Summary
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's version of the controversial No Russian mission is not as impactful as its predecessor, with the focus shifting to what comes after the event.
- The Passenger mission in Modern Warfare 3 provides players with a more personal and emotional angle, as they control a character with a family who is forced to suicide-bomb a plane.
- While both No Russian and Passenger serve the narrative purpose of inciting a war, the events of the Passenger mission quickly become pointless, as Makarov's plans are foiled in just one mission. The campaign lacks stakes as a result.
The Call of Duty franchise is no stranger to controversy, whether it's Call of Duty: WW2's loot boxes, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's lack of a campaign, or Call of Duty's annual release schedule. But very rarely, these controversies actually stem from content within a Call of Duty game, and more often than not, they revolve around the context and content of specific single-player missions. From the original Modern Warfare's nuke mission, to seeing a dead child in the 2019 reboot, there have been plenty of controversial Call of Duty missions, but none of those have been as widely publicized as Modern Warfare 2's No Russian mission, which Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 takes inspiration from.
When Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 released back in 2009, there was a media frenzy over a now-infamous mission titled "No Russian." While the controversy that this mission caused may have been a tad blown out of proportion back in the day - as is the case with most mainstream video game controversies - there's no denying that No Russian is a harrowing experience. This year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has a similar mission, though this time it's not quite as impactful, not because of the event itself but more what comes after it, or more accurately, what doesn't.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's Version of No Russian is Pointless
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's Passenger Mission Is a Solid Twist on No Russian
One of the biggest criticisms of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's campaign is that a good portion of it simply takes classic Call of Duty moments and repeats them, changing very little in the process. The same, however, can't be said for Modern Warfare 3's own take on the infamous No Russian mission. While Modern Warfare 2's No Russian sees the player join Makarov's squad as part of an undercover CIA operation, and be forced to participate in a mass shooting in an airport, Modern Warfare 3's "Passenger" mission sees players take on the role of an ex-ULF freedom fighter who's forced to by Makarov to suicide-bomb a plane full of innocent Russians.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's Passenger mission isn't quite as large scale as No Russian, but it's arguably just as harrowing, giving players a much more personal angle on a horrific terrorist attack. Rather than play as an undercover Army Ranger, players control a woman who's left her fighting days behind and has instead chosen to raise a family, and beginning the mission with that gives everything that comes after it a much more intimate and emotional angle.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's Passenger Mission is Ultimately Pointless
At its core, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's Passenger and No Russian have the same narrative purpose, with Makarov trying to use the attack to incite a war. In No Russian, Makarov aims to frame the US for the mass shooting and thus start a war between it and Russia. In Passenger, Makarov is trying to blame the ULF, which would eventually result in a war between the US and Russia as General Shepherd had been supplying weapons to Farah.
But while Modern Warfare 2's No Russian mission does actually incite a new world war, Modern Warfare 3's Passenger falls flat on its face. Immediately following Passenger, players get a cutscene that shows Task Force 141 and Laswell discussing the situation, and claiming that a new world war is on the horizon if tensions don't settle. The scene quickly shifts to Farah and Alex in Urzikstan, near the plane's crash site. Here, Farah collects enough data from the crash site to prove that the ULF was not behind the attack. In the course of just one mission, Makarov's plans are scuttled, rendering the events of Passenger completely redundant. While it's good that Modern Warfare 3 didn't just reuse the same inciting incident as 2009's Modern Warfare 2, it does mean that the campaign seriously lacks stakes.
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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
The war has changed. Call of Duty returns with an all-new campaign, modernized versions of classic Multiplayer maps and an open-world PvE Zombies experience. The campaign, a direct sequel to the record-breaking Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, sees Captain Price and Task Force 141 face off against ultranationalist war criminal Vladimir Makarov as he extends his grasp across the world. In Multiplayer, the 16 maps that launched with Modern Warfare 2 in 2009 return with upgraded graphics, new modes and innovative gameplay features. In Modern Warfare Zombies, team up with other squads for the first time ever as you work together to survive in the largest Zombies map yet
- 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
