Review: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 embraces nostalgia even as the developers push for a ‘new chapter’ for the series | Windows – Buy Aussie News

I’ve long since come to feel like it’s Call of Duty, not shopping centers, that marks the kick-off to the holiday season. The franchise is decidedly punctual, launching a new premium title annually for the last 20 years. It’s a system that would seem unsustainable, and yet Activision — with the power of more than a dozen studios under their umbrella — manages to pull it off.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, the latest entry to release and the first direct sequel for the series, seems like another successful annual launch on the surface. The game has come under heavy criticism and has been the subject of a review bomb by players who believe they’re being charged full AAA pricing for what is perceived to be a DLC or expansion to Modern Warfare 2.

My love for Call of Duty is well documented, but even I had a list of changes I hoped Sledgehammer Games would make for Modern Warfare 3. Now that the game is live, I’ve had the chance to complete the campaign blind on Veteran, reach the preseason level cap in multiplayer, and work my way through MWZ.

I have some thoughts.

What is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3?

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the third release in the first-person shooter series, and the first time the franchise has seen a direct sequel be released the year after its successor. The game features a campaign that typically lasts 8 to 10 hours and follows the events of Task Force 141, a rag-tag team of special agents assembled by Captain Price, as they attempt to stop Russian ultranationalists from kicking off World War 3.

The events in Modern Warfare 3 (2023) are a continuation of the events set in motion when the Modern Warfare franchise was rebooted in 2019. Before 2019, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare games developed by Infinity Ward and Call of Duty: Black Ops campaigns developed by Treyarch were on separate in-game timelines and development…