REVIEW: ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’ Delivers A Disappointing Lack Of Creativity (PS5)

Twenty years after the launch of the first Call of Duty, the latest in the franchise’s long line of first-person shooter (FPS) games arrives with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. Developer Sledgehammer Games is up in the rotation to take a stab at a mainline Call of Duty game, highlighting many of the issues caused by the demanding yearly release schedule.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is a direct sequel to 2022’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and picks up the story of Captain John Price and Task Force 141. They come up against the villainous Vladimir Makarov, leader of the Konni Group, a Russian private military organization. Most of the story takes place in the fictional Urzikstan, although the United States and United Kingdom do make appearances later on as well as parts of Russia and Verdansk, the original Warzone location.

The gist of the story is that Makarov is up to no good and wants to bring the United States into a global war by staging a chemical attack and blaming the Americans. It is up to Task Force 141 and their allies to stop him and maybe commit some light war crimes along the way. Like most Call of Duty games, there is no sort of messaging, which has become the norm for a franchise that sure has a lot of politics for something deemed “non-political.”

It is an extremely generic FPS story and unfortunately completely forgettable. There have been so many iconic Call of Duty moments over the years and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III just tries to repeat them while only changing some small details. There is nothing new or refreshing to the story, instead, it is a mish-mash of past story beats with different characters that almost entirely falls flat.

A disappointing story is not a deal-breaker for an FPS game, however, since the meat and potatoes will always be the gameplay itself. Who cares if the story is mediocre if the missions are still fun to play, right? Well, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III fails on that front too. Every one of its 14 missions is repetitive, and the addition of so-called Open Combat missions where players can take a non-linear approach barely makes an impact.

The Open Combat missions were meant to radically change what exactly a Call of Duty mission is, providing players a chance to take their own approach to completing a mission. There are multiple objectives that can be completed in any order, although they are extremely limited, and supply caches around the map that unlock new weapons and gear.

While this all sounds fun in theory, in practice they all boil down to the exact same type of approach. Virtually every one of these missions directs players towards using stealthy tactics, but it is incredibly easy to alert the enemy and bring about a horde of soldiers crashing down on you. No matter how hard I tried to take my time and forge a new path, these missions all devolved into a massive firefight and ended with me beelining towards the objective. There was so much potential here to make truly interesting campaign missions and it was such a letdown.

The biggest issue with the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III campaign is that it all feels like déjà vu. Part of this is thanks to the fact that a good portion of the missions take place in locations ripped directly from the Warzone map Verdansk. It is impossible to escape the “been there, done that” feeling when most of the time is spent in locations that have been at the focal point of Call of Duty since 2020. The locations that are new are so small and limited that they don’t invoke any sense of awe or make players feel like any effort was made to create a new experience. Instead, it all looks like every location was made with cobbled-together pieces from older games in an attempt to evoke nostalgia and it fails spectacularly.

The one saving grace is that the core shooting mechanics of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III are still quite fun. The guns all feel distinct enough to make it worth exploring new weapon types and the in-game abilities and gadgets do provide some enjoyable moments. Most of that fun is going to be had in multiplayer though, since the campaign either hides the best weapons and gear or only lets you use them for brief moments.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III recycles old ideas in a stale package that is a downright slog for most of the experience. It commits the ultimate sin of being boring, and it does not bode well for the future of a franchise that, for the last 20 years, has been the pinnacle of popular FPS games.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is out now on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S