Modern Warfare 3 was little more than a whisper in the wind for much of 2023, but Sledgehammer Games’ upcoming title has finally seen the light of day. The studio delighted fans with a barrage of information on the week of August 10, and the in-game reveal event in Warzone 2.0 on August 17th shed even more light on what people can expect.
From the inclusion of a ton of remastered maps to the news that Zombies will be an open-world mode that more than one team can enjoy at a time, there are a ton of promising new details around Modern Warfare 3.
Modern Warfare 3 Multiplayer: Gameplay Details
There is a ton of information to break down here. MW3 is revamping the Loadout system with new upgrades and advancements, introducing an entirely new equipment system based on things like vests, gloves, and other tactical gear, as well as reverting many of the changes that the games before it introduced.
To put it simply: Slide Canceling is back, mini-maps will once again show red dots when enemies fire unsilenced weapons, and reload-canceling makes a glorious return as well. These have all been huge requests from the community and are already energizing the fandom for the new release.
Sledgehammer is also debuting a new gameplay mechanic called Tac-Stance. Here’s the quick intro from their first dev blog.
- The operator unshoulders the weapon and holds it in a canted firing position.
- You can toggle in and out of Tac-Stance dynamically while aiming down sights.
- Tac-Stance trades precise accuracy for improved mobility and handling.
- Some spread to your firing will occur, best described as a middle ground between full ADS and hipfire.
- It is designed to be used in aggressive, close-quarter combat situations.
- By default, you fire in Tac-Stance while Sliding.
Modern Warfare 3: Classic MW2 Maps Remastered
Modern Warfare 3 will feature all 16 launch maps from Modern Warfare (2009) at launch. Other maps will be injected into the game across its lifespan, with “at least” 12 others coming into support it across its lifespan.
Infinity Ward’s original Modern Warfare may be the most beloved game in Call of Duty’s storied history. Its predecessor may have been the one to put the franchise on the map, but MW2 holds a special place in the heart of almost all who played it. A lot of things made it special – genre-redefining smoothness, one of the most addictive gameplay loops in the history of gaming, and a plethora of exciting maps and weapons – and Sledgehammer Games recognizes that fans want to relive the good ol’ days
The game will also use a Carry Forward system, which allows players to bring in their weapons and progress from Modern Warfare 2 (2022), into the fight when the time comes.
Modern Warfare 3 Zombies is an all-new experience
Treyarch, the masterminds behind CoD’s original Zombies experience, have led the way on a brand-new Zombies experience in Modern Warfare 3.
Their aforementioned blog post describes it as an “unnearthly Dark Aether Zombies story set in the Modern Warfare universe” with different zones that escalate in difficulty. They also confirmed that all the secrets and Easter eggs that are a staple of the Zombies mode will be showing up here as well.
Functionally, this sounds similar to Warzone 2.0’s DMZ mode, as the team also called it an “open-world player versus enemy (PvE) extraction survival experience”, and teased the arrival of some truly horrific creatures taking up arms against the human forces.
Modern Warfare 3 Campaign Details and Teaser
Vladimir Makarov, the iconic villain from the original Modern Warfare franchise, has come back to put his boot on the neck of Task Force 141 once again. There’s still not a lot of information to go off of, but given that this story directly follows up MW2 (2022), we know the scale of the incoming war is going to be quite large.
In the Shadow Siege Warzone 2.0 event, Shadow Company blew up the Al Mazrah Observatory in order to steal away gas canisters that were intended to be used in attacks on Europe and Asia. The team was successful in shutting down the operation before it began, but at the end, it was revealed that Makarov’s mean had infiltrated the team. They quickly wiped out the soldiers defending the stockpile, likely running it back to their boss.
The above teaser released after the event features a new take on the franchise’s ultra-controversial ‘No Russian’ scene, and it’s rumored that Verdansk may be back in the mix, but other details are still scarce for the time being.
