Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is epic in all the right places and maintains a near-perfect balance between narrative and action sequences, ensuring that even 12 years after release, it is still worth playing; while it’s an older game and character animations cannot convey emotion as well as newer titles, a cinematic score and high-quality voice acting get the job done.
That being said, it is not all sunshine and roses, and while it’s not as controversial as the “no Russian” mission from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, requiring players to strangle and eventually hang the antagonist (Makarov) is problematic, especially when you consider that racially motivated lynching still occurs in some parts of the United States, and it took until 2022 for it to be declared a federally recognised hate crime.
Lynching aside, there are very few positive dark-skinned role models, with the vast majority of African characters being portrayed as cowardly, sadistic, and ill-equipped militia in third-world countries; please understand me; I am well aware of the real-world existence of such groups but by not including any positive role models for any skin tone darker than “mildly middle eastern” It does give the appearance of being racist, even if that was not the intention.
While Makarov is caucasian, forcing players to take part in virtually hanging someone is not a decision that should be taken lightly, and there should have been a less visceral option to deal with Makarov than watching him suffocate to death as Captain Price slowly bleeds out on a pile of broken glass.
Image credit The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - Published by Activision and developed by Infinity Ward.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 may not be much to look at compared to modern games, but considering its age and the limitations of 2011 hardware, it is a very nice-looking game.
If not for the lack of modern quality-of-life mechanics, such as the ability to slide and controller support on PC, there is very little mechanical difference between it and a game released in 2023, at least as far as the campaign is concerned, where 120 fps and lightning fast reaction times are not necessary and cutting edge visuals are not required to fully enjoy the engrossing narrative, filled to the brim with engaging characters and well designed set pieces.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 retains a small but active community on all platforms; however, due to the vast majority of remaining players not owning the DLC maps, players who wish to play with others will have to disable their own DLC packs if they wish to engage with the wider community.
Image credit The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - Published by Activision and developed by Infinity Ward.
The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a first person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision, it was released on 8 November 2011 and retails for $19.99+.
The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is available on the following platforms: PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) is no longer in active development, and the developers have moved on to other projects.
As of November 2023, around 9,000 people play The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on a fairly regular basis.
The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 suffers from low activity, meaning that while off-peak matchmaking is possible in populated regions, finding full lobbies in less populated regions is unlikely outside of peak playtimes.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) supports:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) offers the following matchmaking options:
The following peripherals are officially supported:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) is rated PEGI 18+ and contains the following:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a fantastic game and well worth playing for the campaign alone, however with Call of Duty Modern Warfare (2019) and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (2022) diverging from the original narrative and COVID-19 putting an end to any hope of a remaster, there is no real need to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in 2023 outside of experiencing the original ending to one of the most influential and controversial trilogies in the history of the FPS genre.
