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MW3: Captain Price skydriving
Screenshot by Dot Esports

What is War Mode in MW3? – War Mode Explained

A place to get away from the killstreaks.

MW3 returns to the CoD scene with a reborn game mode temporarily seen in Black Ops 4 and MW2. But what exactly is War Mode?

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Tasked with defending or attacking, War Mode invites players into a six-vs-six match where communication is crucial. Take all of those years fighting off campers in domination and hardpoint and put it into hitting world records to complete ‘Operation Spearhead.’

MW3: War Mode explained

MW3: Missile launching in Operation Spearhead
Another day, another operation. Screenshot by Dot Esports

War Mode follows a very different path from the standard multiplayer game modes. While some have objectives like Search and Destroy, Hardpoint, and Domination, these are often singular and have the entire match based around this gameplay aspect. War Mode’s six-versus six-game affair sees both sides trying to complete their own set of objectives depending on whether they are defending or attacking.

War Mode takes place on a new and fictional map, Urzikstan (a focal point of MW3), titled ‘Operation Spearhead.’ These operations house three objectives: hold anti-aircraft sites, escort or halt the tank, and launch or hold the missiles via the launch facility consoles. The objectives are the same in every match. Regardless of how many kills you get in a single life, Killstreaks are not available in War Mode.

MW3: Launching missile in Operation Spearhead
A MW3 mission with an actual ending. Screenshot by Dot Esports

The look and feel of these game modes are similar to Overwatch‘s stop or move the payload objective. But unlike Overwatch and CoD game modes, the War Mode has multiple objectives that follow one after another. War Mode follows the attack-and-defend formula, with the teams’ roles determined at the beginning of the round. After a successful missile launch or putting a stop to the attack, the round ends and players switch sides.

This mode also combines the more basic gameplay mechanics, such as Fortnite‘s building with cover that you can make by filling sacks with sand or using deployable cover. While this game mode requires more strategy, you will still meet a ton of campers, drop-shotters and people trying to spawn trap.

Most bizarrely, each objective is restricted to a smaller area of the large map. There are red dots on the ground, which outline where you can and cannot move. This out-of-bounds timer only lasts five seconds, so it is definitely something to keep an eye out for as you try out War Mode in MW3.


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Hadley Vincent
Writer for Dot since Oct. 2023. Just a Psychology graduate trying to find the meaning of life through gaming. An enthusiast of indie horror and anime, where you'll often find them obsessing over a great narrative and even better twists that'd make M. Night jealous. Their shocking twist? They think The Last of Us II is a masterpiece.