Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has been officially revealed with an in-game Warzone event yesterday called Shadow Siege. We got a glimpse at this year’s campaign as well as the pre-order details and editions of the game. Developers have also revealed some new information about the campaign and how the Modern Warfare 3 campaign will feature more choice for players than any other Call of Duty campaign has done.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will feature new Open Combat Missions that Activision is claiming will offer more freedom and choice for players when conducting missions in the new campaign. In an interview with Xbox, David Swenson, the campaign creative director at Sledgehammer Games, has given a bit more insight on what this means exactly.
Open Combat Missions Explained
The Open Combat Missions will supposedly offer the player multiple avenues for choice in completing a mission. For example, you can take a stealthy approach with NVGs and suppressed weapons in order to avoid alerting enemies. If you prefer going all-out, guns blazing, then you can equip more armor plates and blast through.
Basically, what this means is that during an Open Combat Mission (OCM), you will be able to take the mission on stealthily with something like only a knife. Or, you can use a vehicle available in the mission for an assault. These OCMs are going to be challenging and “often” lead to multiple attempts to work out a satisfying tactic, according to Swenson.
Some of the OCMs will contain Armaments, which are the killstreaks in Modern Warfare 3. If you search your surroundings and find an Armament, you will be able to get a tactical item. This could mean something like calling air support. You won’t need to kill enemies to get Armaments, so a stealthy player will still be able to get one.
“If you want to sneak through the entire level, you can,” Swenson explained. “There are also vehicles, cleverly hidden loot boxes, and weapon crates on these Open Combat Missions, some of which contain killstreaks which we are calling Armaments since you don’t need to streak any kills to earn them.”
It may not be a totally immersive sandbox experience, but as a long-time fan of stealth games like Assassin’s Creed, I think this is a pretty interesting thing to see in Call of Duty. It also gives players who prefer stealth that choice and players who hate stealth the option to just do whatever they want. It’s definitely something new for the Call of Duty campaigns.
Modern Warfare 3 is Getting a Zombies Mode Too
As was claimed by many leakers, Modern Warfare 3 will be seeing a Zombies mode as well. The mode will be set in an “all-new open world” where players will be able to team up and fight against Zombie hordes in the “largest Call of Duty zombies map ever.”
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is also the first Call of Duty game to feature Zombies, which is definitely something unique that is being done this year.
Modern Warfare 2 (2009) Maps are Coming Back
Another confirmed leak, the maps from the original Modern Warfare 2 will be coming back to the Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer. All 16 of the original MW2 (2009) maps will be coming back in a remastered form. There will also be 12 new 6v6 maps that will be in MW3 post-launch.
Pre-Order Bonuses and More
Of course, the pre-orders are now live for Modern Warfare 3. The standard edition includes the base game, early access to the open beta, early access to the campaign by one week, and the Soap Operator Pack.
The Vault Edition is back this year and it includes even more perks than last year. In addition to everything in the Standard Edition, you will get the Nemesis Operator Pack, 2 Weapon Vaults, and the Season 1 Blackcell Battle Pass with 30 additional Battle Pass tier skips. The Vault Edition is a lot better this year, honestly.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 releases on November 10, 2023 for PC, PS4 and PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
There is a physical edition available as well, which you can get at an in-store gaming retailer. The Steelbook case was also revealed, and it does look pretty awesome:
It looks like there’s a lot to look forward to in Modern Warfare 3 this year.
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Zainah Yousef
Zainah Yousef is the author of The Fallen Age Saga and specializes in gaming, social media advice, and reviews. She's been writing all her life and she probably won't stop anytime soon.
