MW3 offers a refined cinematic experience, but its shine and sparkle fades under familiar linearity and simplicity.
Bringing to an apparent close, MW3 returns to the story of Soap and Price and their impossible battle against the odds with international mad men driven by a desire for destruction. Leap frogging across the globe, into varying military scenarios, all of them seemingly unrelated and quickly debriefed, you partake in a global military standoff that produces some incredibly beautiful moments, both serene and destructive. You will experience some grand moments and some plot twists beneath the confusion of explosions and military banter.
However, MW3's penchant for rapid fire change of scenery and strung together scenarios post fitted with an arching plot that makes little sense make a mockery of story-telling that has been well established for milenia. There is no character development, personal interaction or real dialogue between the endless waves of enemies and barrage of explosion after explosion after explosion, dotted with moments of contrived tension, making it hard to care about your actions. Although there are times when the weight of three games does add up to some emotional significance, you can't help feel empty by the time the credits roll.
The gameplay in MW3 being the same does not help. If you've played a recent Call of Duty before, you will be familiar with the series trademark penchant for linear story telling and level design, but to deliver on contrived moments of shock, awe and tension, MW3 forgets the meaning of "interactivity" providing a reductive game of 'Simon-says'. Much of the game you will follow numerous rules built so that you feel these moments. If you are able to buy into the reality of the moment, despite seeing the strings being pulled clearly in front of you, these moments may work to be compelling. Otherwise they feel limiting to the point of frustration. The game just wants you to do what it wants you to do, and feel what it wants you to feel. Don't even think about not listening to instructions because MW3 will punish your detour of its set path. It will take away your gun for a cinematic moment. It will show you an explosion. It will force you to stay still while enemies patrol slowly overhead, a lot.
Then there is the actual combat. Although the game remains fruitless in terms of new toys to pick up and play with, not that variety of weaponry amounts to variety of gameplay, MW's refined movement mechanics that treasure quick reflexes have been polished to a sparkle. Once again, you aim and you shoot at hundreds of enemies that take cover, pop out of cover to shoot fiercely at your direction and occasionally throw grenades or bull rush towards you. Unfortunately, on occasion the game demands a particular approach, usage of weapon, pacing that it doesn't communicate very well which could lead to frustrating deaths.
In fact, the series trademark impossible number of enemies to defeat means that if you play the game on the "hardened or "veteran" difficulty levels, you will have to get shot, a lot. In fact, the game will punish you to no end in this regard, occasionally letting you die due to a lucky bullet from a distant foe despite you intuitively following closely behind an a.i companion, or in the case of a driving sequence; doing absolutely nothing. The purpose of this remains a mystery, although I would guess the game's length is a factor.
Moving on to the arguable selling attraction, the multiplayer at least offers you more choice to approach your play style. Similarly with its single player however, it offers less compared to previous incarnations. Maps now focus nearly single-handedly on short range combat, meaning that snipers will find little use in these battlefields. This change provides a quick, tension filled multiplayer competitive play that will rarely produce the 30-1 kdr player in amongst the leader board charts. This means a greater focus on quick reflexes as opposed with strategic positioning and team play.
Moving backward from Black Ops, and sticking more closely to its immediate predecessor, MW3's guns are deadly and quick to kill as ever, meaning that fast reflexes can beat strategy easily. Those who were happy with Black Op's direction will be disappointed with MW3's ruthlessness and relentlessness in its competitive action. Similarly missing is character customization, but returning are weapon skill trees, and the usual ranking system that offers incentive to keep playing to unlock weapons, attatchments, kill-streaks, weapon paint, and gamer tags. New game modes include Kill Confirmed, which works great, but is not a replacement for the missing and frenetic "gun game" mode from Black Ops 2. Multiplayer is solid and retains that similar Call of Duty action, but may divide fans.
MW3 encapsulates a direction that gaming has taken in the past few years towards providing cinematic moments in replace of game interactivity, For series veterans, without engaging gameplay mechanics or a compelling story to pull you through its contrived scenarios, MW3's campaign can end up feeling like a chore at times. Although previous games were similar, the focus on hand-holding linearity and lack of any surprises lays bare the fragile framework of the series. New comers and casual gamers may still find it an exhilarating feast for the eyes and ears.
The series has been known for its philosophy on refining and focusing on popular mechanics, polishing them for every new release. But no longer can brilliant presentation and cinematic moments hold up the campaign's familiar, unengaging yet intuitive gun play that the series has stuck to for so long. Games like Halo provide strategy, planning and choice in combat, Call of Duty just wants you to do what it says. Even with its fantastic and frenetic multiplayer, If you're the type to follow structured orders into the foray of global warfare, then you may just want to answer this latest call of duty, otherwise this latest installment will successfully hammer the final nail on the coffin for you.