Solid gameplay and great maps, but hacker problems keep this game from shining
The gameplay is pretty universally acclaimed. It is very simple in nature and easy to pick up, which is why it attracts so many gamers.
The maps in MW3 are in my opinion really good. They are designed to keep people on their feet, and without many nooks and crannies it tries to hinder camping, to a limited effect. However, as seen on the recent MW2 Terminal map addition, the MW3 maps DO lessen the popularity of camping. Maps are somewhat 3 Dimensional, with them all having multiple levels or floors. They are quite small to keep action always heated.
The gunplay is fantastic, and I would advise new users to watch a few youtube tutorials to see which guns are most effective. At the time of writing this review, the MP7 and the ACR assault rifle are the most powerful main weapons. The ACR is a great long range gun, and works best in the few scenarios where maps are open enough to warrant long range. The MP7 is great because there is minimal recoil, and it has a great medium to long range, and a high rate of fire. The best 2 attachments are silencer to stay off the radar, and for MP7 I would go with rate of fire while with ACR I would use extended mags.
The most powerful sidearm by far, is the FMG9. After getting a relatively small amount of kills with it, you will unlock the ability to dual wield them (akimbo). When dual wielding with the perk that increases hipfire accuracy, you will have the most powerful close range weapon in the game. You can easily mow down an entire team that is bunched together, before they even have time to react.
I would rate this game a 9 except for the hacking problem. It seems Activision has dismissed the PC as a legitimate platform, because the hacking has gotten so bad that you will find them in pretty much every other match you play. If you are lucky they will be on your team, but if not it really disrupts the game flow because you have to quit and then pretty much join a different game mode to get into another server.
The most popular gamemode is team deathmatch, however I find Kill Confirmed is the best (it is 3rd most popular), because it is essentially team deathmatch but it punishes camping. Domination is the 2nd most played gamemode, which consists of capturing and holding 3 key points.
I play and enjoy many FPS, including BF3, CounterStrike Source/Global Offensive, MW3, and Bad Company 2. I enjoy MW3 so much that I play despite the rampant hackers, but I feel I can't rate it any higher than this score, due to this problem.