Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

You can take a lot of bullets in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 when you’re wearing the Juggernaut suit. I found firsthand out just how many shots you can absorb before finally dropping. Many times over, as it turns out.

Activision brought a new co-op mission to Gamescom this year, and I strapped into a Juggernaut suit to try and disarm several sets of IEDs on the streets of Berlin as an Activision community guy provided overwatch from a ruined tower nearby.

The problem with being the Juggernaut is the utter lack of mobility. You walk slow. You sprint like an out-of-shape magazine editor. You turn like a hung over camel. If someone gets in your sights, they’re utterly boned as the firepower you bring to bear is overwhelming, but it takes a different mindset to play the Juggernaut after you’ve been sprinting around knifing waves of terrorists while being chased by dogs and helicopters. Bounding from cover to cover is important, but it’s more important to keep moving forward and accept the fact that a few gunshots to the chest won’t drop you as you drive your enemies from their positions.

Communicating with your partner is as critical as it always is in Call of Duty co-op. My Activision buddy was a whirlwind of death from his high perch, falling back to his one-shot-one-kill sniper rifle only when he was waiting for another chance to bring out a missile-firing UAV or other explosive aerial support. Nonetheless, my objective forced me out into the open to disarm improvised explosive devices while waves of enemies spawned down the street and did their best to stop the Juggernaut. It’s a rough life, but an amusing one when you can stand in the open and gun down a half-dozen guys before you take enough damage to be forced to take cover.

It took us three tries to make it through the level (my performance was not aided by the jet lag or by Call of Duty military advisor Col. Hank Kiersey smacking me in the back of the head when I did something stupid), but we eventually triumphed. Not before I ate several hundred terrorist slugs to the chest, back, legs, arms, face, and hands, but Berlin is safe until Activision fires up the next demo. Disarming explosives in Berlin and murdering scores of bad guys is entertaining enough, but the level is a one-trick pony compared to Survival mode's impressive variety. Regardless, I’m glad to see Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games bringing new ideas to Modern Warfare 3’s co-op.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launches on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on November 8.