Everything You Need To Know About Modern Warfare 3 (So Far)

For the last few years, there hasn't a surer bet in the gaming industry than the annual Call of Duty incarnation putting up astronomical sales numbers. With the shakeup at Infinity Ward and the looming threat of a serious competitor in Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3 is a critical moment in the series' history. Will it continue to dominate the FPS market, or has the franchise already seen its peak? Read on to learn everything we know about the game so far.

World War 3

From the very first teaser trailers, we knew this direct followup to Modern Warfare 2 would be a globetrotting affair. Thirty-second clips made it clear that populated urban areas in France, Germany, England, and the USA were under attack. As we neared E3, more details began to emerge. Our own Phil Kollar got to check out two missions in late May - "Black Tuesday" and "Mind the Gap." The former involved intense action on New York City's Wall Street, including a firefight in front of the New York Stock Exchange and a helicopter battle.

"Mind the Gap" tasked players with taking out terrorists in London, ending with a fast-paced car chase through the subway system. To open Microsoft's E3 press conference, Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling showcased the "Hunter Killer" mission for the first time. Beginning with an underwater section, he infiltrated a submarine, took out numerous terrorists, planted a bomb, and sped off through New York Harbor on a boat to make his escape.

No significant plot details have been revealed yet, but it's a surefire bet that Modern Warfare 2's Vladimir Makarov is heavily involved.

Multiplayer

While Call of Duty always features a solid campaign filled with memorable setpiece moments, it's the multiplayer that makes fans invest hundreds of hours into the game. We expect Modern Warfare 3 to be no different, although they're saving most details for this weekend's XP event in Los Angeles. Thanks to the newly-released trailer that you can watch above this paragraph, there are a few things we can hypothesize about.

Throughout the clip, the action stops to give is a clear view at various "Strike Packages." It shows off three - Assault, Support, and Specialist. It may not go into details about what these packages are, but the images make it clear that they involve killstreak rewards. We already knew that MW3 would feature a reworked killstreak system, and this may be the first hint as to the renovation. Based on the names alone, it would make sense for the Assault package to be for offensive-minded players, the Support package to be for players that play defensively to help the team, and the Specialist to be those that want more customization options.

There are also two quick shots that show a player collecting dog tags off the body of a downed enemy. One pair of tags is gold, while the other is red. Whether this is a new multiplayer mode or an addition to the standard deathmatch modes is yet to be seen, but we're confident they'll play a significant role in multiplayer thanks to their inclusion in the trailer.

New weapons are also quickly shown, such as the bouncing betty and a piece of equipment that seems to shoot projectiles out of the air. On top of the new features shown in the trailer, we already knew that Modern Warfare 3 was omitting the Commando perk and adding the ability to become a Juggernaut.

Spec Ops

Treyarch's recent Call of Duty games have featured zombie mode instead of Modern Warfare 2's Spec Ops, so it's been a couple of years since we've seen the popular co-op mode. With Modern Warfare 3, it'll be returning bigger than ever. It will still feature the mission-like levels, but now it will also feature a Survival mode for each multiplayer map. Adam got to play it at Gamescom, and it sounds like a meaty addition to Spec Ops. It features its own economy, a wealth of upgrades and weapons, and unrelenting waves of enemies consisting of soldiers, suicide dogs, helicopters, and more. It should lend itself well to intense co-op sessions filled with increasingly intense firefights.

Elite

Many Call of Duty fans balked at Elite when it was first announced, believing it to be the first step towards introducing a monthly payment system for the franchise. As time went on, it became clear that most of the features would be available to both free and pay members. Phil got to check it out prior to E3, and he came away thinking it would be a helpful tool for those that really dive into the game. With its four components (Career, Connect, Compete, and Improve), it should feature tons of information for hardcore players hoping to up their game. Clan support, extensive stats, heat maps, a theater mode, and social networking will all be available when the game launches this November.

The Tech

As always with the Call of Duty series, Modern Warfare 3 will be running at a constant 60 frames per second. The PC version of the game will feature dedicated servers, and this will be the first title in the series to feature colorblind support.  Rumors suggest that some maps and modes will support up to 32 players. The same leaked info that led to that rumor suggested the names of 13 maps: Carbon, Coast, Dome, Exchange, Hardhat, Interchange, Lambeth, Meteora, Mogadishu, Paris, Plaza, Radar, and Seatown.

Troubled Development

The development of Modern Warfare 3 has certainly been a rocky one, dating back to the firing of Jason West and Vince Zampella. We chronicled the early days of the affair here, including the lawsuit between the former Infinity Ward developers and Activision. West and Zampella weren't the only two to leave, as they took numerous key IW staffers to form Respawn and sign with EA. As a result, Modern Warfare 3 will be a joint effort between Sledgehammer Games and the remaining staff of Infinity Ward, with Beachhead Studios heading up the Elite effort. Whether it was Infinity Ward or Treyarch in the past, previous Call of Duty games were always put together by a full, core development studio. With such a disjointed team and troubled development history, it will be interesting to see if Modern Warfare 3 maintains the series' usual level of quality.

The Launch

Special editions have been a part of Call of Duty launches for several installments now, and MW3 will be no different. Recently, a photo leaked to Wired that detailed the components of the game's Hardened Edition. Here's what comes included:

• A year of Elite
• Elite perks: in-game emblem, camouflage, clan XP boost, player card, and more
• Exclusive PlayStation Network theme
• Juggernaut outfit for your Xbox Live avatar
• Fancy steel case
• 100+ pages of sketches and other military source material
• Unique disc art! Not that you'll see it much

No word on price, but previous Hardened Editions have rang up at $80. For those that are hoping to spend a lot of time leveling up, Mountain Dew is offering double XP codes with specially-marked packages starting in October.

We're getting close to Modern Warfare 3's launch, with the game hitting shelves in just over two months. Previous holiday seasons have been Call of Duty's for the taking, but this year isn't quite as certain. Activision will undoubtedly sell several million copies by year's end, but many are predicting the beginning of the end for the popular series. The publisher has worn consumers out on previous mega-hits like Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero in the past, and not even Call of Duty is immune to franchise fatigue. We don't expect a critical or commercial failure this year for the series, but it will undoubtedly be interesting to see how it stacks up to EA's massive Battlefield 3. Thankfully, we won't have to wait long to see how this war of FPS juggernauts pans out.