Thursday , March 28 2024
Prone to being repetitious, but damn good fun just the same.

PlayStation 3 Review: Call of Duty – Modern Warfare 3

There are some truly bad people out there — and, as is customary for these kind of games, the world is stuck in a fighting funk: a global act of conflict that once again plunges videogame players into the hazardous terrain of war. But then, just stop and imagine what a game like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 would consist of were developers to omit the whole “combat” thing. And so, we dive into this monumental Activision title, co-written by award-winning film and television writer Paul Haggis (Million Dollar Baby, Casino Royale), with the full anticipation of developing blisters on our thumbs.

Much like the previous installments in the Call of Duty and Modern Warfare franchises, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 jumps around quite a bit — allotting its eager players to take on several different personas throughout the game, all of whom are attempting to defuse the madness that has plunged the planet into a unsteady state of battle. Picking up right where Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 left off, with World War III threatening to destroy everyone and everything imaginable. Jumping around from one character to another, as well as from one location to another, this game is a spectacular (not to mention massive) first-person shooter.

Witness as historical landmarks all around the world fall before your very disbelieving eyes, courtesy of some truly smashing graphics and a soundtrack that is almost too real for its own good. The story itself is a bit hard to describe since it not only jumps around a lot, but it isn’t terribly enthralling overall to begin with. But who cares about the single-player action, right? The big to-do with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is its multiplayer fun. The game’s sixteen different maps can be utilized to a completely new degree when you play online, with different challenges and rewards awaiting you should you succeed in blowing the piss out of your friends (and enemies) in cyberspace.

Ultimately, the multiplayer is probably a more fulfilling way to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 when compared to the regular single-person campaign. Sure, the latter is a blast unto itself, but it tended to become a little wearisome on my tired eyes and hands; while the multiplayer version gave me something more to appreciate other than to follow the regular game’s set orders. An additional variation of gameplay — Survival Mode — pits one or two brave souls against a never-ending hoard of enemy soldiers, who appear at strategic locations depending on where the players are. Another co-op option, Spec Ops, has been carried over from the previous installment for your amusement.

As I said before, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 can get a little monotonous at times, in spite of the fact that it is an outstanding game. Do I recommend it? Sure, you bet your ass I do. But I also advise that you pace your progress on this one — just to keep it fresh. It’s appealing either way.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is rated M (Mature) by the ESRB for Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language. This game can also be found on: PC, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS.

About Luigi Bastardo

Luigi Bastardo is the alter-ego of a feller who loves an eclectic variety of classic (and sometimes not-so-classic) film and television. He currently lives in Northern California with four cats named Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Margaret. Seriously.

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