What to Expect from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III

The spiritual successor to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III arrives on consoles and PC on November 10, 2023.

Activision and Sledgehammer Games have been rebooting the Modern Warfare series and this is the third entry.

Modern Warfare III (2023) promises to adhere to fans’ appeals, with many of the anticipated tweaks and features to gameplay present on this occasion.

From its multiplayer modes and the campaign, fans expect the developer to deliver on the back of the criticisms of Call of Duty: Vanguard, Modern Warfare II (2022), and predecessor titles.

While there is much more to be revealed, fans believe that what has been revealed so far is suggestive of a first-person shooter that will please players across the board.

We look at the features coming to Modern Warfare III (2023).

The Campaign Reveal

Activision and Sledgehammer Games have promised an “epic campaign narrative” in which “Captain Price and Task Force 141 must adapt or die in a fight against the ultimate threat”.

Makarov “extends his grasp across the world causing Task Force 141 to fight like never before in this dark and gritty campaign experience”.

But the gameplay and “official Makarov reveal” trailers uncover three distinctly recognisable moments from Modern Warfare‘s past – a plane crash, the gulag you break Price out of in Modern Warfare II and a glimpse at an incident at Verdansk Stadium.

The “No Russian” text message is a nice callback to the original trilogy but this may be the closest that the new game will come to reliving the controversial mission.

On a more crucial narrative level, the twist at the end of ‘No Russian’ is too well-known to justify a similar event playing out.

Simply reliving the events as they originally were would feel like fan service.

That said, there are a few things that aren’t shown in the trailers, or the screenshots, that make you wonder how much further the upcoming game will differ from the source material.

There’s no sign of India. We don’t see any major cities under attack – we get a brief flash of the London skyline, but that was already besieged by terrorists at the very start of Modern Warfare (2019).

The Eiffel Tower and Berlin are not teased, which makes you wonder how and where a World War 3 could play out on the global stage in Modern Warfare III (2023).

Open Combat Missions

In addition to the signature campaign mode, Modern Warfare III (2023) introduces Open Combat Missions, “a new innovation that empowers player decisions like never before”.

With this mode, players can pick their own approach, allowing for both stealthy and run-and-gun approaches.

Campaign creative director David Swenson explained:

“It’s an evolution in Call of Duty campaigns and an evolution of how players experience it.”

“These aren’t side missions, they are campaign missions woven seamlessly into the story, and they offer you more choices than you’ve ever had before.

“If you want to sneak through the entire level, you can.

“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.”

Modern Warfare II (2009) Maps

When Modern Warfare II was released in 2022, fans were urging the developers to reintroduce the classic maps from the original Modern Warfare II, given the high level of popularity.

Fortunately, 2023’s Modern Warfare III will feature all 16 classic maps.

The likes of Highrise, Rust, Skidrow and much more will return, remastered to fit a modern experience.

Given the complaints that stemmed from Modern Warfare II‘s (2022) maps often with how big they were for 6v6 lobbies, some of these maps such as Rust will help players have the fast-paced shooter experience, as opposed to maps that can promote players to remain stationary.

Longer Time to Kill

Since the release of Call of Duty: Vanguard leading into Modern Warfare II (2022), players have consistently voiced complaints over the fast time-to-kill in each release.

The fast time-to-kill in Modern Warfare II (2022) has its own benefits but for the most part, it spoils the experience for most players.

With the time-to-kill believed to be much longer than before, including the base level of health now increased to 150, Modern Warfare III (2023) now looks to be addressing one of the main issues.

For players wanting to have a challenging experience with a fast time-to-kill, Hardcore Mode is now the best choice.

Map Voting

One of the main elements in the Call of Duty franchise is the possibility of players in each lobby to vote for which map they wanted to play in.

This was not present in either Vanguard or Modern Warfare II (2022).

This often resulted in players joining new lobbies only to be met with the same map they did not want to play in.

The return of map voting in Modern Warfare III (2023) is a welcome one and will help in the aspect of positive feedback.

Although this does not change the game’s gameplay fundamentals, it stands as an extra layer of player freedom that gamers have been calling for.

Reload & Slide Cancel

Even though players found ways to use these mechanics through particular manoeuvres in Modern Warfare II (2022), anticipation toward its official addition has been widespread.

The ability to cancel certain animations and actions is incredibly important in the heat of gun battles.

And ensuring that both reload and slide cancelling are present in Modern Warfare III (2023) will help players in a variety of encounters.

The time between sliding and aiming down sights can be the difference between survival and execution.

Giving players an advantage in this area, as well as the presence of weapon attachments, will be a major change.

As this can always be tweaked and adjusted through each season by the developers, they must avoid making these features less effective, which may also depend on weapon balancing and how effective certain weapon attachments are.

Zombies

After long-standing rumours, ‘Zombies Mode’ will finally be making its first appearance in the Modern Warfare series.

Players will be taking part in a big open-world map with hordes of zombies that will increase in strength within each region.

Slightly similar to the previous ‘DMZ Mode’, ‘Zombies Mode’ in Modern Warfare III (2023) appears to be taking a unique approach as opposed to the usual round-based modes.

While some fans may not be in favour of this, there is no doubt that the developers will look to implement new and classic modes for fans to enjoy.

They will also ensure that the familiar ‘Zombies’ experience is still present and at the forefront of each mode.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023) appears to have listened to the fans and has rectified the factors that came under criticism.

Although only a glimpse of the first-person shooter has been unveiled, the game appears to be a promising one ahead of its release on November 10, 2023.