Summary
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's campaign lacks originality, relying heavily on missions from previous games, making it feel unexciting and unoriginal.
- The campaign of 2023's Modern Warfare 3 feels rushed and half-baked, with a lack of set pieces and open-ended missions that reuse assets from Call of Duty: Warzone.
- Considering its lack of originality, short length, and underwhelming ending, the full $70 price tag for Modern Warfare 3's campaign is questionable and may not be worth the investment.
Even at their very worst, Call of Duty campaigns are usually still quite a bit of fun. They may not have a great, or even good story, the performances might be a tad off, and the pacing could be shot to hell, but even the most disappointing Call of Duty campaigns have a ton of bombastic set pieces, some fun character dynamics, and a big action blockbuster plot that might not make a lot of sense, but feels perfectly over-the-top and exciting in the moment. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, however, stands out for all the wrong reasons.
For quite a while, it was rumored that 2023 would be the first year in decades that went without a full Call of Duty release, but would instead receive a campaign DLC, and that actually relieved quite a lot of fans. So when Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 did end up being announced a few months ago, alarm bells immediately started ringing. And those alarms only kept chiming when Modern Warfare 3 received its initial reveal, along with the confirmation that no original 6v6 maps would be coming at launch and that most guns were carrying over from Modern Warfare 2. The more that was revealed about Modern Warfare 3, the louder those alarm bells got, and that was especially true for the game's campaign, which doesn't nearly live up to the legacy of the original Modern Warfare series.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's Campaign Isn't Nearly as Good as the 2011 Original
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's Campaign Feels Lazy and Unoriginal
The original 2011 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is far from the most beloved entry in franchise history. In fact, many fans consider it to be not only the weakest entry of the original Modern Warfare series, but one of the weaker entries in the franchise at the time. Though its multiplayer was solid, its Survival mode was fun, and its campaign was enjoyable, Modern Warfare 3 didn't quite live up to the critically acclaimed games that came before it, with many critics seeing it as just a continuation of the series rather than an innovative next step. But even then, it was still much better than 2023's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, especially in regard to its campaign.
One of the biggest issues with 2023's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 campaign, and there are quite a few, is its lack of originality. Though 2011's MW3 was criticized at the time for not really pushing the franchise forward in a significant way, its campaign still has some very exciting moments, with its Paris terrorist attack and final battle with Makarov still being very memorable over a decade later. 2023's Modern Warfare 3, on the other hand, owes all of its best missions to previous games in the franchise.
The best missions in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 2023 are heavily inspired by past franchise entries, such as its opening gulag prison break mission, its stadium terrorist attack, and its snowy stealth mission. And when Modern Warfare 3 isn't borrowing moments from its past, its campaign ends up feeling just a tad dull, which is the ultimate sin for Call of Duty. Its new open-ended missions feel rushed and lazy, reusing a lot of the same assets from Call of Duty: Warzone, and the serious lack of set pieces throughout is uncharacteristically strange for a CoD entry.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's Campaign Should Not Cost $70
At the end of the day, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's campaign probably shouldn't cost the full $70. While it obviously has much better graphics and gameplay than its 2011 counterpart, Modern Warfare 3's campaign isn't nearly as original or exciting. It doesn't help that it's also by far the shortest campaign in Call of Duty history, which is really saying a lot. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's campaign feels rushed and half-baked, and its cliffhanger ending doesn't leave fans wanting more, it just acts as further evidence that it wasn't worth dropping the full $70.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 58 /100 Critics Rec: 14%
- Released
- November 10, 2023
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Sledgehammer Games
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Engine
- iw 9.0
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
WHERE TO PLAY
- Franchise
- Call of Duty, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Platform(s)
- PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
- Genre(s)
- First-Person Shooter
