Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare III

Stuffed to the ghillies with issues, COD is looking battered

Well, this is a fine mess they’ve gotten us into. While the core multiplayer experience has received a shot in the arm, everything around it has received a shot in the foot. With a rocket launcher. Online has been Call Of Duty’s main draw for decades, but that doesn’t prevent the overall package from feeling like a spectacularly missed opportunity.

It’s unlikely that you’ve missed the criticisms of the campaign that have been spread far and wide, and chances are everything you’ve heard is true. The relatively short length (perhaps four hours) isn’t a problem for us, even if it is out of step with recent entries. It’s the number of mistakes made within that short period that we take issue with.

The odd thing is, there are signs that the original plan was to have a campaign on a grander scale than usual. Makarov, the villain of the storyline that included the infamous No Russian mission, returns in a tale with a similarly globetrotting plot. Multiple missions have intros that make a point of referring to different characters taking different routes, yet you only ever take control of one character along one path. Speaking of routes, we have to talk about those Open Combat Missions.

FIRING SQUADDIE

These are essentially sections of a Warzone map with campaign objectives and AI enemies thrown in, and even feature Warzone’s scavenging element. Rather than missions that offer exciting possibilities for unique strategies and freedom of approach, they very much feel like bits of gaming Blu Tack hurriedly thrown in to bind the rest of the missions into something resembling a story. The Open Combat Missions are a strong indication that the rumours of rushed development are true.