Commentary!

Montage!!

The 99th

Modern Warfare 3

The Call of Duty XP presentation was held yesterday around 3am GMT+8 time and I was on it. Watching and examining the reveal of one of the most anticipated games ever. Modern Warfare 3. No I didn't go there and this is based on what I predict, hope and remember about that game.

Graphics. Honestly, looking at the trailers I do not see significant improvement in the graphics. Could be due to the limitations of the Xbox 360. Not to say the Graphics for MW2 or MW3 is terrible, but they both look similar. Both maintain the 60 fps rate that COD tends to keep in tradition. However the things that did improve are the number of polygons. I've done a bit of researching and the engine for MW3 would be the IW 3.0 engine. Probably the same since MW2 with a few tweaks here and there. The guns look more detailed, the effects, explosions and etc all have more detail and more can be happening at one time.

Gameplay. I'm sure this is the part you will be interested in. Lets start with the campaign. Storyline wise I can only make a rough guess. The facts are that WW3 is ongoing, Makrov from MW2 is still alive and is being hunted down. Like my previous guesses, here is what in general the storyline might progress. It starts off after MW2 when soap and price both recover from their ordeal in MW2 and begin the hunt for Makrov. However, Makrov sets in motion a chain of events leading up to WW3 which probably involves the Russians acting as other nations (The main 4, USA, Britian, Germany and Russia) and inciting war among each other (similar to End War which is also WW3) or Makrov could have framed the other countries and cause war among the 4 nations. How it ends off is anyone guess. There are so many possibilities and the truth is I can't even make a rough guess as to how the ending goes. The announcers did say that some weapons found in the Campaign will not be in Multiplayer so that removes the overpowered stuff you see in the Campaign from the Multiplayer aspect.

Multiplayer is a huge part of MW3 and I'm unsure whether I could remember everything. Lets start with the facts. New stuff: Killstreak system changed. Now it is split into 3 categories, mainly support, strike and some perk lone wolf thing. Each category you can only choose one and use it for that class. Each category also has about up to 18 killstreak with a unique exception of the last perk tier category killstreak. The support killstreaks are mainly for the help of your team, for example UAV, advanced UAV, Juggernaut scout, robotic turrets, landmines etc are all for the defensive and support role of players looking to help the team win by helping the team as a whole. Also the killstreaks do not reset after you die. The second category would be the strike category. This is more for players which go for kills and help the team succeed by playing the offensive. You get airstrikes, harriers, bombers, etc all sorts of offensive based killstreaks. The last and most unique category would be the perk killstreak category. Do note that ALL classes you can have a default of 3 perks. Like standard classes you originally have 3 perks that you want, then you pick the perks that you want to get when you get kills. For example lets say you have 3 standard perks first. Steady Aim, Marathon and ninja. Now you get 5 kills, you can use a 4th perk and put it into your total perk count for that life. Lets say you chosen sleight of hand for the 4th perk. After 5 kills, activate that killstreak and you get your 4th perk. In total, you can stack up to an additional 8 perks making your player something epic. However do note that you do not get any other air/ ground support killstreaks so you are purely playing on your perks and skills. 

The balancing of the Multiplayer is also another large part. The creators of MW3 have announced that for the MW3 Multiplayer:

-Last stand removed

-Commando removed

-Shotguns as primary only

-Guns are more or less balanced out

-New weapons

-Quickscoping is back

Personally I'm pretty excited about the changes, however there is still the concern of the Noob tube. Yes there is still the tube and I'm unsure on whether Danger Close will be back or not. However there is a special turret, something like and anti-ballistic turret that stops all explosive projectiles from detonating near you, forming like a sphere in which you will be protected from explosive projectiles for a certain time. That sort of balances out the explosives but more stuff needs to be added for a perfect balancing. Flak jacket would probably just make the explosives useless. Lets see how the developers are going to strike a balance in the game.

Some more additional details:

There is a killcount bar at the side that highlights the number of kills to your next killstreak so no more counting in your head.

Support killstreaks are designed to be shared with other team members

A new gamemode called Kill confirmed where it is similar to TDM but after you kill someone, you have to confirm the kill and pick up the enemy's dogtag. If not, it will not count as a kill. The enemy can also pick up their fallen comrade's dogtag and disallow you from confirming the kill.

New maps with detailed design to minimise camping and increase action plus more vivid places

Total of about 4 or 5 DLCs planed for MW3

Intense on Call of Duty Elite

Call of duty elite is a platform where COD gamers can come together to play, share and communicate. You can from clans, create matches and gametypes, host lobbies, chat with other gamers, tips and tricks, funny or awesome moments, play competitions for cash or virtual prizes and many more. It is equal to the Facebook of COD and there is also a option of you getting the premium user card which is 49.99 USD a year and you get ALL the DLCs monthly for FREE and many other special features that you can do. It is an incredible idea and looking at it, it is amazing for the developers to come up with such an innovative idea. 

All in all, I can see that this is turning out to be one hell of a game. But will it be the same as MW2? I honestly think that MW2 was a complete disaster with the balancing of the multiplayer system and if MW3 is similar with those problems, then MW3 will be just another failure in my opinion. The developers have taken a forward step in their aim and goals but are they stepping in the right direction? Hopefully.