Early Frustrations:
The glitchy party and matchmaking system on the PSN version of Modern Warfare 3 made up the bulk of that four hour discrepancy between game time and lived time. Quite simply, once my party of six was assembled, it would take anywhere from one to ten minutes to get into a game with another six players (total of twelve). This, on Playstation 3 at least, has been a problem with the last three Call of Duty games during launch week and frustrates me beyond belief. The game developers and publisher, led by Infinity Ward and Activision, know that Call of Duty is one of the best selling game franchises ever. They rarely openly test their products in beta releases and while the upgrades to the titles are largely superficial (the same basic game engine drives the titles, while it is tweaked slightly for each subsequent title), allowing for opening week matchmaking problems three years in a row is inexcusable. I've switched party hosts; I've switched parties; I've rejoined rooms. The smoothest way to play Modern Warfare 3 at present is to do so alone, which sucks.
To draw an analogy, this current, unpatched, version of Modern Warfare 3 is akin to seeing a blockbuster film during opening week and finding half of the special effects scenes unfinished.
Meanwhile, the paid subscription service, Call of Duty Elite, is offline. Like the game, too many people opted in (What were they expecting?) and now the chumps who dropped $50 for a yearly subscription can't access their benefits...yet. Activision is working on it, but I need that double XP time now! Those of us who want to level up have to do it the old fashioned way. On a related note, those Mountain Dew and Doritos promo codes also do not seem to be working...
Crappy spawns still define the multiplayer play. At this point, it's pretty much like a flaming barrel in Donkey Kong. Everyone is gonna get screwed by spawning in front of a bad guy and hopefully, in the long run, it will balance out (or, ideally, be patched out!). One round, I went from 7 kills and 3 deaths to 7 kills and 9 deaths in about 3 minutes after being spawn killed repeatedly. The next map? I massacred the entire team on a spawn. It sucks but at least it affects everyone! Of course, you can always embrace the first CoD game play tip: Just don't die.
A Tentative Concern:
Many of the multiplayer maps are largely horizontal spaces. Essentially, there aren't many vertical hideouts for sniping that I've found (yet) and most props (like dumpsters and trashcans) cannot be climbed up on. This is a bit disappointing so far, but I admit that I haven't exactly been proactive in tracking them down. The sniper roosts could be there, just not as easy to find.
"OK, enough with the bitching. What do you like about the game?":
I'm loving the weapon experience system. Essentially, you unlock further upgrades to your weapon the more you use it. Unlike the other games, which just gave you unlockables with non-specific points (Black Ops) or on a general level basis, this encourages you to find a gun and figure out its pros and cons. It rewards both expertise and exploration.
Pointstreaks are a breath of fresh air. Gone are the days of pure kill streaks. Players now have the option of three pointstreak packages: assault (these are offensive rewards offered for kill streaks), support (these are defensive rewards offered for kills that can be interrupted by player deaths), and specialist (a player unlocks an additional perk for every two kills, not interrupted by death, and receives all the possible perks if they reach eight consecutive kills). This gives players more customization features, allows for a diversity of game play philosophies, and encourages team work.
Additional game modes like "Kill Confirmed" and survival mode are always a welcome addition. Just don't take away my Hardcore Team Deathmatch (although it would be nice if HC War was offered)!
Hybrid scopes are amazing for those players who like to mix and match their long and short distance game.
Verdict:
The old frustrations of spawn kills and opening week matchmaking hell are, disappointingly, still (at least, at this unpatched moment) present. The new pointstreak and weapon proficiency systems balance the game a bit more and provide new challenges. The graphics engine is a little tired and could use a major overhaul but it still looks better than Black Ops (2010). For better and for worse, Modern Warfare 3 is largely the same Call of Duty multiplayer experience.
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