Epic Warfare

When it comes to getting epic Hollywood action into modern warfare style shooters, the Call of Duty games from 4 onwards have been insanely epic and getting even crazier with each new iteration and set piece. Modern Warfare 3 takes the action to even bigger heights and establishes itself as the king of short but incredibly pulse-pounding single player action.

Story

Fans of MW2 will not have to look far for answers, as 3 takes place not long after the end of 2. No spoilers here though, the story is just as nuts as 2 and takes the whole World War aspect to its adrenaline soaked conclusion with the return of Captain Price and Soap McTavish...

Gameplay

By now, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare games should be second nature to many FPS fans. The controls haven't changed much and the formula for the gameplay has not really altered overly either. It has been refined here and there and for 3 it seems to be as smooth as it can get so far. Shooting is accurate, the weapons all have a good feel to them and the short vehicle sections are well implemented and fit with the main campaign theme. The feel of being led around by the nose remains however, since most of the time you're part of a unit and you're given orders by those around you. Even when playing a kick-ass central character, you still do the bidding of those in command.

It is easy to understand why they do it though, since it allows for the characters around you to progress your player through the story, pointing them in the right direction and giving the player a sense of purpose without confining them to the role of battlefield commander, where they would most likely have to give orders and so on. Instead you can concentrate on delivering interesting action pieces and great moments by the bucket-load; this game has that base covered completely.

There are some really stand-out moments in the 6 hour single player story and the whole thing is as smooth as silk to play. The best gameplay controls and implementation in the whole series so far. Checkpoint saves are present and the return of the various difficulty modes ensures there is a significant challenge for those brave enough to play the game on the hardest difficulty. It's best in that case to let your AI buddies soak up the bad guys and play the campaign slow and precisely.

Graphics

Modern Warfare 3 runs at 60fps and delivers nice quality visuals as well. It’s a great looking game and the various locations are all put together with a superb attention to detail. There are some great set piece effects and a whole sandstorm level later on in the story that makes for some tense and varied gameplay. The use of lighting in this iteration is excellent and the textures and model design are extremely well done. It never even dips a single frame when things get supremely hectic (and there are dozens of things going on at once, with bad guys, explosions and madness all around) remaining rock-solid throughout.

Animations

Not quite in the same league as the new animation system for Battlefield 3, the MW3 animation system still has a bit of a clunky feel to it. The soldiers adopt a fairly realistic movement but the kinetics of their motion comes up a little short, which gives them an unrealistic floating movement at times. It is a minor niggle in a very highly polished game though and the rest of the animations from vehicles, to weapon use and reloading are all superbly implemented.

Physics

Bullet impact physics, explosive knockback and a low level of destructibility are all implemented here. The various set pieces let the level designers trigger the physics as and when they want, so there is no player driven destruction scenarios in the game. What you do get is a highly polished physics system that flows nicely with the on-screen action and delivers some great Hollywood ragdoll moments to the player.

AI

The AI seems to be getting better and better, there are fewer allies that stray into your field of fire in this iteration and the enemy seem to be far better using various tactics. The enemy AI is also good at throwing grenades back from where they came too. So watch out for that.