2011 video game
2011 video game
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a 2011 first-person shooter video game, jointly developed by🗝 Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games and published by Activision. The game was released worldwide in November 2011 for Microsoft Windows,🗝 the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and OS X.[1] It is the sequel to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2🗝 (2009), serving as the third and final installment in the original Modern Warfare trilogy and the eighth Call of Duty🗝 installment overall. A separate version for the Nintendo DS was developed by n-Space, while Treyarch developed the game's Wii port.🗝 In Japan, Square Enix published the game with a separate subtitled and dubbed version.[2]
The game's campaign follows Modern Warfare 2🗝 and begins right after the events of its final mission. Similar to Modern Warfare 2, it is centered around Task🗝 Force 141, which contains Captain Price, Soap MacTavish, and a newly introduced playable character, Yuri. Alongside the Delta Force and🗝 Special Air Service, they hunt Vladimir Makarov (the main antagonist of the trilogy), a Russian terrorist who leads the Russian🗝 Ultranationalist party. He led several terror attacks across Europe, triggering a large-scale war between the Ultranationalists and friendly forces. For🗝 the game's multiplayer mode, new mode types and killstreak choices were brought in. Improvements were also made to the mode🗝 that solved issues that appeared in Modern Warfare 2.
Using an enhanced version of Modern Warfare 2's IW engine, development for🗝 the game began in 2010 with more than one developer studio. Prior to development, Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and🗝 Vince Zampella left the company to form Respawn Entertainment. Other members had been fired or had left the company following🗝 the duo's departure. Sledgehammer Games had joined the Modern Warfare 3 development force, with Raven Software also developing the game's🗝 multiplayer mode. Following a large leak containing detailed information about the game, multiple teaser trailers were released, with each showcasing🗝 a location featured in the game's campaign, leading up to a full reveal.
Modern Warfare 3 received positive reviews from critics,🗝 with praise for its gameplay, campaign, and multiplayer, although there was some criticism for its story and lack of innovation.🗝 It won the award for Best Shooter at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards. It was a massive commercial success.🗝 Within 24 hours of going on sale, the game sold 6.5 million copies in the United States and the United🗝 Kingdom and grossedR$400 million, contemporaneously making it the largest entertainment launch ever.[3][4][5]
Gameplay [ edit ]
Modern Warfare 3 is a first-person🗝 shooter video game much like its predecessors. Modern Warfare 3 for Microsoft Windows has dedicated server support.[6]
Campaign [ edit ]
The🗝 player assumes the role of various characters during the single-player campaign, changing perspectives throughout the progression of the story, which,🗝 like its predecessors, is divided into three sets of missions called "Acts". Each mission in an act features a series🗝 of objectives that are displayed on the heads up display, which marks the direction and distance between such objectives and🗝 the player. Damage to the player is shown by the visualization of blood-spatter or red-outs on the screen. The player's🗝 health regenerates over time as long as the player character avoids taking damage for a limited time. Mission objectives vary🗝 in their requirements, ranging from having the player arrive at a particular checkpoint, to eliminating enemies in a specified location,🗝 to standing their ground against enemy squadrons, directing remote-operated weapons, and planting explosive charges on enemy installations. The player is🗝 also accompanied by fellow soldiers who cannot be issued orders. Like its predecessor, the game includes an interactive scene of🗝 a terror attack against civilians, which the player is given the option of skipping due to the portrayal of graphic🗝 and potentially upsetting content, including harm to children.
Cooperative [ edit ]
Modern Warfare 3 features a new mode, called Survival. This🗝 mode allows between one and two players to fight massive waves of enemies, with each wave becoming increasingly difficult. It🗝 differs from the Nazi Zombies mode in Call of Duty: World at War, principally in that enemies no longer spawn🗝 at fixed locations as the zombies do, but instead appear at tactical positions based on the current location of the🗝 player. The mode is available on all multiplayer maps in the game. Players earn in-game cash for items such as🗝 weapons, upgrades, ammo, air/ground support, and equipment if they kill or assist in killing enemies, while more items can be🗝 unlocked by earning XP which is also increased by killing enemies.[7][8] Special Ops also returns from Modern Warfare 2. These🗝 challenge missions feature up to 48 stars, unlike its previous installment, which featured 69. Some weapons in Spec Ops are🗝 exclusive to that game mode and are not available for play in multiplayer mode.[9]
Multiplayer [ edit ]
The new "Recon Juggernaut"🗝 Pointstreak reward in multiplayer mode
The entire Killstreak reward system has been altered to make it more difficult for players to🗝 get early unlocks. Killstreaks are now known as Pointstreaks, and kills are no longer the only way to increase the🗝 player's point streak. Completing objectives such as planting a bomb or capturing a flag in Capture The Flag awards points🗝 towards the player's Pointstreak. Pointstreak rewards are organized into three different "strike packages" called Assault, Support, and Specialist.
The Assault strike🗝 package works the same as the Killstreak reward system in Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops: the player must earn🗝 more and more points without dying. Once the player is killed, their points are reset to zero. Likewise, the Specialist🗝 strike package rewards players with perks after every second consecutive kill. Upon death, however, the player loses all the perks🗝 and the points are reset to zero. In contrast, the Support strike package is awarded based on the total points🗝 that the player has earned over the entire match, regardless of how often the player dies. It is important to🗝 note that if a player switches to a custom class with a different reward system (either assault or specialist) during🗝 gameplay, all points are automatically reset to 0.[10] Players are allowed to choose which Pointstreak rewards they want to use🗝 when they gain it during the match, rather than choosing them between rounds.
Along with revamping the entire Killstreak reward system,🗝 Modern Warfare 3 also has a completely modified Ranking and Unlocks system, which does not use a currency system for🗝 unlocks.[11] The player's primary weapon levels up alongside the player, and unlocks a number of "Proficiency" perks such as Attachments,🗝 (allows two attachments and is a successor to the "Bling" and "Warlord" perks), Kick (reduced recoil while aiming down the🗝 player's sight) and Focus (reduced flinching while under fire). Only one Proficiency can be put on a primary weapon.[12] Another🗝 new addition is the ability to equip "Hybrid Scopes" on a weapon, such as a holographic sight with a red🗝 dot magnifier, allowing players to switch between magnified and non-magnified.[13] Modern Warfare 3 introduces a new "Prestige Shop" which will🗝 unlock only after the player has selected the option to prestige for the first time. The "Prestige Shop" allows Prestige🗝 players to use tokens they gain from using the Prestige option to buy exclusive features such as double XP and🗝 an extra custom weapon class. The player is able to Prestige 20 times.[14]
Several controversial perks in Modern Warfare 2, accused🗝 of being too overpowered, have been removed in Modern Warfare 3. Diving from standing to prone, known as "dolphin diving",🗝 has been removed due to balancing issues.[15] Modern Warfare 3 utilized Treyarch's hot fix system to fix bugs and glitches.[16]🗝 Modern Warfare 3 features a local and online split-screen option. (Not available for the Wii version.)[17]
New game modes were added:
Kill🗝 Confirmed: players must collect floating dog tags from the corpse of a downed enemy before the kill can be registered.🗝 However, the opposing team can pick up the dog tag as well to deny the other team a kill, which🗝 denies the other team a point.
Team Defender: both teams attempt to capture a flag dropped by the first person who🗝 is killed when the match starts, the team of the person who holds the flag will get double points for🗝 their kills; while the team without the flag only gets the default number per kill.
Private matches also now include pre-made🗝 game modes including: "Infected" (where the infected kill enemies to recruit them to their team), "Drop Zone" (where the player🗝 must hold a drop zone for points and care packages), "Team Juggernaut" (each team plays alongside an AI Juggernaut character),🗝 "Gun Game" (be the first to get one kill with every gun in the game), "One in the Chamber" (in🗝 which players are only allowed one pistol with one bullet and three lives where they can only get more bullets🗝 by killing other players), and "Juggernaut" (free for all against a juggernaut, kill the juggernaut to become it). Along with🗝 this, players are allowed to create their own game modes with customized settings such as number of players and time🗝 limit.[10]
Special Ops [ edit ]
The Special Ops game mode from Modern Warfare 2 is present in Modern Warfare 3, and🗝 includes new features which make it more replayable and similar to other game modes, such as Nazi Zombies from previous🗝 Call of Duty games, and Hordes from Gears of War. The two main Special Ops modes include one that is🗝 generally the same as the last Modern Warfare game, and a new wave-based game, Survival, where the player is inserted🗝 into a multiplayer map alone or with a single partner and defends an area against waves of enemies. The players🗝 can buy support options unlocked with money earned during each round via the means of killing the enemy and completing🗝 the optional objectives on each wave, which vary from getting multi-kills to not taking damage. You gain experience for killing🗝 them which allows for more weapons to be unlocked, as well as other support options. The model also works with🗝 the DLC multiplayer maps.
Call of Duty: Elite [ edit ]
Call of Duty: Elite was an online service developed by Beachhead🗝 Studios for the multiplayer portion of Modern Warfare 3 (as well as the previous installment in the series, Black Ops).🗝 It was first showcased at E3 2011 and was released on November 8, 2011, to coincide with the release of🗝 Modern Warfare 3. The free version included features such as lifetime statistics and social networking integration. It included monthly downloadable🗝 content.[18] The service was shut down by Activision on February 28, 2014, and did not support Call of Duty: Ghosts.
Downloadable🗝 content [ edit ]
The downloadable content (DLC) available for Modern Warfare 3 is an assortment of additional multiplayer maps, Special🗝 Ops missions, and Face-Off Maps that came as part of the Call of Duty ELITE Premium membership. Downloadable content was🗝 split into four unique "Content Collections," each with 2-3 content packs.
During the release of Modern Warfare 3 and Call of🗝 Duty's Elite service, premium members of the service were promised 20 pieces of DLC over a 9-month period, with content🗝 releases for each platform every month. This number was increased to 22 on Call of Duty's official Elite Content Calendar.[19]🗝 Initially, all downloadable content was only available to Call of Duty: Elite premium members. Xbox 360 users received all DLC🗝 about a month before PlayStation 3 users regardless of Elite membership due to a special contract between Microsoft and Activision.🗝 As an example, the first Collection dropped on Xbox 360 on January 24, and on February 28 on the PS3.🗝 Content Drops were released monthly exclusively to all Call of Duty: Elite premium and founder members. There were a total🗝 of 9 monthly DLC releases up until the end of Modern Warfare 3' 2012 content season. September was the last🗝 month DLC was released for Xbox 360, and October was the last month for PlayStation 3. Since Call of Duty:🗝 Elite was not available for PC gamers, DLC was only released in the form of Content Collections.
On May 9, 2012,🗝 it was announced that the Face-Off mode would be introduced to Modern Warfare 3. It included smaller maps, which promoted🗝 fast gameplay matches. Face-Off included options for 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 battles. Two free Face-Off maps became available for all🗝 Xbox Live Gold subscribers on May 15, 2012, regardless of Call of Duty: Elite membership.[20]
Story [ edit ]
Characters [ edit🗝 ]
The game sees the return of Task Force 141 members Captain John "Soap" MacTavish, Captain John Price and Russian mercenary🗝 "Nikolai", who are on the run after killing the rogue General Shepherd, the main antagonist of the previous game. Task🗝 Force 141 was officially disavowed due to Shepherd's death, with the truth of his involvement in igniting World War III🗝 known only to Price, Soap, and Nikolai. For most of the game, the player controls Yuri, an ex-Spetsnaz operator and🗝 former associate of Russian Ultranationalist terrorist Makarov, who joins Task Force 141 on their hunt for Makarov, who returns as🗝 the game's main antagonist. Several playable characters have been added, including Delta Force operator Staff Sergeant Derek "Frost" Westbrook; Special🗝 Air Service Sergeant Marcus Burns; and Andrei Harkov, a Russian FSO agent tasked with protecting the Russian President. Just like🗝 President Al-Fulani in the first game, Soap is only "playable" during the game's opening sequence; while Price becomes the player🗝 character in the game's final mission, and is the only character in the trilogy who speaks while playable. The player🗝 also takes brief control of a civilian tourist in London, seconds before he and his family are killed by a🗝 chemical agent; as well as an AC-130 TV Operator during the Battle of Paris.
New non-player characters (NPCs) include Delta Force🗝 operatives "Sandman" (William Fichtner), "Truck" (Idris Elba), and "Grinch" (Timothy Olyphant), who serve as Frost's squadmates. Captain MacMillan briefly returns🗝 from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare as Baseplate. Craig Fairbrass, who originally voiced the characters Gaz and Ghost, returns🗝 to voice SAS operative Sergeant Wallcroft, who originally had a minor role in the first Modern Warfare.
Locations featured in the🗝 game include India, the United States, Sierra Leone, the United Kingdom, Germany, Somalia, France, the Czech Republic, Russia, and the🗝 United Arab Emirates.
Plot [ edit ]
Immediately following the events of the previous game, Soap and Price are extracted by Nikolai🗝 to a safe house in Himachal Pradesh, but are soon attacked by Makarov's forces. At the request of Price, Nikolai🗝 contacts his "best man", a former Spetsnaz operator named Yuri who claims to hate Makarov even more than Price.
Meanwhile, a🗝 Delta Force squad codenamed "Metal" assists American forces in defense of New York City, destroying a radio jammer atop the🗝 Stock Exchange before hijacking an Oscar II-class submarine and using its missile payload to destroy the Russian Navy in New🗝 York Bay, prompting Russia to withdraw its forces from the East Coast and effectively defeating the invasion.
Three months later, Russian🗝 President Boris Vorshevsky flies to take part in peace talks with the United States in Hamburg. Makarov's forces, however, ambush🗝 his security detail aboard the plane, forcing it to crash land somewhere in Eastern Europe. The Ultranationalists assault the crash🗝 site and kill the remaining security agents, capturing Vorshevsky. Makarov demands he relinquish Russia's nuclear launch codes, threatening his daughter's🗝 life if he does not comply. Makarov then orders chemical bombs to be sent from Sierra Leone to several NATO🗝 member capital cities and military bases, with Task Force 141 failing to prevent the deadly cargo from leaving the country.🗝 The SAS identify one of the bombs as it is shipped into London, but are unable to prevent its detonation.🗝 With NATO forces crippled by the attacks, Russia, now under Makarov's control, invades Europe.
Team Metal rescues the Vice President of🗝 the United States in Hamburg while NATO scrambles to repel the invasion. Task Force 141 acquires a lead from MacMillan🗝 that a Somali black market warlord named Waraabe is associated with the chemical weapons. The team assaults his compound in🗝 Bosaso, cornering and interrogating the warlord into revealing that a man Viktor "Volk" Khristenko, CEO of Ultranationalist front company Fregata🗝 Industries, was responsible for constructing the bombs and is currently located in Paris. Price relays the intelligence to Team Metal,🗝 who are deployed to capture Volk with assistance from the GIGN. Volk is captured after an intense pursuit, and the🗝 team narrowly escapes the city with the HVT. Under interrogation, Volk reveals that Makarov is meeting with his associates in🗝 Prague soon. The meeting turns out to be a trap, however; Sergeant Kamarov, a Russian loyalist and close contact with🗝 Price, is killed by Makarov, who addresses Yuri as "[his] friend." In the ensuing fight, Soap suffers an injury that🗝 causes his wound[b] to reopen; he dies of blood loss just after revealing Makarov's association with Yuri to Price.
A distraught🗝 and enraged Price interrogates Yuri at gunpoint, demanding to know more about his past with Makarov. Yuri reveals that he🗝 was present in Pripyat during Zakhaev's attempted assassination in 1996, and became disillusioned with the Ultranationalist cause following the nuclear🗝 detonation in the Middle East in 2011,[c] with Makarov revealed to have personally detonated the bomb. Yuri then explains that🗝 he attempted to thwart the massacre at Zakhaev International Airport, but was critically wounded by Makarov and later rescued by🗝 security forces. Price begrudgingly chooses to continue working with Yuri, and with further help from MacMillan, the two infiltrate Makarov's🗝 castle base in rural Czechia to acquire intel on his whereabouts, learning that Makarov has located President Vorshevsky's daughter, Alena,🗝 in Berlin and intends to kidnap her. Price relays the intelligence to Team Metal, who fail to reach her before🗝 Makarov's men capture her. They track her to a diamond mine in Siberia before launching a rescue operation with Task🗝 Force 141. While the mission is successful, Metal is forced to sacrifice themselves in order to hold off Makarov's forces🗝 long enough for Vorshevsky, Alena, and 141 to escape; they are killed when the mine collapses on top of them.🗝 With the President safe and Makarov's machinations publicly revealed, relations between Russia and the US are restored and the war🗝 is ended; Makarov goes into hiding.
Three months later in 2024, Price and Yuri track Makarov to a hotel in Dubai.🗝 The duo don modified EOD suits and perform a frontal assault on the hotel, overcoming fierce resistance and cornering Makarov🗝 on the rooftop. Makarov gains the upper hand in the ensuing struggle and prepares to execute Price, but is distracted🗝 by Yuri, whom he kills. Price then manages to tackle Makarov and wrap a steel cable around his neck before🗝 plunging him through the glass roof, hanging him. As first responders approach the hotel, a victorious Price smokes a cigar.
Development🗝 [ edit ]
A 2010 Q3 earnings call from Activision confirmed that the eighth installment of the franchise was currently in🗝 development by Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software and due for release "during the back half of 2011". This was revealed🗝 to be Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, with the latter developers co-developing multiplayer. Call of Duty: Modern🗝 Warfare 3 was known to be in development after a legal dispute between Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and Vince🗝 Zampella and Activision resulted in the pair being fired from the company. Several dozen Infinity Ward employees followed West and🗝 Zampella as a result of the ongoing dispute, causing Activision to enlist the services of Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software🗝 to assist in the development of the title.[21] The game was said to have been in development since only two🗝 weeks after the release of their previous game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.[22] Also reported was that Sledgehammer was🗝 aiming for a "bug free" first outing in the Call of Duty franchise, and also set a goal for Metacritic🗝 review scores above 95 percent.[23] Modern Warfare 3 utilizes the MW3 Engine, unofficially the IW 5.0 Engine. Improvements include better🗝 streaming and audio.[24] Sledgehammer Games announced the game to be the first entry in the Modern Warfare series to have🗝 built-in support for color-blind gamers.[25]
The Official UK PlayStation Magazine lent credence to speculation that Modern Warfare 3 would be a🗝 prequel starring fan-favorite character Ghost. The magazine's sources strengthened a rumor which first reared its head online early in January🗝 2011. On the Rumor Machine page in its issue (055), OPM points to "insider whispers" which suggest: "Infinity Ward's next🗝 Modern Warfare title will be a prequel, with Ghost in the lead role."[26] According to PSM3, the first snippet of🗝 Modern Warfare 3 gameplay would be revealed in mid-April. According to the publication's May 2011 issue, insider rumors say "the🗝 next in Activision's megaton FPS series will be announced in mid-April".[27]
On May 13, 2011, the video game website Kotaku revealed🗝 the existence of Modern Warfare 3 following a massive leak. According to Kotaku, this leak came from multiple sources who🗝 may or may not work at Activision and Infinity Ward. The leak contained thorough information about the game, confirming that🗝 it would be a direct sequel to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, as well as details regarding weapons, levels,🗝 and modes found in the game.[28] In response to the leaks, Robert Bowling tweeted "A lot of hype & a🗝 lot of leaked info on MW3, some still accurate, some not. To avoid spoiling the experience, I'd wait for the🗝 real reveal." Just hours after the leaked assets appeared on Kotaku, four teaser trailers were released on the official Call🗝 of Duty YouTube page, separately titled "America", "England", "France" and "Germany", indicating the various locales of the game.[29]
Marketing [ edit🗝 ]
On May 23, 2011, Activision released the first gameplay trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on YouTube ahead🗝 of its official premiere during the NBA Western Conference Finals.[30] On May 31, 2011, Activision announced Call of Duty: Elite,🗝 a new social service for the Call of Duty community to track and compare statistics, create videos and access premium🗝 content. The service is fully integrated into Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and launched on November 8, 2011, to🗝 coincide with the game's release.[31] On June 6, 2011, at 11:00 AM (PDT), the first live gameplay demo of Modern🗝 Warfare 3 was presented by Robert Bowling and Glen Schofield at E3 2011. On June 14, 2011, 12:35 PM (EST),🗝 the first live gameplay demo of the new Survival Mode was played by Jimmy Fallon and Simon Pegg on Late🗝 Night with Jimmy Fallon.[32] On August 9, 2011, the trailer for the new Survival Mode was released on YouTube.[33] On🗝 September 2, 2011, the multiplayer world premiere trailer was released on YouTube.[34] On September 3, 2011, another multiplayer trailer was🗝 released on YouTube showing off the heads-up display along with various weapons, perks, and killstreaks.[35] On October 6, 2011, a🗝 second full-length cinematic trailer was released.[36] On October 22, 2011, the launch trailer was released.[37]
On July 19, 2011, UK distributor🗝 Lygo unveiled a range of Turtle Beach Ear Force Modern Warfare 3 gaming headsets that launched in November 2011. The🗝 headsets are distinguished by custom audio presets designed by the audio teams at developers Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games "in🗝 order to provide the ultimate immersion into the cinematic world of Modern Warfare 3".[38] On August 24, 2011, Activision revealed🗝 the official Modern Warfare 3 sunglasses. These Call of Duty-branded glasses come from technology eyewear manufacturer GUNNAR – in a🗝 licensed partnership with Activision – and join its "Advanced Gaming Eyewear" line. They come with a limited edition Modern Warfare🗝 3 carrying case and cleaning cloth. The product is sold exclusively in North America at Best Buy retail locations and🗝 at select European retailers.[39] Microsoft released two limited-edition Modern Warfare 3-themed accessories on October 11, 2011, a wireless controller and🗝 a wireless headset.[40] On September 29, 2011, Munitio announced a partnership with Activision in order to make a special edition🗝 Modern Warfare 3 9 mm "billet" earphone featuring the Modern Warfare 3 logo, among other things. The earphones were available🗝 for pre-order and were released on October 23, 2011.[41] On October 18, 2011, Logitech announced a partnership with Activision in🗝 order to make a special edition Modern Warfare 3 mouse and keyboard which feature many things, including the Modern Warfare🗝 3 logo.[42]
On September 2, 2011, Jeep announced a partnership with Activision for the second year in a row, to make🗝 a special edition Modern Warfare 3 Jeep based on the Wrangler Rubicon model. The Jeep comes with various features including🗝 the interior and exterior being designed with a Modern Warfare 3 theme. Jeep dealers started selling this model in November🗝 2011.[43]
On August 24, 2011, the PepsiCo-owned brand Mountain Dew officially announced on their Facebook page that they would be promoting🗝 the game with their "Game Fuel" soda variants, which would be cherry-citrus-flavored (the original Game Fuel that promoted Halo 3🗝 in 2007 and brought back in 2009 to promote World of Warcraft) and Tropical-flavored (a new flavor that was tested🗝 by 500 Dew Labs members). The drinks featured codes to give the player double experience points in-game, depending on the🗝 size of the drink.[44] Another PepsiCo-owned brand, Doritos, promoted the game with its "Cool Ranch" and "Nacho Cheese" flavors and🗝 also followed the same rules as the Mountain Dew promotion. Both promotions started on October 10, 2011, and ended on🗝 December 31, 2011.[45] In Australia, 500 ml cans of V Energy Drink have been branded with the Modern Warfare 3🗝 logo, along with a branded code which can be used for downloads and previews.[46]
To promote the game, Activision held a🗝 two-day event called Call of Duty: Experience 2011 (Call of Duty: XP for short) which took place in Los Angeles🗝 from September 2–3, 2011. It featured many things including the reveal of the new multiplayer which attendees were able to🗝 play for the first time. In addition, all attendees received the Hardened Edition for free as a gift for attending.[47]🗝 At a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 VIP party in Amsterdam, Dutch porn star and avid fan of the🗝 series Kim Holland was originally invited to attend the event until she was suddenly uninvited when Activision discovered her profession.🗝 In her blog, she shared her opinion and feelings towards Activision's sudden decision, writing: "People murdering people is neat, [...]🗝 but love-makers are dirty?" Activision did not respond to any comments about the subject.[48]
Activision had planned to set up an🗝 official website to promote the game, however, the domain name "ModernWarfare3" had already been taken and was used for an🗝 anti-Call of Duty website and redirecting users to Electronic Arts's game Battlefield 3. Activision filed a US$2,600 complaint against the🗝 site with the National Arbitration Forum.[49] On September 8, 2011, Activision won the complaint and acquired the rights to the🗝 domain name.[50] In November 2011, actors Jonah Hill and Sam Worthington (who voiced the main character Alex Mason in Black🗝 Ops, the previous game to Modern Warfare 3), and NBA athlete Dwight Howard starred in commercials advertising the game.[51]
Release [🗝 edit ]
Two weeks before the release of the game, it was reported that half of the PC version had been🗝 uploaded online after being stolen from a warehouse in Fresno, California. Investigators working on behalf of Activision searched torrent websites🗝 for traces of the game as well as visiting people who had downloaded a copy across the United States and🗝 requested that they remove it or they would face a fine of US$5,000.[52]
As early as late October, reports were already🗝 surfacing about copies being sold early to people with gameplay videos uploaded online.[53] On November 3, 2011, it was reported🗝 that copies of the game were already being sold early in the United States. K-Mart had already started selling copies🗝 of the game before its scheduled release date with copies already appearing on eBay and Craigslist. This was due to🗝 an error made by one of the shipping companies that told Walmart to sell copies of the game immediately after🗝 receiving the shipments. However, Activision contacted K-mart about this and had the issue resolved.[54]
French site TF1 News reported that a🗝 truck suffered a collision with a car on November 6, 2011, in Créteil, south Paris, before two masked individuals emerged🗝 from the car. The criminals reportedly used tear gas to neutralize the truck drivers before hopping in and making off🗝 with the video game shipment said to be worth 400,000 Euros. A separate report said the truck contained a delivery🗝 of 6000 copies of Modern Warfare 3.[55]
Shortly after the game's release, a man from Aurora, Colorado who did not receive🗝 a copy of the game at his local Best Buy, despite pre-ordering it, claimed to be so angry that he🗝 "could blow this place up". He was also reported as having threatened to shoot employees once they left the store.🗝 Lomon Sar, age 31, was issued a citation and court summons by police responding to the disturbance.[56] The game was🗝 released for OS X on May 20, 2014.[57]
Retail versions [ edit ]
Contents of the Hardened Edition
Modern Warfare 3 was released🗝 in two different retail versions across the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms: Standard and Hardened. The standard version consists🗝 of the game and an instructional manual and is the only version available for the Microsoft Windows platform. Contents within🗝 the Hardened Edition include the game disc with "unique art", one-year membership to Call of Duty: Elite, "special founder status"🗝 on Call of Duty: Elite which includes an exclusive in-game emblem, player card, weapon camouflage, clan XP boost, and more🗝 exclusive benefits, premium collectible Steelbook case, exclusive animated timeline theme for PS3 only, exclusive Spec Ops Juggernaut Xbox Live avatar🗝 outfit for Xbox 360 only, and a limited edition, collectible field journal, which chronicles "the entire saga with 100+ pages🗝 of authentic military sketches, diagrams, and written entries."[58]
Robert Bowling of Infinity Ward confirmed that there will be no Prestige Edition🗝 of Modern Warfare 3. In the past, the Prestige editions of previous Call of Duty games have included physical items🗝 such as a remote-controlled car for Black Ops, a pair of night vision goggles and a life-sized plastic head to🗝 put them on for Modern Warfare 2.[59]
On August 19, 2011, UK retailer Game announced an Intel Pack of Modern Warfare🗝 3. It comes with a British special forces avatar for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, as well🗝 as a Brady strategy guide.[60] On September 3, 2011, Activision and Microsoft jointly announced a special, limited Modern Warfare 3🗝 version of the Xbox 360 with a 320 GB hard disk. The unit is designed by the Call of Duty🗝 team and includes two custom wireless controllers, a copy of Modern Warfare 3, and features custom sounds when the console🗝 is turned on/off or when the disc tray is ejected. A one-month subscription to Xbox Live Gold is also included,🗝 as well as exclusive avatar items.[61]
Reception [ edit ]
Critical response [ edit ]
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 received "generally🗝 positive" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic, except for the Wii, where it received "mixed or average" reviews.[62][63][64][65]
The Daily Telegraph🗝 gave the game's Xbox 360 version 5 stars out of 5, stating that even as "the series has always been🗝 renowned for elements like the excellent sound design, the gloss, polish, and compulsion of its gameplay," it is "a game🗝 that not only lives up to the brand hype but exceeds it. A game where the mass appeal is justified🗝 and the expectations are met."[76] Gaming Evolution gave the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions a 9.0 out of 10, stating🗝 "Modern Warfare 3 lives up to the hype. It is proving itself the one of the best FPS the genre🗝 has to offer."[77] IGN gave the game's Xbox 360 version a 9.0 out of 10.0, pointing out that the game🗝 offers "great multiplayer, [a] fun campaign, tons of content, but [also] a forgettable story."[72]
GameSpot qualifies its review, stating that "the🗝 series' signature thrills have lost some of their luster. Modern Warfare 3 iterates rather than innovates, so the fun you🗝 have is familiar", but concludes by affirming that "fortunately, [the game is] also utterly engrossing and immensely satisfying, giving fans🗝 another reason to rejoice in this busy shooter season".[69] Eurogamer gave the game an 8/10 noting that it is a🗝 "ferocious and satisfying game that knows exactly what players expect, and delivers on that promise with bullish confidence" but with🗝 "an outmoded single-player campaign".[67]
Reviews for the Wii version of the game have been less favorable, with IGN rating it a🗝 4.5 out of 10, noting the lacking graphics and poor friend code system.[73]
Player confusion between Modern Warfare 3 and Modern🗝 Warfare III [ edit ]
Following early critical reaction of the 2024 game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (essentially the🗝 third in a separate reboot series) before its official release, this game was subjected to review bombing bringing the Metacritic🗝 user score as low as 3.5.[78] IGN attributed this as players' confusion between the two titles and confirmed Metacritic was🗝 in the process of removing these reviews.[13]
Sales and revenue [ edit ]
Activision has said that it believes Call of Duty:🗝 Modern Warfare 3 day-one shipments were the largest for any game ever. "The record number of pre-orders from Modern Warfare🗝 3 drove the largest day-one shipments in our history, and in the industry's history," said Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg🗝 during an earnings call on November 8, 2011. Hirshberg said more than 1.5 million people queued at 13,000 shops at🗝 midnight on Monday to buy Modern Warfare 3, "making it the largest retail release in Activision's history and in the🗝 industry's history".[79]
Activision reported sales figures for Modern Warfare 3 in the U.S. and UK being more than 6.5 million copies🗝 sold on launch day and grossedR$400 million in the US and UK alone in its first 24 hours, making it🗝 the biggest entertainment launch of all time.[80] It is the third year in a row that the Call of Duty🗝 series has broken the same record. 2010's Black Ops grossedR$360 million on day one; in 2009, Modern Warfare 2 brought🗝 inR$310 million.[81] Activision Blizzard president and CEO Bobby Kotick stated that "the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3🗝 is the biggest entertainment launch of all time in any medium, and we [Activision] achieved this record with sales from🗝 only two territories."[3]
The title grossed more thanR$775 million globally in its first five days of availability, exceeding theR$650 million record🗝 set by 2010's Call of Duty: Black Ops and theR$550 million one achieved by 2009's Modern Warfare 2.[82] To be🗝 exact, it has beaten theatrical box office, book, and video game sales records for five-day worldwide sell-through in dollars.[83]
Modern Warfare🗝 3 went on to grossR$1 billion throughout the world in 16 days of availability, beating Avatar's record of 19 days,🗝 according to Activision.[84]
According to NPD Group, Modern Warfare 3 was November's biggest-selling game of the month in the U.S. Modern🗝 Warfare 3 sales surpassed first-month sales of the 2010s Black Ops by 7 percent, and sales for November sit at🗝 around the 9 million unit mark.[85][86] In November 2013, IGN confirmed that Modern Warfare 3 sold 26.5 million copies, becoming🗝 the highest-selling game in the Call of Duty series.[87]
Modern Warfare 3 topped the UK video game sales chart in its🗝 first week, becoming the biggest video game launch in history by revenue.[88] By November 21, 2011, the game remained the🗝 bestselling title in the United Kingdom, despite sales dropping by 87%.[89] Modern Warfare 3 held the top spot on the🗝 UK charts for four weeks running.[90][91] It was replaced by The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in its fifth week on🗝 the market.[92]
The PlayStation 3 version of Modern Warfare 3 also topped the Japanese chart in its first week on sale,🗝 shifting 180,372 copies, while the Xbox 360 version sold around 30,000.[93]
Awards [ edit ]
Modern Warfare 3 received the "Best Shooter"🗝 award at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards; it was also nominated for "Best Multiplayer Game". During the 15th Annual🗝 Interactive Achievement Awards, Modern Warfare 3 was awarded "Action Game of the Year" by the Academy of Interactive Arts &🗝 Sciences; it also received nominations for outstanding achievements in "Connectivity", "Online Gameplay", and "Sound Design".[94]
Notes [ edit ]
