Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Single-Player Campaign Review - 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.

[Ezio2048]

Ouch. It's the lowest campaign score ever given to COD.

[Gamingsince1981]

Yeah not too good for an MS "first party game" after paying $70 billion to pretend MS makes games, I'm sure obscure observer will be so happy with this since he makes sure everyone knows Activision is first party for MS now

[Crows90]

Yeah some here were all giddy calling CoD an Xbox 1st party!

Lol CoD is CoD

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

CoD will outsell ANY game you play this year and that’s just a fact. It will be the number one game played on PSN and that’s just a fact. So when you say “not to good for an MS 1st party game” then you clearly don’t know good business..:

[Obscure_Observer]

"Yeah not too good for an MS "first party game" after paying $70 billion to pretend MS makes games"

Xbox has nothing to do with MW3´s development!

Sony is the one that will be hurt since they paid for exclusive in-game content, marketing rights, and will be promoting/selling a MW3 PS5 bundle. XD

All of their herculean efforts for this sh!tty game was for nothing!

[LOGICWINS]

@Obscure You're right, but Satya shouldn't have referred to MW3 as a "1st party game". Now Microsoft has to take accountability for this 4/10 due to bad PR.

I'm glad this happened. I hope someone from MS goes to Infinity Ward and whips them into shape.

[GotGame818]

ROFL! That's pretty funny. I mean yeah I guess technically it is, but...😂🤣

[andy85]

@speakthetruth that's categorically not true. It hasn't been the highest selling game of the year for a few years, and given it's getting this backlash and being labelled as DLC it more than likely won't be this year as well. Especially with the juggernauts of Hogwarts and TOTK.

[Redgrave]

@Obscure

Bro. Xbox doesn't have anything to do with most games put out under its label if we're being frank. After all, buying out and redistributing games is literally the name of their game. Marketing and console bundling on Sony's side aside, MS owns this and you can't try and spin it any other way... especially when you spent so long championing the acquisition and everything else.

It's "their" game, regardless of previous honored contracts for marketing and/or bundles. Especially when without that, you know damn well MS would be doing the same thing as its the first COD under their ownership and you'd be praising it as some massive win for them.

[Obscure_Observer]

@Redgrave

"Bro. Xbox doesn't have anything to do with most games put out under its label if we're being frank."

Try *honest* because aside those games that were indeed in development prior Bethesda´s acquisition by Microsoft, all of the upcoming first party in 2024 and beyond, will fully developed by XGS. But you already know that, don´t you?

"Marketing and console bundling on Sony's side aside, MS owns this and you can't try and spin it any other way..."

I´m not trying to spin anything. I no moment I said it´s not an Xbox first party game, I said Xbox had nothing to do with its development which is nothing but a known fact. And yes, good or bad, Sony will be the ones advertising this game, like it or not.

"especially when you spent so long championing the acquisition and everything else."

Championing? No dude, I knew this deal would be approved because FTC and CMA didn´t had a strong case to block it in the first place. Especially after all the remedies proposed by Microsoft.

I said many times that I don´t give a damn about COD. I think Phil should had spent that money acquiring SEGA, CDPR, Bioware, Asobo etc.

"Especially when without that, you know damn well MS would be doing the same thing as its the first COD under their ownership and you'd be praising it as some massive win for them."

Again, that means nothing to me. MS could make it exclusive to Playstation and I would still not give a damn.

For me, COD is nothing but steady revenue stream to generate cash flow and fund our Xbox first party games, just like Minecraft. Nothing more nothing less.

[Charlieboy333]

Classic Obscure - if it's shit, Xbox didn't have anything to do with making the game e.g. redfall, MW3. If it reviews well, hey it's a banger from Xbox first party e.g. Hi-Fi Rush, Deathloop.

[Profchaos]

No this stinks of Activision greed how can ms be responsible when they have only been in charge for 2 weeks it's probably why activitision wanted the sale so badly they knew this financial year would have been a stinker without the sale

[LoveSpuds]

I recall Obscure claiming MS did well with HiFi Rush and even claimed Deathloop was a MS success story when that was in the running during awards season.

Suddenly, when a game bombs he changes his tune and disavows the game and says MS had nowt to do with it.

[itsmebryan]

@gaming
They will be fine. Are you saying COD will will not sell well? I thought most buy COD for the multi-player.

[Sonic1881]

This will be the new standard for Microsoft and Activision going forward. They already messed up Diablo 4 aka Diablo Immoral 2.0. COD is getting stale.

[GamerRN]

Wait, you are blaming Microsoft for Diablo also? You guys realize these games were both completed before Microsoft bought them, right?

[XBManiac]

Put some more Microsoft executives around and you will have another Lionhead, Bungie, Wingnut, FASA, etc. experience. It has happened where ex-Xbox executives have gone (Bungie is a clear example of mismanagement when some entered the company 4-5 years ago).

[TheEroica]

@GamerRN don't tell the Sony fans facts... It'll mess up their fragile world view...

[Profchaos]

And what's worse is they completely messed up the best cod campaign since the original mw games. I brought MW2 strictly for the campaign I was really into the storyline then this thing was rushed out the door to meet ab annual release a bunch of warzone maps duct taped together with objectives and puked into a game box

[TheTony316]

It's the MS first party effect.

[TheTony316]

@Obscure_Observer

"Xbox has nothing to do with MW3´s development!"

Stop. If it got a 90+ Metacritic, you wouldn't shut up about how great Xbox first party is. You did it with Hifi Rush.

[ModsDoBetter]

I mean he's not lying though.
They had nothing to do with the development.

Just whataboutism at this point.

[Gamingsince1981]

They had nothing to do with hifi rush either olmyerslo, they didn't even market it then teleased it the day it was announced , but that didn't stop people saying it was amazing MS game lol

[ModsDoBetter]

"They had nothing to do with hifi rush either olmyerslo, they didn't even market it then teleased it the day it was announced , but that didn't stop people saying it was amazing MS game lol"

So by your logic, Xbox gamers cannot celebrate an exclusive game that reviews well considering the exclusives are few and far between?

Because when a game that isn't even exclusive, but owned by Xbox (only recently) reviews bad, its Xbox's fault?

I get it, you're trying to come from the angle of consistency BUT I never seen anyone claiming Xbox developed Hi-Fi Rush, simply that it was an exclusive. Furthermore, COD has been owned bt Xbox for what? 6 weeks now?

[rlow1]

No your try to hard the deal closed roughly a month ago. Anyone not living under a rock knows you can’t make any business decisions for a company until the deal is complete.

Sony exclusives deal with COD was in effect right up to the moment.

[TheTony316]

@oIMyersIo

Xbox had nothing to do with Hifi Rush either but it didn't stop Xbox fanboys from praising Microsoft.

[TheRealHeisenberg]

You need to stop as well. If it got a 90+ Metacritic, you would have said MS had nothing to do with it yet or paid for the high reviews.

[SyntheticForm]

Yeah, it's garbage. Stopped playing after the second level.

Get this Warzone crap out of the campaign.

[Vengeance1138]

Woot, the cracks in the armor are showing and the once mighty CoD is little by little crumbling away... not a chance this series remains relevant in 10yrs let alone 5.

[crazyCoconuts]

It's not a good year for sure, but no one can predict where it will be next year, let alone 5 years from now.
COD has always had a tight MP that people rely on. Anything can happen, but I wouldn't bet against it, anymore than I'd bet against Fortnite or Minecraft

[thesoftware730]

You just "Wooted", wow not even trying to hide how much you want this to fail.

Did you have this much high hopes of failure before the MS purchase?

[Gamingsince1981]

Yes , most people did, go back to any CoD release and you will find most people say let it die already

[Barlos]

I'm happy to see it fail tbh. It deserves to. CoD has never deserved the praise it gets.

[IamFrasierCrane]

There has been near universal hate for Call Of Duty on n4g for years. We’re not going to start liking it just because green man bought it.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

But was it still relevant 10 years ago even? Lol

[Hereandthere]

The xbox cutting all corners effect.

[Barlos]

Not really. It was in development before MS bought ABK. This is all on Activision.

[TheTony316]

And if it was a 9/10 it would be all on Microsoft, according to Xbox fanboys.

[IamFrasierCrane]

Deal was completed before the game released. MS 100% could’ve delayed the game.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

You people blaming MS do realize that this game was in development before MS took over right? I mean it’s like trying to blame Sony for all the Layoffs at Bungie right? Right? 😉

[Nacho_Z]

I don't think anyone's seriously suggesting MS had anything to with it, they've only owned them five minutes. It is a bit funny though.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

Oh yes they are. That’s exactly what some of them are suggesting…

[goldwyncq]

You never know. The president could die the next day and fanboys in here would somehow find a way to blame it on Phil Spencer. That’s the level of spite fanboys in here are running on.

[Barlos]

Some people actually are though.

Having said that, you can't really blame them since Phil Spencer himself has said that this is one of their first first party games since buying ABK. Which is just a downright lie.

[CrashMania]

I actually agree, but people were also trying to act like MS made deathloop in 2021 and were touting it as a GOTY, now a 4/10 releases and suddenly MS have nothing to do with it lol

[Tedakin]

I mean they owned bethesda for a while before Deathloop, not literally 3 weeks like with Activision.

[Chevalier]

Hifi Rush was in development for a couple years before Bethesda was bought, but, Xbox fans have no problem acting like MS made it too.

[Nacho_Z]

I don't know about that, I don't think anyone's daft enough to believe that if someone buys a completed product they're responsible for the quality of said product.

It's just a bit of fun.

[DickyD1226]

Didn't Microsoft include it in there first party list?

[Plague-Doctor27]

Every chance they could

[BillyCrystals]

Who cares, it's fun to trash Xbox and their monopolistic ways. Eat it, Phil!

[hiawa23]

Seems cool to bash MS and Xbox every chance they get while licking Sony's pole any chance they get. Can it just be about enjoying the games and not the names on the boxes that plays them? Gamers are worse than political people.

[Charlieboy333]

"Can it just be about enjoying the games and not the names on the boxes that plays them". No, it can't.

[z2g]

burtal. 2 was pretty decent I thought. not perfect but varied and interesting. this one seems like they could have waited a year or 2

[sweendog]

COD has been copy and paste garbage for years and always received an 8 or 9 from IGN. The moment Microsoft buy COD, it's a 4. I'm not defending the game, I'm obviously not a COD fan but this seems dodgy.

[Plague-Doctor27]

I mean MW3 always looked like it was going to be a rough and rushed cash grab just to make an annual release and to get out of the Sony contract. I think it was destined to get a low score regardless of the acquisition

[sweendog]

Plague-doctor27. I'm not arguing this game doesn't deserve a 4/10. Every cod since 2010 has been a cash grab to meet an annual release. They all deserves a 4. My issue is IGN have constantly overlooked these cheap reskined cash grabs and constantly given them an 8 or a 9. I find it very strange that now MS own Activision, IGN decide to be honest.

[PhillyDonJawn]

Facts

[Cockney]

Good lord, they've only owned them for 5 mins

[Wintersun616]

Nice job MS.

[BeHunted]

Call of Duty will make billions within the first week. That's Call of Duty, the name sells, not the Gameplay.

[jwillj2k4]

And you’re proud of this? You work for Microsoft? You own stock??

[Gamingsince1981]

Billions ? Lol what 🤣🤣🤣

[Wintersun616]

CoD always sucked. The only thing that's new here is that now it sucks more under MS.

[BillyCrystals]

CoD was great early on. CoD 1 and 2 were like Saving Private Ryan/Band of Brothers: The Universal Studios Ride. It was also amazing during the golden years from CoD 4 to Black Ops 1. No disbanded lobbies or SBMM.

[TheTony316]

COD 1-4 were actually good.

[ironmonkey]

Probably will be its lowest sales as well this time.

[purple101]

Nah it will be okay because sales of the new gen consoles are booming and people gotta play something

[Destiny1080]

xbox is going down the drain, another phil special

[Aloymetal]

And I got a front seat ticket to watch it all. The s**t show has just begun...

[GotGame818]

Wow! That sucks!! I usually like COD campaigns. I beat those before I play multiplayer.

[ForwardDude]

Congratulation Microsoft for an excellent 4/10! Jim Sterling gave the same score to Starfield. Well deserved! With Minecraft Legends, Redfall, Starfield and now MW3, Phil Spencer have to be proud of his first party line-up during christmas 2023. A good clap for Microsoft hard work this year. 70 billions well spend. Hope they buy Ubisoft next so that Skull & Bones get released.

[Ninver]

Ooouch! The RARE effect has begun.

[Flenter]

🤣🤣

[Limitedtimestruggle]

Clear skip.

[Redgrave]

So I guess we can expect that Sledgehammer games will be disbanded, courtesy of MS ownership and this failure and low effort. No good press on this at all from what I've seen.

[Ricdog]

Meanwhile the so called “mediocre” Robocop game is beloved by fans and even getting higher scores despite being a AA developer lol

COD is fps trash

[AdonisIsBeast]

Yikes

[Inverno]

Never thought I'd see the day, not from ign who even when the COD games have been bad still manage to give em an 8

[Exvalos]

Xbox stench rears it's ugly head yet again.

[Barlos]

How is this the fault of Xbox though?

[Tedakin]

Everything about this entry seemed tainted. They never release direct sequels one year later. MW3 one year after MW2 was fishy and rushed. I didn't think last year's campaign was that good either.

[BillyCrystals]

Redfall: 56 Metacritic
Starfield: 52% Steam
Forza: 37% Steam
MW3: 4/10 IGN

At least Xbox is consistent.

[Aloymetal]

lmao😂👍

[purple101]

Actually that's a downward trend
Who'd have thought ? 😊

[JusttJD0099]

Results of Microsoft taking over already showing.

[goldwyncq]

Yes, Microsoft who’s acquired Activision for less than a month is to blame for COD’s crappy quality.

[Gamingsince1981]

If it got 10s I'm pretty sure the crazy xbox fans would be claiming Phil Spencer was the reason it was so good because he's good guy gamer Phil lol he's never played a game in his life, can't wait to see him pretend he plays WoW now that they own blizzard 🤣

[jwillj2k4]

You guys prayed for rain, now you gotta deal with the mud

[PhillyDonJawn]

Are you saying it's poor quality because of MS or are you saying it's getting spiteful low score because it's now owned by MS?

[JusttJD0099]

I'm saying that everything that Microsoft touches turns to shit sooner or later.

[PhillyDonJawn]

But the game was completed before MS touched it.

[hiawa23]

My buddy and I started the campaign missions last night and we love the open mission combat parts of the campaign which I don't think we have ever seen in a MW game. I like tackling the missions stealthy, sniping in the shadows and he likes to go in guns blazing. From what I have played so far I am enjoying but we mainly play zombies mixed in with some online. I just can't wait to see the MS haters come out of the woodwork as they always do like MS sucks, first party, blah , blah, nonsense like they had anything to do with making this game.

[Gamingsince1981]

People have been hating CoD for decades get over it you massive baby.

[Charlieboy333]

"I don't think we have ever seen in a MW game". No, we used to get quality, curated single player content with accompanying action and set-pieces. Not just a "single-player' shoved into the multiplayer levels as is like Halo Infinite.

[Rikimaru-00]

wow, this is a first. but the MP is where its at with all the 1 hit kill weapons and all the other bs

[VincentVanBro]

Yikes

[bigfish]

MS really need to start focusing on the quality of their first party games, redfall and now this...

[jwillj2k4]

Considering their internal review process thinks redfall is 85/100 I’d say they’re calling this score a success.

[GrmpyolGamer]

So it's actually more like an 8 then? Gotta pay that Xbox tax

[Gamingsince1981]

You mean minus 8 ?

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Microsoft you need to get tighting that leash when Kodiak leaves soon.

[DaniMacYo]

Yeah I’m only on the second mission but it doesn’t have the same feeling as the previous two. This definitely feels like it’s made by a different studio or rushed or they just didn’t care this time around. Mission 2 felt like a crappy take on Warzone. Have no idea what the rest of the campaign feels like. I’m glad I was technically given this game for free.

My baby niece purchased the vault edition with my account when I wasn’t in the room and I was not happy. But her parents gave the money back so win/win for me I guess lol.

[Hofstaderman]

My condolescnces to all the new PS5 adopters who might get this turd bundled with it. Highly likely because we all know which console is going to sell like hotcakes this holiday season.

[Flenter]

Exactly 😉

[DazaMc]

Microsoft just ruin everything.

[__y2jb]

80 billion

[gold_drake]

wow lol

i mean i dont disagree with any of it

[ModsDoBetter]

Are people dense?

The comments here are full of the usual people suggesting MW3 had anything to do with Xbox during development.

The game was essentially finished before the acquisition was finalised.

Game is trash either way.

[Ryuk_2007]

Single digit I.Q is on full display in here. Sony was even promoting the game before M$ got Activision yet it's Xbox fault that the campaign is lackluster lmao

[ModsDoBetter]

Sony STILL has their exclusive operator this year too. I'm convinced those on both sides who radiate fanboy energy can't be older than 14. Either that or they just never grew up.

[DickyD1226]

https://www.ign.com/article...

Microsoft is treating it like a first party game. Y'all can call Sony out for forspoken but Xbox gets a pass?
Fanboys are the reason the video game industry will fail within the next 20 years.

[TheTony316]

Nobody actually suggests that Xbox had something to do with the development. It's just a jab at Xbox fanboys who constantly praise Xbox/Microsoft for games they weren't involved with, like Hifi Rush or Ghostwire.

Plus, the timing is just funny.

[purple101]

The dlc was finalised. Who know who made a decision to turn it into a game...perhaps Microsoft so they can say "here, the latest cod on scampass"

[Agent75]

3 to 4 hours to complete. £20 game?

[shadowT]

Gamespot with higher score than IGN!

[XBManiac]

Mismanagement, fired employees, uncertainty... well, it seems ABK buyout has not had a good influence in yearly franchises, yet.

[Binarycode]

I think Microsoft should buy Rare.

Oops they already did and ruined it.

[GamingSinceForever]

I didn’t know they still made single player campaigns.Waste of time and effort if you ask me.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Just wow! Never thought I'd see a COD score this low. Especially a Modern Warfare title. I think Ghosts even scored higher than this.

[PhillyDonJawn]

Halo is king

[RhinoGamer88]

CoD buyers...break the cycle gents. Don't blindly buy this game yearly. Tell ATVI/MS you want more than just the same multiplayer game every time.

[Richhard1]

Not even on game pass either, will play it in 2024

[anast]

MS has still got Candy Crush.

[Athlon101]

Wow. I was really looking forward to at least playing a decent campaign. The Modern Warfare 3 beta was a a bit lackluster for me. After reading this review as well as that from gamespot and some other reviews of the campaign, that was the final straw. I contacted Sony support earlier this afternoon and cancelled my Vault Edition pre-order. I may reconsider if there's a price drop down the line; that would really depend on reviews of the multiplayer component and my interest at the time. This iteration isn't worth $70.

[jznrpg]

Imo, they haven’t been worth full price since the first 3-4 games.