Same broken multiplayer engine. Boring campaign. Only great weapons and awesome Spec Ops save this game for me.
Let me start by saying I was so excited to play this I pre-ordered the Hardened edition. I really wish I hadn't. I could have lived with just the base game. I got absolutely nothing I liked out of the Hardened edition.
WEAPONS - 9/10
I must say I love all of the guns in MW3. They really did an amazing job of making each gun "feel" awesome. The sounds are great, the vibrations are good... I have yet to find a weapon in the game I just hate (vs Black Ops, where I hated like half of them or more). The balance (LMG vs SMG vs Assault vs Sniper) seems to be very well done, and I really have very little complaints here. The new dual-scope is a blast.
ELITE - 1/10
I can't find a single thing in Elite that I want or need. You can do all of the theater stuff you want in Theater mode, inside the game. In order to access Elite mode on the Xbox, you have to exit out of MW3 and load up the Elite software! On top of that, Elite service has been broken since release and I have yet to be able to log in successfully. So yeah, all of that Founder stuff I get with the Hardened edition? Inaccessible.
MULTIPLAYER - 2/10
Let me begin by saying I became a CoD multiplayer fan when Modern Warfare came out. I became disillusioned with CoD with MW2 due to the quick-scoping and Run&Gunning that never got fixed. I became a CoD hater when Black Ops' cheaters and lag-switchers ruined 1 out of every 3 matches for me.
I could go on and on how stupid it is that CoD doesn't use dedicated servers. How much money do they make every year of a CoD release? And they can't afford dedicated servers?
So we have to put up with one person hosting and the rest of us having a SEVERE impairment due to not being the host. It is the SAME freaking engine they used for Black Ops. I can tell, because I have all the SAME retarded problems with Xbox Live matches that I did with Black Ops. As of day 1, people already were lag switching, can still force a match to abort entirely, one guy was invincible in one match, etc. You can read my scathing review of how lame this all is in my Black Ops review.
There are also some horrible balance issues aka Juggernaut armor drops. Of all the online matches I've played (100+ so far), no one has been able to kill someone in juggernaut armor. All you can do is avoid them.
The short story is, if Infinity Ward spent some $$ on dedicated servers, no one would have host advantage any more, and the number of cheaters would drop by probably a factor of 100. I really cannot describe how much I am disgusted by CoD's decision to not use dedicated servers.
I used to absolutely love CoD multiplayer, but I can barely tolerate it now, because I never get to play as good as I CAN play due to lag and/or cheating. With good lag I'm 20kills - 7deaths. With bad lag I'm 3kills-20deaths. No, I'm not a great players. But I'm pretty good *IF* I can get a connection with good lag and NO CHEATERS.
Yes Kill Confirmed is a blast, it is tons of fun, but what's the point if you pull the trigger, your gun puts 8 rounds into the guy's chest (point blank range) but then HE KILLS YOU because his connection is better and his Xbox sent "bullets fired" statistics to the host first.
CAMPAIGN - 4/10
For reference, I have played every CoD campaign on veteran to completion (except CoD1). I've played CoD2, CoD3, CoD MW, CoD WaW, CoD MW2, CoD BlackOps, all finished on veteran. Yeah, I know... glutton for punishment. Here are what I consider to be my ratings for previous campaigns
Modern Warfare 1 - 10/10
-amazing, evocative and unforgettable
Modern Warfare 2 - 8/10
-truly incredible scenes that I will never forget, but the overall story is weaker than MW1
Black Ops - 7/10
-pretty good but just not great
Modern Warfare 3 - 4/10
EXTREMELY DISAPPPOINTING
-short, forgettable, and unimaginative
SPEC OPS - 9/10
If it wasn't for the new survival mode in SPEC OPS, I probably would have returned this game already.
The missions are all fun and offer great variety. Getting 3stars in all of them is of course a challenge. What's new is that you now have a level progression for Spec Ops that is entirely separate from your multiplayer level. While gaining Spec Ops levels doesn't help you with the missions, it does help a great deal in Survival.
Survival to me is the best part of MW3. Instead of surviving against endless waves of Zombies (Black Ops), you have to survive against endless waves of guys with GUNS. As you survive levels, 3 laptops open up allowing you to buy guns, or explosives, or airdrops. You will need to use all 3 of these laptops to survive the later rounds, because not only do your opponents get better armor, they also flank you better and throw more grenades as you survive each wave. Throw into the mix mini-choppers with miniguns and juggernauts and dogs wearing explosive C4, you have yourself a real hectic mess that is an absolute blast.
SUMMARY - 5/10
I have already lost interest in MW3's broken multiplayer, and finished its campaign. Without Spec Ops this game would already have been returned.