Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 closed out the trilogy centered on Soap MacTavish, Captain Price, and Russian nationalist Makarov with a sweeping global conflict that took players to New York, Paris, Berlin, and London amid an escalating third world war. The campaign continued in the spirit of the previous entries — short, cinematic missions full of explosions, dramatic twists, and fast pacing, where the player switches between soldiers and special units defending their own capitals from invasion. The narrative completed a long story arc stretching back to the first Modern Warfare, offering an emotional, personal resolution to the relationship between key characters for fans of the previous two entries, including a final confrontation with Makarov that brought the series to a definitive close.

On the Xbox 360, the game ran on the series' established engine and didn't offer major technical leaps, relying all the more on elaborate sound design, music underscoring dramatic scenes, and precisely tuned action pacing, where the player rarely gets a breather between action sequences. The multiplayer offered further expansion of the customization system, new maps, game modes, and so-called killstreak packages, while cooperative Spec Ops missions supplemented the singleplayer with short, intense challenges outside the main story, including a new Survival mode against ever-tougher enemy waves.

At the time, the game sold exceptionally well and ranked among the most successful titles of the entire console generation, though critics even then pointed to a certain fatigue in the series' formula, minor technical changes compared to previous entries, and an almost identical visual style. Today, Modern Warfare 3 is interesting mainly as the conclusion of one of the most closely followed story arcs in Call of Duty history, and as a reminder of the peak popularity of military shooters before the rise of battle royale and other modern trends.

Why play: For the conclusion of one of the series' most closely followed story arcs, and as a reminder of the peak popularity of military shooters before the rise of battle royale.