With the reveal of Modern Warfare 3 less than a week away, a trailer was released this past week to set the tone for the latest Call of Duty iteration, which is now confirmed to be headed up by Sledgehammer Games. A tattooed figure walks through a gulag, as campaign gameplay flashes off the designs on his skin. The droning hook of ‘Just So You Remember’ by Pusha T builds up to the reveal of the figure’s face, with the rapper stating “Just so you remember who you dealing with…”. Any long term Call of Duty fan knows exactly who we’re dealing with. Vladimir Makarov is the most iconic villain in the Modern Warfare subseries, and has been teased as early as Modern Warfare in 2019. The reboot series has been building to this moment, and the war between Makarov and the new look Task Force 141 is sure to be bloody – a fact only emboldened by the violent red of Modern Warfare 3’s logo and key-art.
Although a teaser more than a full length trailer, there were still some tidbits to take from the video. Eagle-eyed players noticed multiple points of interest located in Verdansk, the long mourned original Warzone map. A lot of unanswered questions remain surrounding Verdansk so it’s a welcome return – though Warzone players should probably put the champagne on ice as there’s no guarantee this will result in the map returning for Battle Royale
Flashes of a struggle at Verdansk Stadium appear in the trailer, with a lot of dead civilians on show. It looks increasingly likely that some sort of terrorist attack will be involved in the game’s campaign, reminiscent of the notorious ‘No Russian’ mission in Modern Warfare 2, where Makarov leads you through a mass-shooting at an airport. The mission went viral around the week of launch of the original Modern Warfare 2, with criticism appearing across major media broadcasters including Fox News and BBC. MW2 was the first Call of Duty to be given the 18 certificate by the BBFC in the UK. It certainly will be interesting to see how the general public reacts to a potential spiritual successor to ‘No Russian’ in 2023, as the graphics are more realistic than ever before, and many tragic attacks have taken place since the launch of Modern Warfare 2 in 2009.
If the reveal follows the usual trends of a Call of Duty reveal, it will largely be focussed on the Campaign. Activision may decide to change this up as this is the first time we’ve ever seen a Call of Duty title get a direct sequel the year after its release. The publisher has rejected the notion that Modern Warfare 3 was originally planned as a smaller DLC release, but many fans aren’t convinced. Modern Warfare 3 will be absolutely fine coasting on the regularly scheduled programming of a Call of Duty reveal, but it would be wise of Activision to go on the offensive and give jaded fans a reason to buy the game.
Multiplayer is likely going to be quite similar to Modern Warfare 2, but some of the changes Infinity Ward made to the fundamental Call of Duty experience are sure to be reverted. It’s an easy win for Sledgehammer. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a lot of old fan favourite maps return. Hopefully the choices are a bit more inspiring than Strike or Shipment again for the 300th time! The real question for modern Call of Duty MP is how much support it will receive following the launch of the game. Warzone is the moneymaker for Activision, and traditional MP feels more and more like a weapon XP farm with every new instalment. The potential return of War Mode from WW2 is exciting, as I feel it was a more engaging large scale MP mode than Modern Warfare 1 and 2’s ground war mode. The battlefield-lite mode has its fans, but I cannot say I am one of them.
Against my hopes, I expect Zombies to get very little in the reveal. I’ll take confirmation of the much rumoured “Outbreak 2” mode, but would like a bit more to chew on. There’s the big question of if the mode will come as part of the premium Modern Warfare 3 package, or if it’s a free to play experience that comes alongside Warzone. Zombies is almost always the last thing to be revealed when it comes to Call of Duty so I imagine we’ll be waiting a while longer for clarity. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride…
With the potential for a more traditional MP experience, the return of Zombies, and a campaign involving Makarov being back on his bullshit, I’m quite excited for Modern Warfare 3! There are reasons to be hopeful for the game, although it certainly doesn’t feel like we’re about to experience the greatest COD of all time. In a few days, the outlook will be a lot clearer, and hopefully fans will be able to get on board with Sledgehammer’s vision for the next year of Call of Duty.