Summary
One of the biggest fan fears when it came to rebooting theModern Warfareseries was that it would end up just being a carbon copy of iconic moments that fans had already seen before, but thankfully, 2019’sCall of Duty: Modern Warfareproved that theory wrong. WhileModern Warfareused some familiar faces, it was a completely original game, with a whole new story that paved the way for more games like it. Thenlast year’sCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2continued the trend, bringing even more legacy characters back into the fold but keeping things mostly original.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, however, breaks this flow, and takes things a few steps too far.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3brings back more legacy characters than ever before, and while that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it definitely ends up being just that, withModern Warfare 3failing to really do anything new with those returning characters. Along with that,Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s campaignalso relies much too heavily on the originalMWseries for inspiration, borrowing a lot of the same plot beats and twists. But it isn’t all unoriginal, and there’s one early mission inModern Warfare 3that proves that Sledgehammer is capable of delivering some fun, subversive twists.
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s Opening Twist Doesn’t Go Far Enough
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s opening mission, “Operation 627,” is a fun twist on one of the originalModern Warfare 2’s most beloved missions, “The Gulag.” But while in2009’sCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2players are fighting their way through the Gulag to rescue Captain Price, Operation 627 sees that concept get turned on its head, with the player now rescuing Makarov from the isolated prison. This core premise alone is pretty great, and forms a strong basis for an inventive twist, thoughModern Warfare 3doesn’t quite manage to subvert fan expectations in a meaningful way.
In 2009’sCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, The Gulag is essentially a 20-minute-long non-stop action set-piece that sees players storm the Gulag from the air, take down snipers from a helicopter, and gradually make their way through the prison’s heavily fortified defenses, all before making a thrilling last-minute escape via a chopper airlift.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s Gulag missionis quite a bit less exciting, tasking players with sneaking into the prison, killing just a handful of guards, meeting Makarov, and escaping after being chased by a helicopter for just a few seconds.
The lack of intensity inMW3’s Gulag mission feels like a real missed opportunity. But by far the most damaging missed opportunity in this mission is the portrayal of Makarov himself and his lack of on-screen character.
While long-time fans will know that Makarov poses a significant threat toModern Warfare’s heroes, this version of the villain shouldn’t simply rely on past iterations to convey its character but instead use missions like Operation 627 to directly show players what the antagonist is capable of, and what his motivations are. Rather than just go through the motions of escaping, players should have seen Makarov do something that only his character would do, such as convincing a prisoner to sacrifice themselves to get him out or leave one of his soldiers behind deliberately to clearly show his ideals and mindset and set him up as a significant threat in this rebooted universe.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s Makarov Feels Like a Half-Baked Villain
Makarov’s lack of character continues throughout most ofCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s campaign. Makarov’s motivations are a little confusing in this rebooted universe. In the originalModern Warfareseries, Makarov wanted to start a third World War so that he could get his revenge on both Russia and the US, which is admittedly a fairly tenuous plot thread. But inCall of Duty:Modern Warfare 3,Makarov is given even less motivation, simply going through the same motions as the original series but for seemingly fewer reasons.
