Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

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Critics Recommend

Average Score

Total Reviews: 54

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Modern Warfare 3’s multiplayer shines and is expected to carry the load, but this is easily the worst Call of Duty in a decade, a wild recycling of ideas cobbled together on a rushed production schedule.

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Critics Recommend

Critic Reviews: 54

Critics Consensus

# Reviews: 54

Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer shines and is expected to carry the load, but this is easily the worst Call of Duty in a decade, a wild recycling of ideas cobbled together on a rushed production schedule.

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Critic Reviews for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Critic Reviews

Score Distribution

54

Reviews

Average Score

100

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4/10

Simon Cardy (IGN)

Underbaked, rehashed, and cobbled together from multiplayer parts, Modern Warfare 3’s single-player campaign is everything a Call of Duty story mode shouldn’t be.

November 3, 2023 |

Full Review

The MW3 campaign gets by on Call of Duty’s expertly refined gunplay and little else. Its nonsensical narrative comes across as pitiful and dull, further hindered by the uninspired mission design that never extends beyond “go here and shoot them.” Purchasing MW3 for its campaign is a massive waste of money, let alone time.

November 4, 2023 |

Full Review

4/10

Tom Wilson (The Game Crater)

2.5/5 stars

Jonathan Wright (We Got This Covered)

Incomplete, unsatisfying, and utterly nonsensical. This shallow excuse of a sequel might just be the worst ‘Call of Duty’ entry to come out in a decade.

November 7, 2023 |

Full Review

Simon Cardy (IGN)

4/10 - (Read Review)

Underbaked, rehashed, and cobbled together from multiplayer parts, Modern Warfare 3’s single-player campaign is everything a Call of Duty story mode shouldn’t be.

Tom Wilson (The Game Crater)

4/10 - (Read Review)

Jonathan Wright (We Got This Covered)

2.5/5 stars - (Read Review)

Incomplete, unsatisfying, and utterly nonsensical. This shallow excuse of a sequel might just be the worst ‘Call of Duty’ entry to come out in a decade.

**Read all 54 critic reviews on the desktop version of VSG.

Read the Reviews (54 total)

Outlet	Author	Score	Date	Quote	Read
Atomix	Alberto Desfassiaux	50 / 100	11-10-2023	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is one of the worst games of this year and proof that Activision really needs to give it a long break. A real shame that a series with so mucho history, is being treated like this.	Read review
Attack of the Fanboy	Diego Perez	4 / 5 stars	11-21-2023	Even with an embarrassingly bad single-player Campaign, the Multiplayer and Zombies experiences are enough to cement this game as one of the franchise’s greats.	Read review
BaziCenter	Mohammad Talebian	6 / 10	11-10-2023	Trying to slide in a DLC as a full- Fledged AAA title deals a massive blow to Modern Warfare 3’s Single and Multi Player experience, making it the one to forget or never even bother playing.	Read review
But Why Tho?	Kyle Foley	4 / 10	11-14-2023	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III recycles old ideas in a stale package that is a downright slog for most of the experience. It commits the ultimate sin of being boring, and it does not bode well for the future of a franchise that, for the last 20 years, has been the pinnacle of popular FPS games.	Read review
Cerealkillerz	Gabriel Bogdan	6.5 / 10	11-15-2023	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 gets pretty much everything wrong and delivers one of the worst campaigns in the history of the series with forced warzone elements in nearly every aspect of the game. The small hint of nostalgia through the modernized maps from 2009 fades quickly away because of the rest of its bad presentation.	Read review
CGMagazine	David Walters	7 / 10	11-14-2023	Despite some moments where the campaign seemed confusing, Modern Warfare III is a decent enough reboot/sequel, allowing for some fun gameplay in the multiplayer and Zombies modes.	Read review
Checkpoint Gaming	Omi Koulas	6 / 10	11-13-2023	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III attempts to rekindle the fire but falls short, particularly in its disjointed campaign. The multiplayer, drawing on iconic maps from series history, excels with responsive controls, intense gunfights, and revamped loadouts. Yet, the biggest letdown is the lazy reskin of DMZ into a zombies mode, undermining the essence of what fans loved about it. Modern Warfare III shines in multiplayer but offends with its campaign, zombies, and blatant money-hungry tactics, leaving fans still yearning for the franchise’s former glory.	Read review
COGconnected	Alex Everatt	52 / 100	11-18-2023	In past years, I would have happily grinded seasonal Battle Passes. Last year, my patience was tested as many of these issues in MWIII started showing up in MWII – but I held out hope that the devs would fix the issues and deliver a return-to-form Call of Duty. I was mistaken. Sure, credit where credit is due, MWIII’s gameplay is solid with industry best gunplay and the Zombies mode is one of the franchises best ever. But it’s the half dozen or so poor design choices that continue to drag these games down. Call of Duty has risen to a level where they’re just too big to listen to fan feedback, and MWIII is a testament to this. Call of Duty fans deserve better.	Read review
Daily Star	Tom Hutchison	3.5 / 5 stars	11-12-2023	Overall, a poor Call of Duty but there will still be enough in the multiplayer for fans to enjoy for months to come.	Read review
Destructoid	Cody Perez	6 / 10	11-14-2023	In the end, Modern Warfare 3 begs the question of whether this annual cycle should continue or not. Almost half the game feels shoehorned in, such as the forgettable campaign. Meanwhile, the other half has mixed results in the case of the multiplayer maps. But if players engage with the truly special parts of MW3, such as its exceptional improvements to gameplay and spectacular alternative modes like Zombies and Ground War, they’ll find there is a worthy experience in there somewhere.	Read review
Digital Chumps	Ben Sheene	7.5 / 10	11-17-2023	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III will likely be one of the most troubled releases in the series’ history. A Campaign and Zombies mode rife with Warzone influence make it difficult for the better parts to shine. Thankfully the multiplayer feels the best it has in years.	Read review
Digital Spy	Laurence Mozafari	3 / 5 stars	11-10-2023	If you play Call of Duty for the campaigns, you might be disappointed, but if you’re like pretty much everyone else and play everything else the smash-hit franchise has to offer, it might be a fun distraction. However, if you’re totally new, it’s probably not worth your time just for this. In fact, the question is more likely: does Call of Duty even need a campaign mode anymore?	Read review
Digital Trends	Billy Givens	2.5 / 5 stars	11-11-2023	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 might just be the series’ worst installment yet.	Read review
Game Informer	Michael Leri	5 / 10	11-13-2023	Zombies feels more like a limited-time Warzone event cobbled together from existing ideas and assets and that sentiment permeates throughout MWIII. Each pillar is an inferior patchwork of past ideas from its stunted campaign to its multiplayer that, while the strongest mode, is comprised of systems lifted wholesale from MWII with maps from 2009’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. This year’s COD is a threadbare expansion masquerading as a sequel and an embarrassing way to mark the series’ 20th anniversary.	Read review
Game Rant	Dalton Cooper	3 / 5 stars	11-13-2023	That’s really the story for Modern Warfare 3 across the board. The campaign is made up of Warzone content, the multiplayer is comprised of maps that are 14 years old, and the Zombies mode uses a map that will be recycled for the battle royale. $70 is a high asking price for what’s here, but those that do decide to take the plunge will find the best Call of Duty multiplayer experience in years and an intriguing open world Zombies mode that, while not quite as fun as the classic round-based Zombies maps, can still dish out memorable moments with friends.	Read review
Gameblog	KiKiToes	4 / 10	11-14-2023	With this Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3. Activision has unfortunately proved right all those who have criticized the franchise since the dawn of time with arguments that are sometimes a bit excessive.	Read review
GameHaunt	Excelle Escalada	3 / 5 stars	11-13-2023	While Modern Warfare 3 may offer some enjoyable aspects, it is important to acknowledge the numerous caveats and the disappointing Campaign.	Read review
GamePro	Tobias Veltin	Not Recommended	11-03-2023	Unfortunately, the two big “innovations” – Makarov and the open combat missions – don’t work for me at all. On the contrary, the latter, with their generic gameplay feel, even become the biggest weakness of Modern Warfare 3, because to put it bluntly, I’m just running over disguised Warzone maps and shooting stupid AI minions overboard.	Read review
Gamerheadquarters	Jason Stettner	4 / 10	11-13-2023	Call of Duty Modern Warfare III is the most minimal effort we’ve ever seen from the franchise being essentially the exact same game from the previous year. It really does feel like an expansion pack. They literally took last year’s game, sped it up and shoved maps from fourteen years ago into it.	Read review
Gamersky	前朝刘沛公	5.5 / 10	11-16-2023	The team behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III seemed uninspired and directionless, which probably led to the release of a game in 2023 that perhaps shouldn’t have been released at all.	Read review
GAMES.CH	Sönke Siemens	60 / 100	11-10-2023	We were really looking forward to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III campaign. Above all, the concept of open combat zones sounded promising. After our almost 6-hour first playthrough, however, we unfortunately have to admit that we had set our expectations far too high. If you exclude a few highlights such as the London and the missile bunker infiltration mission, then the “MW III” campaign turns out to be a clear step backwards compared to the two previous spin-offs and also the original “Modern Warfare” trilogy.	Read review
GamesBeat	Dean Takahashi	70 / 100	11-06-2023	Overall, it balanced out and the rest of the campaign was well done. As I mentioned, most players really care more about multiplayer than the single-player campaign. For me, I’ve always liked how the single-player story motivates you to play the multiplayer. And so it really does matter to me. I don’t know if my objections here mean that I don’t like the game overall. I feel like I’m a superfan who nitpicks endlessly while still pouring a lot of time into playing Call of Duty every year.	Read review
GameSpot	S.E. Doster	5 / 10	11-06-2023	Player freedom drags down Modern Warfare 3’s biggest moments.	Read review
GamingTrend	David Burdette	75 / 100	11-14-2023	Although a lackluster campaign and reused content holds it back, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III has a few great tricks up its sleeve. The multiplayer engages in a way its predecessor missed the mark, and open-world Zombies is exactly as entertaining as it sounds. There’s more to be desired as a whole, but as rushed as it was, MWIII has solid elements that can be enjoyed.	Read review
Generación Xbox	Luis Falcón	6.8 / 10	11-19-2023	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 decided to make the move to a full game and the result was not what was expected. While the change in gameplay and character movement is noticeably better than in previous installments, the open map missions do not convince the community and above all, the multiplayer mode could be more careful, eliminating above all its main problem, since there comes a point when you do not enjoy playing it.	Read review
God is a Geek	Mick Fraser	6.5 / 10	11-22-2023	The Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 3 campaign is a by-the-numbers experience with few of the thrills or high-points the series is known for.	Read review
GuiltyBit	Jose Andres Cardona	7.5 / 10	11-21-2023	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 covers a lot. When we try to do this, there are things that turn out better and things that turn out worse, and that’s exactly what happened. The fact that the experience is annual doesn’t help smooth out the edges, although, on the other hand, it helps certain things be already half-baked. As always, and without anyone asking me, I would recommend that Activision consider one of these options: either leave it as a continuous game, like Fortnite, or dedicate a couple of years between each release.	Read review
Hobby Consolas	David Rodriguez	65 / 100	11-11-2023	Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 is a game made of other games, a hybrid that seeks to convince veteran fans with fantastic multiplayer. However, neither the homages, nor the “innovations” of the campaign and the zombies manage to disguise the obvious. This game is nothing more than a wild recycling of ideas made in a hurry.	Read review
IGN	Simon Cardy	4 / 10	11-03-2023	Underbaked, rehashed, and cobbled together from multiplayer parts, Modern Warfare 3’s single-player campaign is everything a Call of Duty story mode shouldn’t be.	Read review
IGN Italy	Angelo Bianco	7.5 / 10	11-13-2023	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III turned out to be what many feared: a sort of DLC of the previous chapter developed by Infinity Ward. Although undoubtedly fun for fans of arcade and fast-paced multiplayer shooters, Sledgehammer Games has done nothing but focus only on the nostalgia effect and few notable innovations, also creating an uninteresting and barely sufficient campaign.	Read review
IGN Spain	Mario Seijas	6 / 10	11-13-2023	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 feels unfinished. The campaign feels like a spin-off of something much bigger, and the zombies don’t quite fit in the open world. The multiplayer acts as a redemption for a product that should have stayed in DLC.	Read review
Jump Dash Roll	Derek Johnson	3 / 10	11-21-2023	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)’s campaign is comically bad, its Zombies mode is zonked and its multiplayer just kind of sucks.	Read review
Merlin’in Kazanı	Murat Olcan	48 / 100	11-11-2023	Sometimes words are not enough to describe how bad a game is. If Modern Warfare III had never been released, we could say a lot more good things about it. Call of Duty 3 gave birth to a legend like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. We don’t know what this game will lead to in the future.	Read review
Niche Gamer	Matt Kowalski	6 / 10	11-19-2023	At the end of the day, Modern Warfare 3 (2023) is just an over-glorified DLC for Modern Warfare 2. With a lackluster campaign, recycled multiplayer maps, and a buggy Zombies mode, MW3 2023 is definitely a skippable game. Hopefully, with Microsoft purchasing Activision, future Call of Duty games will have a proper development cycle and feel like a standalone game that you can’t miss rather than an overpriced DLC.	Read review
PC Gamer	Morgan Park	47 / 100	11-17-2023	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a disappointing anniversary for a series that really should take a break.	Read review
Press Start	Toby Berger	Not Recommended	11-10-2023	It’s clear that Modern Warfare III’s campaign needed a lot more time to cook. It feels underbaked in so many areas, and I’d struggle to ever recommend it to anyone – whether you’re a series veteran or a relative newcomer. Comprised of uninteresting missions, an open zone structure that completely derails any narrative flow and a generally boring story, Modern Warfare III’s campaign is as drab as they come.	Read review
PSX Brasil	Bruno Henrique Vinhadel	50 / 100	11-15-2023	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 gets it wrong in practically every possible aspect, from the campaign with dubious design and shallow story, to the uninteresting zombies mode and even its classic competitive multiplayer mode delivering far below expectations. Little is really original and the game feels more like a reuse of parts of Warzone to create a new product to be sold at full price.	Read review
Push Square	Liam Croft	4 / 10	11-15-2023	“We need a new Call of Duty game every single year,” the Activision executives bellowed, and out popped Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 after the development times caught up with them. A truly anaemic release, there’s never been a surer sign to press pause on the series. 14-year-old content is the best thing about this year’s entry and if that’s not enough of an indictment of where Call of Duty is at in 2023, we don’t know what is. A franchise in serious need of a complete reboot, Modern Warfare 3 has to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.	Read review
Rectify Gaming	Unknown	5 / 10	11-11-2023	In general, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III has an unimpressive Campaign that is forgettable compared to the rest of the franchise. The game’s multiplayer is expected to carry the load with the return of classic maps that are not even original to the new game and a weird twist on Zombies. The single-player mode of the game does not justify its price.	Read review
Rock, Paper, Shotgun	Jeremy Peel	Not Recommended	11-09-2023	Folded-in features from battle royale can only go so far in saving this rushed production.	Read review
Saudi Gamer	Unknown	8 / 10	11-14-2023	Modern Warfare 3 has provided everything call of duty players wish for — it’s undoubtedly very enjoyable in all its phases.	Read review
Saving Content	Scott Ellison II	2 / 5 stars	11-17-2023	Call of Duty HQ needlessly complexes the game loading process, as switching between games and modes requires relaunching a different executable. The campaign is hurried along in an unenjoyable way with open mission design that takes away from what makes the series great. Zombies mode is completely forgettable and a rehash of DMZ, which is not included or playable in Modern Warfare III . Multiplayer does the heavy lifting, and really only stays strong through nostalgia of the original Modern Warfare 2. While the maps hold a timeless appeal, it doesn’t feel fresh or new as an experience. This is a game that barely stands on its own. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is unlike other games, it’s not broken, just bad and lacking any redeeming values.	Read review
SECTOR.sk	Peter Dragula	5 / 10	11-14-2023	Overall, it can’t be said that Modern Warfare III is explicitly bad. However, the issue lies in the fact that it largely consists of recycled content, and everywhere you look, there’s an effort to simplify the work. If it were released as DLC or at a lower price, it would be acceptable, but the full price and the attempt to present it as a full-fledged Call of Duty title bring down the rating. The brighter moments of the game include some campaign missions, Makarov, as well as nostalgic maps in multiplayer, but that’s about it.	Read review
SpazioGames	Nicolò Bicego	Not Recommended	11-08-2023	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III comes with a campaign that absolutely fails to justify the game’s full-price launch. The story completely lacks pathos and seems to be facing a transitional chapter rather than a conclusion (which it does not want to be, it must be said).	Read review
The Game Crater	Tom Wilson	4 / 10	11-04-2023	The MW3 campaign gets by on Call of Duty’s expertly refined gunplay and little else. Its nonsensical narrative comes across as pitiful and dull, further hindered by the uninspired mission design that never extends beyond “go here and shoot them.” Purchasing MW3 for its campaign is a massive waste of money, let alone time.	Read review
The Games Machine	Alessandro Alosi	7.5 / 10	11-15-2023	By borrowing here and there from the past Sledgehammer has played it too safe, but has forgotten to provide fans with truly new and valid reasons to dig into their wallets again this year. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III seems like a DLC that is saved thanks to more solid gameplay than ever, but much more is needed to enter the hearts of fans.	Read review
TheSixthAxis	Gareth Chadwick	5 / 10	11-15-2023	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 isn’t an outright bad game, but it’s also not a particularly good one. Taken on its own, it’s a slightly above average first person shooter with a poor campaign, but in context, you can see how hurried and limited in scope this game really is. The multiplayer is effectively a classic map pack, Zombies and Open Combat Missions are game modes built within the existing Warzone map, and the campaign’s pacing and story come up short. It all adds up to a lacklustre experience and even a sense that Call of Duty is at risk of losing its identity.	Read review
TrueAchievements	Sean Carey	5 / 5 stars	11-17-2023	Cobbled together from parts of previous games, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is one of the worst entries into the series. From the vapid campaign with those woeful DMZ-like open combat missions to the Multiplayer that relies on nostalgia for anything interesting and the toothless, uninspired Zombies mode that is just an awkward version of DMZ, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III absolutely nowhere near justifies its $70 price tag.	Read review
Unboxholics	Θέμης Μπολτσής	Not Recommended	11-20-2023	With the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 campaign, Activision is testing the limits of how “cheap” it can get, while asking players for €79.99. The experiment unfortunately fails, resulting in the worst Call of Duty in years, which suffers on almost all fronts. From the extremely short duration, to the nerveless set-pieces, the copy-pasted environments that are simply altered parts of Warzone’s maps, the poorly written script and the abrupt finale, these are just a few of the problems of this year’s CoD. The situation is somewhat saved by the robust and tried and tested gunplay, some pleasant flashes, as well as quality graphics. But these are not enough to bring… in the spring. Unless you’re big fans and well prepared for what’s ahead, you’d better keep your money and invest your time elsewhere.	Read review
Wccftech	Kai Tatsumoto	6.6 / 10	11-17-2023	A weak campaign with an unsatisfactory cliffhanger resolution, a Zombies map that’s little more than rebranded DMZ, and a selection of multiplayer maps taken straight from Modern Warfare II (2009), Modern Warfare III barely stands up on its own merits, especially if you’ve thrown countless hours into last year’s entry and have plenty to carry forward.	Read review
We Got This Covered	Jonathan Wright	2.5 / 5 stars	11-07-2023	Incomplete, unsatisfying, and utterly nonsensical. This shallow excuse of a sequel might just be the worst ‘Call of Duty’ entry to come out in a decade.	Read review
WellPlayed	Kieran Stockton	7.5 / 10	11-22-2023	Modern Warfare III does even less this year to shake up the multiplayer formula, but mechanically it’s the same finely honed beast that sets the bar for fast-paced multiplayer shooters	Read review
XGN.nl	Roland Janssen	4.5 / 10	11-15-2023	In short, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 doesn’t honor the title it has been given. The campaign is just plain bad, multiplayer mainly banks on your nostalgia with the return of classic maps, and zombies is just the DMZ mode from Warzone but with zombies roaming the map. Gameplay is mostly what you would expect from Call of Duty but seems to have some inconsistencies. You can still have some fun with the title, but it’s painfully obvious that this should have been an expansion for last year’s MW2.	Read review
Zoomg	Afshin Piroozi	5.5 / 10	11-15-2023	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III feels like a DLC that is released as full game. Campaign fails to deliver enjoyable story or missions and the open-world structure of the Zombies mode takes away the horror and tension that defined it in previous Call of Duty games. However, Multiplayer is where Modern Warfare 3 offers its most fun with good gunplay and vast variety of items but still it’s not enough to save the game completely. Modern Warfare 3 is a game that show the series maybe need a bit of rest to return to its glorious days again.

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About Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Game Description / Storyline:

The game brings “open combat, ” offering players more choices in approaching the single-player missions. Makarov returns as the chief villain of the new campaign. The newly introduced Carry Forward system will let players keep their progression and inventory from Modern Warfare II. Multiplayer fans can expect 16 maps at the launch and at least 12 coming later. Zombies mode will also return and should offer the largest zombie map to date.

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PC System Requirements

Windows

MINIMUM

OS: Windows® 10 64 Bit (latest update)

Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-6600 or AMD Ryzen™ 5 1400

Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960 / GTX 1650 or AMD Radeon™ RX 470

DirectX: Version 12

Storage: 149 GB

Notes: SSD with 149 GB available space at launch (78 GB if COD HQ and Warzone™ are already installed)

RECOMMENDED

OS: Windows® 10 64 Bit (latest update) or Windows® 11 64 Bit (latest update)

Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-6700K or AMD Ryzen™ 5 1600X

Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1080Ti / RTX 3060 or AMD Radeon™ RX 6600XT

DirectX: Version 12

Storage: 149 GB

Notes: SSD with 149 GB available space at launch (78 GB if COD HQ and Warzone™ are already installed)

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