After leaks, teases and an ARG campaign, Activision has finally pulled back the veil on Modern Warfare 3 with an official reveal. Following the launch of Modern Warfare 2‘s in-game Shadow Siege event this morning, the publisher flooded players with details regarding this year’s Call of Duty installment, which continues the reboot saga.
To kick things off, we were given our first look at Modern Warfare 3 gameplay in an all-new trailer, showing off various snippets of the campaign. Captain Price, John “Soap” MacTavish, Simon “Ghost” Riley and other members of the deadly Task Force 141 are on the hunt for the even deadlier Vladimir Makarov, a name that should immediately resonate with the Call of Duty faithful. We also catch a glimpse of what looks to be a nod to the infamous Loose Ends level from the original Modern Warfare 2 and a peek at the revised No Russian mission.
Check out the game in action below.
We learned much more about Modern Warfare 3 from the info dump that followed on the game’s official website and a supplementary post on the PS Blog. While the campaign is looking as high stakes and explosive as one would expect from the franchise, the single player narrative structure is being shake up with the addition of “Open Combat Missions.” What this means is players will be empowered to complete certain campaign missions in whatever fashion they prefer. NVGs and suppressed weaponry can be equipped for a quieter approach or extra armor plates could be favored for a more aggressive tactic.
Zombies is also making a return, continuing Treyarch’s ongoing supernatural story. Modern Warfare Zombies, as the mode is called, will drop multiple player squads into an open world to take on the hordes of undead “in largest Call of Duty Zombies map ever.” Details currently do not expand beyond this tidbit, but it sounds like we’re looking at an expansion of Black Ops Cold War‘s Outbreak mode.
And, of course, there’s multiplayer. No Call of Duty game would be complete (or remotely as popular) without its signature PvP component. All 16 of Modern Warfare 2‘s 6v6 maps are returning, albeit with modifications and updates for the latest installment. An additional 12 core maps are currently planned for the “post-launch live seasons.” Ground War is also being welcomed back, bringing with it 3 Battle Maps and “a single, colossal War map.”
Multiplayer will be further shaken up with added mobility and new features, such as the Tac-Stance. The Tactical Stance feature is billed as a “middle-ground between hip-fire and aiming down sights.” We will have to wait for the full unveiling of the multiplayer component to see how this new aiming option will shake up player-versus-player encounters.
Modern Warfare 3 can be pre-ordered now in either a standard $70 version or the all-out $100 Vault edition. Pre-ordering either comes packed with both open beta and campaign early access.
