To defuse confusion, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is the 20th installment in the Call of Duty series. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was released in 2011. I’ve bolded the years in order to dispel any confusion. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is a completely new game, and is a direct sequel to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II from 2022. Call of Duty’s 2023 title is known as “Modern Warfare III” and has a secondary name for marketing reasons only: “Modern Warfare 3.” It was intended for familiarity. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is scheduled to be released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S & X, and PC via Steam & Battle.net on November 10, 2023.

I have reviewed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. I have gotten my hands on impression of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Multiplayer Open Beta. I reviewed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. Today, I’ll talk about my first impressions of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III with my playthrough of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Beta. I’m playing the PlayStation 4 version of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Beta.

Most of the ideas presented in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) are present in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. What’s new? Well, a range of “a lot” and “not a whole lot.” Gunsmith still exists, and for the most part, it’s a modified version of what was introduced in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. One notable improvement to Gunsmith is the introduction of “AfterMarket Parts.”

This time, the Gunsmith menu has 5 slots, I believe. Aftermarket Parts takes up a slot, and is meant to change a platform. So, Renetti is a pistol, a good burst pistol, at that. On its own, the pistol discharges 3 bullet bursts. With Aftermarket Parts, you can change that Renetti into a machine gun. Therefore, if you wanted to improve a few attributes like damage, fire rate, and range – Aftermarket Parts are there to replace the loss of a slot. Learn more about Aftermarket Parts here.

Gameplay

I’ll preface this with a story. Activision released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 [Campaign] Remastered, without multiplayer. Activision has been holding onto that particular codebase, for a rainy day. When it came time to plan for 2023’s Call of Duty title, Activision invoked their “rainy day” card with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. Gameplay-wise, Modern Warfare III plays almost exactly like Modern Warfare II, but plays similar to Modern Warfare 2 (2009).

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’s walking/running speed is faster than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. That was one of the biggest point of contention fans had for Modern Warfare II. Another point of contention was the radar, there’s no red dot when you shoot weapons – so… what’s the point of the mini-map? Sledgehammer Games fixed that in Modern Warfare III. Time to Kill is more or less higher. Your health in the game is 150 hp rather than 100 hp. So, it’s slower, but some weapons take your player character out in varying lengths. Some slower, some faster. It really depends on the weapon. Killstreaks are for the most part similar to past Call of Duty games. The guardian for example is a Black Ops staple killstreak. However, the final game is gonna be in parity with Modern Warfare II because Modern Warfare III features “Carry Forward.”

I like Modern Warfare III better than Modern Warfare II. Imagine that. I’m having fun again!

I had so much fun, I logged in almost every day of the beta. If you log in everyday of the beta, you earn upgraded rewards.

Controls

For the most part. Modern Warfare III controls similarly to Modern Warfare II, but because of the speed difference, the game feels like a nostalgia trip down the memory lane. Sensitivity feels a little smoother in Modern Warfare III. Aiming down the sights feels smoother. Mantling over objects feels intuitive and faster. Sliding feels responsive, and you have a bit of control over the length – within’ reason. Reloading feels better in Modern Warfare III.

Graphics

I take back what I said about Modern Warfare II’s graphics last year. Modern Warfare III is showing the consoles’ age. It is completely obvious now than in Modern Warfare II. The texture streaming was so obvious, that it is time to upgrade to a new console. Modern Warfare III pushed PlayStation 4 so hard, that the texture streaming does not drop in the textures until maybe 5 minutes into a match of Modern Warfare III. And it’s a beta. If this is what to expect in the final game, then I guess we need to start moving from PlayStation 4/Xbox One. There are some flickering issues, some glitches, lag, frame skipping, hit detection issues, but for the most part, the game feels similar to Modern Warfare II.

Online Connectivity

During the beta, I experienced a few, very few dev errors. But as I explained in the graphics section, there is more problems; texture streaming in general, flickering, glitches, lag, frame skipping, hit detection issues. All of these issues contributes to the overall online connectivity issues. The flickering for example is the game trying to stream the polygon or texture in the game world. Sometimes the game would try to animate characters, items, building(s) or objects and would not even display the object in that moment. Happened a few times. This would be lag playing a part. Frame skipping is a big problem in the game. Sometimes you’d see frame skipping. This is lag, for sure, but frame skipping moves your worldview a few seconds forward or just immediately moving you to another spot.

Hit detection is also a big problem. You aim, and shoot, the recoil can make bullets be missed. Thanks a lot, Skill Based Matchmaking (SBMM).

Music & Sound

For the most part, the sound in Modern Warfare III is similar to Modern Warfare II, but it sounds punchier than Modern Warfare II. The footsteps aren’t perfect, but it’s better than Modern Warfare II. Music is better in Modern Warfare III, we are now getting more epic music running in the background.

Misc Feedback

The user interface is still bad in Modern Warfare III. No real improvement over Modern Warfare II in that regard. However, there are some improvement in the User Interface for the lobby screen, it now displays your username listing like the classic games. You can now highlight users, and mute them from the lobby like the classic games, I don’t know why this was changed in Modern Warfare II… I don’t know why. Sigh.

My biggest gripe, and it is a insignificant nitpick – but most Call of Duty games (apps) are becoming “Call of Duty.” No subtitle. This is going to cause confusion in the future. Oh my goodness. During the beta, the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II disc/download became “Call of Duty.” Like, are you trying to confuse people? Are you trying to piss people off?

Replay Value

I am having fun with Modern Warfare III. It reminds me of the old Call of Duty games, that fast-paced, arcade gameplay that original Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is known for. It encouraged me to replay Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. I haven’t felt that in many years. There is a good game underneath Modern Warfare III, but as usual, Skill Based Matchmaking (SBMM) ruins the fun. SBMM got worse on the second week of the beta. And it’s just gonna get worse.

Modern Warfare III is actually a fun game if you just remove the SBMM. And SBMM is getting stronger with each release of a new Call of Duty title. Quit it.

In Conclusion

If you played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) then you’ll know what to expect from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023). The controls are tight, but it has hit detection issues that crop up. Modern Warfare III’s graphics are a slight upgrade from Modern Warfare II (2022), but it has streaming issues which shows the devices’ age, because of the “streaming textures” technology available on Next Generation consoles/devices. There are glitches that are glaring in Modern Warfare III. There are some glaring online connectivity issues in Modern Warfare III. The User Interface (UI) is offputting for players, but there are some nice UI features. Modern Warfare III has a great game hidden under all the issues presented.