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An alleyway between two buildings in the Favela map in MW3.
Image via Call of Duty.

5 Modern Warfare 3 maps we can’t wait to play, and 5 we wish got left behind

Some great memories, some old nightmares.

Modern Warfare 3 is right around the corner, and it’s rolling back the years by featuring all 16 core MW2 maps available at launch, rebuilt for current-gen consoles.

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For gamers of my generation, the original MW2 is a cult classic that resulted in long sessions late into the night, frustrating parents trying to sleep, and for many players, it was the starting point of their online gaming careers.

Hundreds of hours were lost to MW2 multiplayer, whether that was in matchmaking, private lobbies with friends, or one-on-one showdowns on Rust. Now, MW3 looks to achieve similar successes by reincarnating the maps we knew like the back of our hands.

Of course, not every map from MW2 brings back fond memories. Some maps give me cold sweats, and I wish they could be locked in a vault never to be played again.

5 Modern Warfare 3 maps we can’t wait to play again

Terminal

Two planes are shown in Terminal on MW3, with the buildings in the background.
Plane sailing. Image via Call of Duty.

Terminal was a brilliant map in the original MW2, and I can’t wait to dive back into a revamped version in MW3—working my way through planes, shops, and the terminal itself with fresh visuals.

The brilliance of Terminal made it a great map for all game modes. Its environment was packed with plenty of obstacles, so it wasn’t like shooting fish in a barrel for anyone using a sniper rifle.

While there were many camping spots, you got to know them quickly, and they could be relatively easily countered, meaning you wouldn’t keep getting into frustrating situations where you died again and again to the same person in the same corner.

Highrise

The roof of a building with a helicopter pad shown in Highrise in MW3.
Get to the chopper! Image via Call of Duty.

Highrise will always have a very special place in my heart as it was the only map on MW2 that I ever managed to get a Nuke on, having done so twice in quick succession before never getting the top killstreak ever again.

While that may admittedly skew my perception slightly, there’s no doubting its layout. There were avenues and various heights for snipers to take advantage of, though they could sometimes require some work to get to, and, like Terminal, you could counter them.

Highrise was one of the best maps because it made a variety of guns viable, with great areas of action for shotguns, submachine guns, assault rifles, and snipers alike.

Favela

A selection of buildings in Favela in MW3 with Christ the Redeemer on a mountain behind.
Born on the streets. Image via Call of Duty.

Favela provided a brilliant mix of fast-paced and close-quarters battles, while also providing tall buildings for snipers, and the soccer field became a go-to location for any one-on-one battles that you wanted settled away from Rust.

Controlling the high ground was the key to victory, and battles were usually fairly open, as buildings had several roues to get onto the roof. Additionally, the fact there wasn’t much cover created a risk-vs-reward situation.

Combat aside, the environment itself was spectacular, with the Christ the Redeemer statue towering over the action, and a revamped version on current-gen consoles will add further depth to this great map.

Scrapyard

Parts of a plane scattered across the map in Scrapyard in MW3.
A scrap in every sense of the world. Image via Call of Duty.

Scrapyard, though not as small as Rust, was often incredibly chaotic and a great place to rack up killstreaks and kills, especially if you were pushing to level a specific weapon.

The planes in the middle of the map had limited cover and served as the core of the action, with counters to the campers that took residence there using explosives or FMJ to shoot through the wall.

I remember celebrating when Scrapyard came into rotation on the Prestige I dedicated to solely using the PP2000 as I pushed to earn the calling card rewarded for getting 2500 kills.

Afghan

A crashed plane shown in a desert in a still image of Afghan in MW3.
Crash and burn. Image via Call of Duty.

Set in the middle of a desert in Afghanistan, and orientated around a crashed C-130, Afghan had a variety of environments split into three lanes that benefitted particular types of players.

Snipers and long-range shooters could utilize the cliffs and bunkers, the cave inside the mountain was great for close-range combat, while the other side of the mountain provided an opportunity to flank your opponents.

Afghan was a favorite of mine for Search & Destroy matches before the days of party chat on Xbox 360, where we’d tactically decide which route to the objective we would target each round with the bomb and try to overload our opponent.

5 Modern Warfare 3 maps we wish were left behind

Sub Base

A Submarine docked alongside a building in the Sub Base map in Call of Duty.
Sink or swim. Image via Call of Duty.

Sub Base was a map from the original MW2 that I had erased from my memory, only to see it again and instantly be reminded of the pain and torture I endured in this snowy hell.

This map was a delight for long-range fights, with wide open spaces to take advantage of and plenty of height provided by the catwalks, which if you didn’t quickly take control of, would result in an uphill battle for the remainder of the game.

The large area in the middle of the map was particularly chaotic, as it was where all the other routes ultimately led, and you could quickly find yourself in a continued spiral of deaths that left you rocking slowly back and forth in a dark corner.

Derail

A derailed train in the snow in the Derail map in MW3.
This map sent me off the rails. Image via Call of Duty.

Derail was a great map if you were playing Mike Myers with your friends, but if you encountered the map in rotation online, then heaven help you.

With the majority of the map being wide open, it was a delight for snipers and a nightmare for anyone else, as you could quickly find yourself being picked off again and again, and breaking that cycle was not easy.

It wasn’t hard to find yourself spawn trapped, even though there was some close-quarters fighting in a building in the middle of the map, as snipers would usually pick you off before you managed to get inside.

Wasteland

An abandoned, nuclear wasteland shown in the Wasteland map in Call of Duty.
A waste of a map. Image via Call of Duty.

Sticking with the theme of sniper-orientated maps that still send a shiver down your spine after a decade, Wasteland was literal hell.

Snipers would have a field day, particularly using a thermal scope against anyone that wasn’t using Cold Blooded. They could lay down in the grass, hidden in ghillie suits, picking you off repeatedly as you desperately tried to get around the long hedge in the middle of the map or into the bunker through the middle.

If that wasn’t bad enough, you could be killed by an airstrike, spawn on the other side of the map, and be killed again by the same airstrike.

Estate

A Lodge on a hill in Autumn with leaves falling shown in Estate in MW3.
A house that’s haunted in my memories. Image via Call of Duty.

Gameplay in Estate is orientated around gaining control of the main house on the map, which provided a lookout point over the majority of the map. Failing to win the initial fight or clear enemies from the house was very frustrating.

It was far too easy to control the house and quickly lock down the surrounding areas by stationing lookouts over the entrances, and things became even worse when killstreaks started to rack up as you could often be exposed right in the open.

I remember countless fights trying to work my way through the Greenhouse to get to the Lodge, and countless deaths at the same time.

Skidrow

An abandoned playground in between buildings shown in Skidrow in MW3.
My idea of hell. Image via Call of Duty.

This will undoubtedly be the most controversial of the selections on this list, and I’ve already experienced some backlash from colleagues, but I remember Skidrow as one of the worst maps in MW2.

The alleyways became avenues of sheer carnage that could lead to repeated deaths in the worst scenarios, or racking up high killstreaks if you had the game on your side. The open streets were a deathtrap to run across.

Granted I was never anywhere near being the best MW2 player in any lobby I entered, but Skidrow was a persistent thorn in my side that I wish I never had to endure ever again.


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Author
Image of Josh Challies
Josh Challies
Staff Writer. Professional writer since 2014. Pokemon, Marvel, Star Wars and overall geek. Previously wrote for Yahoo Sport, Stats Perform and online news publications.