The game was released on November 8, 2011 in North America on Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii, with a separate version for Nintendo DS developed by n-Space. In Australia, the Wii version was released on November 23, 2011. In Japan, Square Enix handled the installment with a separate subtitled and dubbed version, as they did for Call of Duty: Black Ops, released November 17, 2011 and December 22, 2011 respectively. Within 24 hours of going on sale, the game sold 6.5 million copies in the U.S. and UK alone and grossed $400 million, making it the biggest entertainment launch of all time.
Gameplay
Modern Warfare 3 is a first-person shooter video game much like its predecessors. Activision confirmed at Gamescom 2011, that Modern Warfare 3 on the PC has dedicated servers support.Campaign
The player assumes the role of various characters during the single-player campaign, changing perspectives throughout the progression of the story, which, like its predecessors, is divided into three sets of missions called "Acts". Each mission in an act features a series of objectives that are displayed on the heads up display, which marks the direction and distance towards and from such objectives. Damage to the player is shown by the percentage of blood splatter shown on the screen. The player's health regenerates over time. Mission objectives vary in their requirements, ranging from having the player arrive at a particular checkpoint, to eliminating enemies in a specified location, to standing their ground against enemy squadrons, manning mini-guns and other weapons, and planting explosive charges on an enemy installation. Some of these objectives can be failed, and may or may not hinder progression of the story. The player is also accompanied by fellow soldiers who cannot be issued orders.Cooperative
Modern Warfare 3 features a new mode, called Survival Mode. This game mode features one or two players fighting endless waves of enemies, with each wave becoming increasingly difficult. Despite being much compared to the World at War Nazi Zombies mode, enemies do not spawn at fixed locations like the zombies do; instead, they appear at tactical positions based on the current location of the player. The mode is available on all multiplayer maps in the game. Players earn cash for items such as weapons, upgrades, ammo, air/ground support and equipment. Special Ops also returns from Modern Warfare 2. These challenge missions feature up to 48 stars, unlike its previous installment, which featured 69. Some weapons in Spec Ops are exclusive to that game mode, and are not available for play in Multiplayer mode.Multiplayer
The Assault strike package works the same as the Killstreak reward system in Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops: the player must earn more and more points without dying. Once the player is killed, his or her points are reset to zero. Likewise, the Specialist strike package rewards players with perks after every second consecutive kill. Upon death, however, the player loses all the perks and the points are reset to zero. In contrast, the Support strike package are awarded based on the total points that the player has earned over the entire match, regardless of how often the player dies. It is important to note that if a player switches to a custom class with a different reward system (either assault or specialist) during game play, all points are automatically reset to 0 Players are allowed to choose which Pointstreak rewards they want to use when they gain it during the match, rather than choosing them between rounds.
Along with revamping the entire Killstreak reward system, Modern Warfare 3 also has a completely modified Ranking and Unlocks system, which does not use a currency system for unlocks. The player's primary weapon levels up alongside the player, and unlocks a number of "Proficiency" perks such as Attachments, (allows two attachments and is a successor to the "Bling" and "Warlord" perks), Kick (reduced recoil while aiming down the player's sight) and Focus (reduced flinching while under fire). Only one Proficiency can be put on a primary weapon.Another new addition is the ability to equip "Hybrid Scopes" on a weapon, such as a Reflex Sight a magnifier similar to an ACOG on the same weapon, and the player can switch between the scopes.Modern Warfare 3 introduces a new "Prestige Shop" which will unlock only after the player has selected the option to prestige for the first time. The "Prestige Shop" allows Prestige players to use tokens they gain from using the Prestige option to buy exclusive features such as double XP and an extra custom weapon class.
Several controversial perks in Modern Warfare 2, accused of being overpowered, have been removed in Modern Warfare 3. Diving from standing to prone, known as "dolphin diving", has been removed due to balancing issues. Modern Warfare 3 will utilize Treyarch's hot fix system to fix bugs and glitches.Modern Warfare 3 features a local and online split-screen option.
Several new game modes have also been added:
- "Kill Confirmed" requires players to collect floating dog tags from the corpse of a downed enemy before the kill can be registered. However, the opposing team can pick up the dog tag as well to deny the other team of a kill.
- "Team Defender" requires both teams to try to capture a flag dropped by the first person who gets killed when the match starts, and hold it to gain double points per kill while the team without the flag only gets the default amount per kill.
Special Ops
The Special Ops game mode from Modern Warfare 2 is present in Modern Warfare 3, and includes new features which make it more repayable and similar to other game modes, such as Nazi Zombies from previous Call of Duty games, and Hordes from Gears of War. One of the changes makes it easier to unlock new Special Ops levels, which is good for casual players, but undesirable for those looking for a challenge. The two main Special Ops modes include one that is generally the same from the last Modern Warfare game, and a new wave based game where the player is inserted into a multiplayer map alone or with a single partner and defends an area against waves of enemies. Between waves, the players can buy support options with XP earned during each round.Call of Duty: Elite
Main article: Call of Duty:
Elite
Call of Duty: Elite is a new free/subscription-based service developed by
Beachhead Studios for the multiplayer portion of Modern Warfare 3 (as
well as the previous installment in the series, Black
Ops). It was first showcased at E3 2011 and was released on November 8, 2011 to
coincide with the release of Modern Warfare 3. The free version includes
features such as lifetime statistics and social-networking integration. The
subscription version is priced at $49.99 per year and includes monthly downloadable
content, daily competitions with virtual and real life prizes, the ability
to level up your clan, pro analysis and strategies, and more.Downloadable content
Main article: Downloadable
Content in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
Development
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The Official UK PlayStation Magazine lent credence to speculation that Modern Warfare 3 would be a prequel starring fan favourite character Ghost. The magazine's sources strengthened a rumor which first reared its head online early in January 2011. On the Rumor Machine page in its issue (055), OPM points to "insider whispers" which suggest: "Infinity Ward's next Modern Warfare title will be a prequel, with Ghost in the lead role." According to PSM3, the first snippet of Modern Warfare 3 gameplay would be revealed in mid-April. According to the publication's May 2011 issue, insider rumors say "the next in Activision's megaton FPS series will be announced in mid-April".
On May 13, 2011, video game website Kotaku revealed the existence of Modern Warfare 3 following a massive leak. According to Kotaku, this leak came from multiple sources who may or may not work at Activision and Infinity Ward. The leak contained thorough information about the game, confirming that it would be a direct sequel to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, as well details regarding weapons, levels and modes found in the game.In response to the leaks, Robert Bowling tweeted "A lot of hype & a lot of leaked info on MW3, some still accurate, some not. To avoid spoiling the experience, I'd wait for the real reveal." Just hours after the leaked assets appeared on Kotaku, four teaser trailers were released on the official Call of Duty YouTube page, separately titled "America", "England", "France" and "Germany", indicating the various locales of the game.
Release
Two weeks before the release of the game, it was reported that half of the PC version had been uploaded online after being stolen from a warehouse in Fresno, California. Investigators working on behalf of Activision have been searching torrent websites for traces of the game as well as visiting people who had downloaded a copy across the United States and requesting that they remove it or they will face a fine of US$5000.As early as late October, reports were already surfacing about copies being sold early to people with gameplay videos uploaded online. On November 3, 2011, it was reported that copies of the game were already being sold early in the United States. K-Mart had already started selling copies of the game before its scheduled release date with copies already appearing on eBay and Craigslist. This was due to an error made by one the shipping companies that told K-mart to sell copies of the game immediately after receiving the shipments. However, Activision contacted K-mart about this and had the issue resolved.
French site TF1 News reported that a truck suffered a collision with a car on November 6, 2011 in Créteil, south Paris, before two masked individuals emerged from the car. The criminals reportedly used tear gas to neutralise the truck drivers before hopping in and making off with the video game shipment said to be worth 400,000 Euros. A separate report said the truck contained a delivery of 6000 copies of Modern Warfare 3.
Shortly after the game's release, a man from Aurora, Colorado who did not receive a copy of the game at his local Best Buy, despite pre-ordering it, claimed to be so angry that he "could blow this place up". He was also reported as having threatened to shoot employees once they left the store. Lomon Sar, age 31, was issued a citation and court summons by police responding to the disturbance.
Retail versions
Robert Bowling of Infinity Ward confirmed that there will be no Prestige Edition of Modern Warfare 3. In the past, the Prestige editions of previous Call of Duty games have included physical items such as a remote-controlled car for Black Ops, and a pair of night vision goggles and a life-sized plastic head to put them on for Modern Warfare 2.
On August 19, 2011, UK retailer Game announced an Intel Pack of Modern Warfare 3. It comes with a British special forces avatar for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, as well as a Brady strategy guide. On September 3, 2011, Activision and Microsoft jointly announced a special, limited Modern Warfare 3 version of the Xbox 360 with a 320GB hard disk. The unit is designed by the Call of Duty team and includes two custom wireless controllers, a copy of Modern Warfare 3 and features custom sounds when the console is turned on/off or when the disc tray is ejected. A one month subscription to Xbox Live Gold is also included, as well as exclusive avatar items.
Sales and revenue
Activision has said that it believes Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 day-one shipments were the largest for any game ever. "The record number of pre-orders from Modern Warfare 3 drove the largest day-one shipments in our history, and in the industry's history," said Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg during an earnings call on November 8, 2011. Hirshberg said more than 1.5 million people queued at 13,000 shops at midnight on Monday to buy Modern Warfare 3, "making it the largest retail release in Activision's history and in the industry's history".Activision reported sales figures for Modern Warfare 3 in the U.S. and UK being more than 6.5 million copies sold on launch day and grossed $400 million in the US and UK alone in its first 24 hours, making it the biggest entertainment launch of all time. It is the third year in a row that the Call Of Duty series has broken the same record. 2010's Black Ops grossed $360 million on day one; in 2009, Modern Warfare 2 brought in $310 million. Activision Blizzard president and CEO Robert Kotick stated that "the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the biggest entertainment launch of all time in any medium, and we [Activision] achieved this record with sales from only two territories."
The title grossed more than $775 million globally in its first five days of availability, exceeding the $650 million record set by 2010s Call of Duty: Black Ops and the $550 million one achieved by 2009's Modern Warfare 2. To be exact, it has beaten theatrical box office, book, and video game sales records for five-day worldwide sell-through in dollars.
Modern Warfare 3 went on to gross $1 billion throughout the world in 16 days of availability, beating Avatar's record of 17 days, according to Activision.
According to NPD Group, Modern Warfare 3 was November's biggest selling game of the month in the U.S. Modern Warfare 3 sales surpassed first-month sales of 2010′s Black Ops by 7 percent, and sales for November sit at around the 9 million unit mark.
Modern Warfare 3 topped the UK video game sales chart in its first week, becoming the biggest video game launch in history by revenue. By November 21, 2011, the game remained the bestselling title in the United Kingdom, despite sales dropping by 87%. Modern Warfare 3 held the top spot on the UK charts for a third week and fourth week running.It was replaced by The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in its fifth week on the market.
The PS3 version of Modern Warfare 3 also topped the Japanese chart in its first week on sale, shifting 180,372 copies, while the Xbox 360 version sold around 30,000.
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