MW3 campaign one of the lowest-rated ever, leaving multiplayer to do the heavy lifting

Modern Warfare 3’s campaign has been crowned one of the worst Call of Duty experiences ever, according to the gaming community and critics alike, meaning today’s multiplayer launch has a lot of work to do to raise morale among fans.

While MW3’s multiplayer has only just become available to the world, its campaign has earned poor reviews across the board with several publications throwing in their two cents. The roughly six-hour experience has been slammed for a wide variety of reasons, making it one of the lowest-rated CoD titles according to Open Critic.

Most ratings compile reviews including both the single-player and multiplayer elements, so we’ll have to wait until Nov. 10 to see whether it tips the scale—and hopefully for the right CoD title this time.

Less than a week ago, a collection of disgruntled gamers voiced their outrage on other rating aggregation sites like Metacritic only to rate a game from 2011 of the same name instead. However, after players got their hands on the MW3 (2023) campaign early, there was no mistaking it this time.

Players’ campaign critique for 2023’s MW3 has been loud and diverse. The CoD community slammed the developers for releasing a short story filled with new Open Combat Missions. These combat missions are almost arbitrary, sending players into a Warzone-like experience where the CoD world is their oyster.

This means players can navigate their way around objectives of their own accord, not restricted by the linear experience CoD campaigns typically provide. However, these missions failed to tick the boxes for the community.

Players called the missions “lazy” and claimed they detracted from the flow of the story. This also is a massive step away from the giant setpieces fans expect from a CoD campaign. Open Combat Missions take up six of the 15 available levels in MW3’s story, and also seemingly only add to DLC fears. 

With confusion over whether MW3 would be MW2 DLC, players saw red once its price was revealed. Its $70 USD price tag made players reach for their pitchforks, pointing each sharp end at Activision. 

While developers Sledgehammer Games stand by its creation, the community has clearly made its thoughts known. Here’s hoping today’s MW3 multiplayer launch lands on its feet, for CoD’s sake.