Yesterday kicked off the new fan event, COD XP, in Los Angeles by letting the gaming press get first crack at Activision's next big game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. We were all shuttled to a big warehouse, wined a bit, then treated to a presentation detailing all the new features coming to Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer experience.
The list of new features and changes filled two and a half pages of note jotting. Most prevalent among them are changes geared toward rebalancing Modern Warfare's online multiplayer. The original Modern Warfare was beloved for its balanced online gameplay, but then Modern Warfare 2 screwed it all up with shotguns as secondary weapons, nukes, and much more. Modern Warfare 3 is looking to change all that with "no Commando (perk), no Last Stand (perk), no shotgun as secondary weapons, and no game-ending perks (nukes)."
While those changes will be welcome, that's only the beginnning of the list. One of the biggest overhauls to the new game is the killstreak system. Previously, the killstreaks rewarded players for racking up consecutive kills without dying. After some significant research, the teams from Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games figured out this style only rewards one type of player: the Team Deathmatch player. So now killstreaks will be replaced with points streaks. What does that mean? It means every type of player can use perks suited to their playstyle.
The most basic loadout of perks is basically the same as the older Modern Warfare's. Killstreaks are rewarded with bigger and better perks, though nothing game-ending. The Support loadout is next, which taking into consideration not just kills, but also achieving team objective. Their count also doesn't reset whenever you have to respawn, but the accumulation of perks takes longer. This is better for the player that consistently captures headquarters, flags, and checkpoints in team-based battles. The last possible loadout is the Specialist loadout, which heavily rewards players for long killstreaks, making them more and more powerful as they rack up kills without daying. However, Specialists are lone wolves, their perks don't benefit the team, only themselves.
I got a little hands-on time with Modern Warfare 3 online multiplayer. I'm the kind of guy who plays Headquarters most of the time and I found the Support loadouts really suited me. I can kill guys, but in Team Deathmatch I get owned, so it was nice to knock out team objectives as well as kills and get rewarded with perks that really helped the whole team. I still got owned in Team Deathmatch, which means hardcore players that love that mode won't be disappointed. One new mode shown off is Kill Confirm. In Kill Confirm, dogtag collection is the name of the game. Points are awarded for kills, but more are awarded for collecting dogtags and "confirming" the kill. You can also grab the dogtags of your fallen comrades, denying the confirmation your enemies are trying to grab. This new mode made for a nice variation on Team Deathmatch, adding new layers of tactics and teamwork to the classic online mode.
Also up for hands-on play was a new part of Spec Ops called "Survivor Mode." This could be likened to Horde mode in Gears of War or Firefight in Halo. In this mode, you team up (or don't) to take on consecutive waves of enemies. New to Spec Ops is an advancement system similar to what is featured in the online multiplayer. In this instance, kills earned money which could be used to purchase various weapons, supports, and artillery to use in future waves. For instance, I could purchase a better gun and upgrade it. I could purchase turrets or a Delta Force squad of NPC's to back me up. I'm a big Spec Ops fan from Modern Warfare 2 and the new Spec Ops is making me an even bigger fan.
The bottom line is this: Activision, Infinity Ward, and Sledgehammer Games aren't resting on their laurels or depending on the Call of Duty name to sell Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, they're pushing the game to the next level and really listening to the fans in terms of what needs to be fixed and improved. Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer looks to be an improvement on Modern Warfare 2 in every conceivable fashion.
Other versions:
Release Date: Sep 14th 2010
Published by: Microsoft
Release Date: Nov 10th 2009
Published by: Activision
Release Date: Nov 09th 2010
Published by: Activision
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