Modern Warfare 3 got off to a very rocky start since early access to the game began on November 2, 2023. The fans haven’t been satisfied at all with the campaign so far. So far, if fan reviews are to be believed, the game feels more like an expansion than a sequel to the previous one.
When having purchased a game that fans don’t particularly enjoy, the ability to write reviews helps fans voice their outlook and opinions. It also helps potential buyers determine if buying the game is the right decision.
However, sometimes accidents take place due to frustration and confusion. In a hilarious incident, buyers accidentally review-bombed the wrong Modern Warfare 3.
How Fans Accidentally Review Bombed the Original Modern Warfare 3 Released in 2011
To kick off with the details, some background is to be established first. The Call of Duty series had three games in the original Modern Warfare trilogy. The first one is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, released in 2007. and the successive ones being Modern Warfare 2 and 3, released in 2009 and 2011, respectively.
In 2018, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 was released. After that, the Modern Warfare sub-series was rebooted with the launch of Modern Warfare (2019). Although two games, Black Ops: Cold War and Vanguard, were released after it, the Modern Warfare subseries reboot continued with Modern Warfare 2 (2022) and Modern Warfare 3 (2023).
Review Bombing is a gaming term used to refer to a situation in which fans collectively leave bad reviews because of their dissatisfaction or due to some other ulterior motive. This is precisely what was intended by buyers of Modern Warfare 3 (2023).
Now, Modern Warfare 3 officially releases with all its bells and whistles on November 10. However, the campaign is still accessible (ideally) to people who pre-ordered the digital release. Since the game’s actual release date isn’t here yet, it is still in campaign early access. The user review page for the game does not exist.
That led to fans stumbling upon the Metacritic page for the 2011 Modern Warfare 3 game and leaving ballistic reviews for the original instead. One look at the Metacritic page of the original MW3 is enough to understand what happened. The user score for the game has plummeted to 3.5.
The Implications of the Event for Modern Warfare 3 and Activision
Although this was purely accidental, when the user review page for the latest Modern Warfare 3 does become available, it could see a similar, if not worse, fate. This is even more alarming since the series’ first appearance after Activision’s acquisition by Microsoft.
The Call of Duty franchise nowadays relies on its multiplayer modes and Warzone to generate player counts and revenue. But this doesn’t justify the lack of effort put into the franchise’s latest game’s campaign. The narrative had been building up since the sub-series rebooted. And it needed a reasonable conclusion. It is unfortunate that the campaign is unsatisfying and incredibly short.
Moreover, it is the shortest campaign in the history of the franchise. Averaging just over 3.5 hours of content, including cutscenes. Apart from the quality of the campaign, gamers have also experienced many issues with the game. Some of which have been fixed. The others still await a response from Activision. Numerous issues experienced by players, including the lack of a Platinum Trophy on the PlayStation 5, the disc-required error, et cetera, have been reported.
The game’s price tag so far doesn’t justify the quality of the content as well as the state of the game. Paying the total price for a game that comes off as nothing more than a mere expansion of the previous one is frustrating. That is precisely what seems to be the case with the game, as per fans.
The Modern Warfare 3 Campaign is out for early access for people who pre-order. The game will release on November 10 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Microsoft Windows.
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