned 'cause Obsidian ninja'd you.

Damn, not bad.

Banned for playing WITH Catherine rather than playing Catherine.

6/10

It's getting a bit old.

10/10 for cuteness

Just had some coffee and lemon cream biscuits.

The only consoles I game on are usually 8bit and 16bit ones, like MegaDrive, Super Nintendo and Nintendo 8bit.

sharing this just because.

btw this has nothing to do with my Facebook or my friends on there...

 

[attachment=0]got it from Dorkly.jpg[/attachment] i really, really want Skyrim now...thank you for having a birthday, Jesus!

And people complain about ME having no life.

same. i played online at my friend's house on the PS3 last night. i'm not used to the sniping yet, but I've improved a bit. (i'm a quickscoper so, by habit, i try to QS all of my kills...probably should cut that out. oh well.)

I might write a review of it soon.

MW3 multiplayer after finishing the single player campaign.

Yeah, definitely paragraph your review more and give it some structure. Just a block of text is actually hard to read and puts people off. Other than that, it's a good review.

Name's Carl, or Karl, whichever you prefer.

I've known about Freeman's Mind for a while, but recently got back into it, along with discovering Civil Protection. I like all music really, from punk to reggae. Just hopin this forum will be cool to the newbie.

Welcome to the forums, Karl.

ItWt2eUzhsY

Deus Ex. I'd feel right at home.

Yes! I finally found this topic. No need to create another one.

I use Debian 6.0 "squeeze" (GNU/Linux based operating system) to work and browse the internet and Microsoft Windows 7 x86 ultimate to play games.

(I also have ubuntu 9.04 ARM on my little zipit z2 handheld texting machine.)

Sounds like a nice dualboot setup.

Who cares what the better game is anyway? Just have fun.