Recent reviews by Pothole

I have played the entirety of the Modern Warfare series a good 5 times over. A good 1000+ hours spend on Modern Warfare, 400+ spent on Modern Warfare 2, and under 50 hours on Modern Warfare 3. I played competitively in multiplayer for both Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2, but not the 3rd installment, with good reason. The quality of the game slowly degrades between these installments. Surprisingly to me, the average consumer doesn't seem to notice the changes in game mechanics througout the series. Regardless, I have a few points to make about this series in this review.

In the past week, I played through the entire campaigns of MW, MW2 and MW3 on Veteran difficulty. The first impression that comes to mind is this: the most difficult of the 3, on the highest difficulty possible, is MW. MW also happens to have the most compelling story line, as well as the most difficult mission: the flashback mission of Price and MacMillan in Chernobyl. Hands down, with my rather diverse and expansive gaming experience, my favorite mission/scene/short-story of any game, of all time. *Spoiler here* I am still upset that Soap died near the end of this game. No one likes Yuri until the very last scene of the game as there is absolutely zero characterization for him when introduced. Also...isn't it a little redundant to have Soap almost killed once and then killed the next time? I feel like he would be a bit more cautious even ini the chaos of a war-zone.

Graphically speaking, MW was not a beautiful game...but it was certainly well put together- especially for 2007. MW2 in the same regard, was stunning. The game looked amazing- and it still does in all aspects. MW3, however, is a little different. In the opening sequence of the campaign, images are displayed on broken shards of glass, and it has the potential to look really cool. Although, even running this game with the highest quality settings possible- on a gaming-specific rig- it looks pixelated and rather horrible, even.

Now for gameplay mechanics. MW reminds me a lot of Counter Strike: Source and Global Offensive in many ways. The controls are very ridig, snap-to, and reaction based. The weapon-balancing *still* needs work as grenades (although realistically...) seem to end all life in sight. The killstreaks are solid and default for everyone, and PC maps like Killzone compensates for the shortcomings of default killstreaks making matches run long. MW2 is similar, but a lot more smooth. Going prone doesn't sound like you dropped a tank on the ground, and aiming down the sights allowed you more freedom to ADS in the dark (while scope was black) and adjust based on a gut feeling. In single player, MW2 only had one or two flaws. Certain areas where one would get stuck if you jumped on top of, but nothing that was glaringly annoying. MW3 is much different. It feels like a cartoon. If you sit and shoot nothing, zero enemies are shot- even when you have two tanks with you and the entire "Metal" squad by your side. Very unlikely. Also: it is *very* important to note the following: comparing the 3 MW games side by side by side...MW3 Veteran difficulty is very easy. I don't understand why. It seems to take merely 2 bullets- shot at anyone, anywhere- to take down an enemy. It also seems as though the missions as the British SAS in the middle of MW3's campaign make the mechanics even more odd. You have much less HP than other parts of the game (of course excluding the beginning of the last mission in juggernaut suits). You die much more easily, have very low powered weapons (a silenced MP5 and an M99/USP? What? Weak.), and have even more incompetent "teammates."

The first MW game was an absolute masterpiece which I will play again, again, and again. I would buy it again each and every time I decide to play it more on both Single and Multiplayer. That is a game to be treasured, and remember. As Infinity Ward split losing Jason West- it seems the quality of games also left. From the trailer I saw of CoD: Advanced Warfare- it seems Sledgehammer Games is the sole developer. Interesting.

As a whole, MW3 is just not worth purchasing. In fact, after making that purchase a few years ago, I wish I could fall in love with this game the way I did with MW and MW2. But, it did not happen, and will not happen. I am a fan of Call of Duty...and even in defending this franchise against Red Orchestra, Killing Floor, Counter Strike and Battlefield...I cannot bring myself to justify purchasing this game. It is quite simply not worth your money. What needs to happen is a return to the original game. When that happens, I will gladly praise it. For now, this will have to be reality.