Team play is difficult with such an emphasis on personal progress and streaking, maps being so tight and the gameplay so fast and twitchy, old fans will love it but anyone not sold on the past entries isn’t going to jump ship. New modes such as kill confirmed, add some new dynamics though they don’t really feel all that special when compared to the endless variety that vehicle playgrounds offered in other online shooters.

Courtesy of: Activision

COD is about intense infantry combat and you get just that: hundreds of hours of twitch head shots and streaky rewards but it may leave you feeling a little empty, its akin to eating a bag of ‘McChickens’ and then feeling really greasy. The spec ops mode is the strongest element of the game and now features its own RPG system that mostly applies to the new horde mode. The horde mode herein dubbed “Survival” is a wave based affair that will toss everything from doggies to helicopters after you and allows you to purchase (with in game cash) an extensive list of guns, perks and streaks that allow you to plan out a defense for each wave of enemies. The waves change along with the maps and while the mode is fun it really isn’t all that commendable, after all it is just recycled bits from the rest of the game (ail weapons, maps.). While playing survival I got the urge to boot up left for dead and that isn’t a good thing.

Courtesy of: Activision

The spec ops missions feature a variety of mission objectives and map types and does feel uniquely designed, allowing the player to use they’re own approach to the games battlefields which are often centered around a mechanic such as use of a bullet absorbing “juggernaut suit” or the computer controlled predator missiles. These maps are most fun when played with the maximum two players taking different roles and supporting one another. The exceptions are the stealth missions, which are far too easy and fail to live up to the excellence of the previous game. COD MW3 looks good but its engine (based on MW2′s engine) is starting to look old compared to its competitors. The environments are extremely detailed and that is the best that can be said of the games dated look.

Courtesy of: Activision

MW3 is disappointing to a diehard fan of MW 2′s action-drama campaign and COD 4′s slower paced multiplayer. It offers more game than you can shake a stick at but many will feel the need to move on to newer experiences and in doing so discover the many other excellent choices out there – who can blame them? Unless you are a COD fanboy (and they aren’t reading this, I assure you) the following games are deeper choices for 2012: Batman Arkham City; The Witcher 2; Portal 2; Uncharted 3; Gears of War 3; Elder Scrolls 5:Skyrim; The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword; Super Mario 3d and Mario Kart 7. And as for Call of Duty Elite: its a glorified discount on map packs with stat tracking features most other games (Halo) give you for free.

-Max Romano