5 Things MW3 Did Wrong

Resounding success has become irrevocably native to the Call of Duty series, with it we see each game in the franchise tipped for game of the year, days after their release. This year is just like any other, where the latest game in the series, Modern Warfare 3, has already cemented itself in the record books; as in the first week alone it has reportedly sold over 20 million units already- six and a half million of which were sold on the first day.

[xxxAnubisxxx]

The spawning has never really bothered me... I think they did a really good job with it. If anything, I'd complain about the maps being too circular... I'm always getting shot in the back

[StanLee]

The biggest problem with Modern Warfare 3 is that it feels like a step back from Black Ops. Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer games state that it's a sequel to Modern Warfare 2 but to fans, it's the game that follows Black Ops. Black Ops made improvements to the Call of Duty formula that had made the gameplay better and they've simply been ignored and omitted in Modern Warfare 3. The entire package feels lazy.

[Berserk]

I couldn't agree more about the annoying maps, worst ones in the Cod series. And don't get me started about the Quick scoping. How the hell can a sniper defeat a shotgun 1vs1 when its close combat!!!
Still my King of multiplayer games.

[Vlaitor]

@Berserk
I have to disagree with you, nothing personal but quick-scoping as been defined since the first Call of Duty. It's been here and there since and Black Ops removed it to put a more "easy friendly game" without really taking the problems out of the equations.

Hear me out please.

Call of duty 4 revived the COD2 community with all it's competitive and addictive multiplayer. When WAW came out some people bought it but we mainly stayed on COD4 due to the back to the past effect. People had enough of M1 Garand and Thompson at this point. Cod1 and 2 was milked and the community said no to this comeback. However, Quick Scoping was still there, and people weren't complaining about it.

Then came MW2, then the shit started happening... Single player was top of the notch but multiplayer took people by the hand with ridiculous perks and retarded over powerful Kill Streaks. It did manage to do extremely well with sales because it was an overall Great experience and I played it like hell, with some frustrations... Quick Scoping, still in effect.

After that is BO, another stretch of Treyarch to try to ditch out Activision best seller. What they did was absolutely ruthless. Last Stand up to 30 seconds, OP ballistic knives, Martyr Dom, Explosive Crossbow, OP killing Streak (I am looking at you Chopper Gunner) and removal of Quick Scoping. Sure I forgot some keys here but you got the point. By adding all of those elements player were sent into a really arcadish playstyle. Almost no competitive occurred and the community tried but failed at delivering an overall experience for the Veterans of the gendra. However, for the new commers and the MW2 lovers... It was a blast.

With MW3 we have some great comebacks but also some bad new features. I think it's stretch with the ideas of BO, defined by the features of MW2 with a gameplay of COD4.
-Quick Scoping is back for the skilled players
-Last stand and martyrdom ditched out (except death streak but that's not annoying at all)
-Shotguns have way more reach (thanks god)
-MAPS are a real mess, people shotting in the back of others all the time.
-Server list is back
-No more 10000 challenges complete after 3 kills.

I think we are going in the right direction with this one. Great design and Value for bucks. I hope MW3 will live long enough to stand it's root unlike BO and WAW.

Sorry for my poor English, have a nice one !

[bozebo]

"I'm always getting shot in the back"

This ^ is why I have gone of CoD.

Give me MW1 or CoD 2 maps any day. And no, I don't want to pay for them again... lol

[chriski333]

One huge problem is they didn't take time to make a new game they just recycled mw2 with the same problems

[DBLDeathDealer]

Yup, agreed with the layouts of the maps. I do think the spawn points are part of that problem though. No questions asked.

[arnyftw]

I didn't know of about the knifing in this game. Hmm I preferred Black Ops. No quick scoping, you can only knife at point blank range and stuff like that. The knifing was glitched but atleast it wasn't commando.

[DaveM]

Exactly my point!

[gamingdroid]

I would like to see the videos of these issues.

[Pikajew]

1. Release and overshadowing so much better games.

[DaveM]

I totally agree, they always dominate the 4th quarter, so much so that other games are left to gather the scraps. One of my previous articles talked about this...

[OC_MurphysLaw]

I would argue that this year that is not the case. Skyrim, Uncharted 3, Batman Arkham City, and BF3 all have put up big numbers for their first weeks sales. Zelda I am sure won't be affected...

Smaller games like the Need for Speed game, Assassins Creed R or Saints Row the 3rd will have decent numbers just not great numbers and to be fair their metacritic scores show they don't deserve blockbuster numbers.

[SockMaster]

Poor Netcode and hit-detection, dying when you round well around the wall, it makes me rage so much!

[DaveM]

I was really tempted to put this in instead of head glitches, but I knew I'd get the "your connection is crap" excuses. When really the latency issues on the game are a joke.

[Klaykid123]

Fully agree. PS3 version is awful. Unbearable lag and fps drops (Can't tell which!) and I have FIOS with a 4 bar connection on EVERY game. There is a 4 second lag on every game I play!

[ian72]

I agree with very bad lag in MW3, Its worse than all the other COD's. Blops, MW and MW2 have a lot less lag than MW3. Thats the main thing wrong for me. It is the game not my connection (20mb/s fibre optic), as every other COD is not half as bad as this. Needs patching. (PS3 version)

[bozebo]

I noticed that CoD4 had the best hit detection (didn't play the earlier ones enough online to comment, but they were probably fine too).

Played it a lot on 360 and on PC.

The strange thing is, even with dedis Blops had crap reg on PC whereas there was a visible improvement with the reg between P2P and dedis with CoD4 that I played a lot (about 30 days in-game time :O).

MW2 had "OK" reg on PC, which was P2P. But I would say it was worse than CoD4 was on 360.

It's interesting. These days the 2 games with the best hit detection (on PC anyway) are CS:S since they fixed some issues recently, and CoD4 still. BF3, BC2, Crysis 2, new CoDs etc. have totally dire hit detection.

Halo always had very nice hit detection because it is client side (it would be nearly impossible to land a plasma grenade otherwise lol) which works well for non-twitch shooters. I think BF3's hit detection is client side too on all platforms, but it will ignore your actions if you have died before the server knows about them (even though you did something while still alive on your side) - this is more unfair than the usual server-side hit detection methods that most games use because you die so fast, unlike Halo where it works well.

Anyway... I don't think it's latency that is the problem - but animation and interpolation (and/or extrapolation). There was always a huge latency in the killcam since CoD4. There is no way they can program that out of the game without breaking the laws of physics.

Where players are shown on your screen is not where the network data entering your console says they are, it has to make predictions. Then when you shoot, the server has to make other calculations to assess what you did and what all possible targets did before doing the raytrace that decides the outcome of the individual bullet. And there is also no way to synchronise animation properly, so the hitboxes will always feel wrong. Also, the resolution of network updates is extremely important. For an example, CS:S updates 66 or 100 times every second (they removed support for 100 for some reason recently :S). I will bet that MW3 only updates 10 times a second, which is pathetic for a FPS (but it has to to fit under the XBL bandwidth quota when somebody is hosting the game, otherwise they may not use the XBL service. The only game that goes over the BW quota is Halo when in forge or theatre multiplayer because they are not critical multiplayer gameplay areas). Unfortunately, that is because of MS's specs from original XBL that have not been updated since - even though most people have vastly better internet now that could support better P2P communications.

Also I noticed that the technical quality of the newer maps since MW2 are horrible (they are very badly optimised) and will be adding massive amounts of extra CPU and GPU load. The devs clearly have no idea how to correctly make a multiplayer map. The simple fact that you can collide with individual steps and bounce off them is one example, the correct way to make player collision for stairs is to use a ramp like most (well made) games do. That means there are only 2 polygons (or one quad) to raytrace for physics interaction rather than hundreds, or thousands. I wouldn't be surprised if the general technical map quality is causing unpredictable performance issues (ie, Artists make the maps, not the technically aware developers - they probably work for respawn now).

It takes a huge amount of work to tweak the hit detection so it feels right, and with the guaranteed massive sales either way it makes sense that they wouldn't bother - they just assume that the old code that IW made in 2007 will work well enough with the new game. And if it doesn't; they still get their paycheck.

[nighmare23]

two companies making the same game?????? my question is why?????

[Hufandpuf]

to get rehashes out faster.

[Kahvipannu]

Why make new when 9 milj people will buy it at launch anyway... That is propably the only reason, can't say should consumers or developers to be blamed here..

[gamernova]

Circular maps is my only issue. This is the most fun I ever had in any cod game though. Especially kill confirmed :)

[flyinrhyno]

Kill confirmed rocks its all i play and i have like 30hrs in already :)

[gamernova]

Totally dude! Soooo fun!!! The haters do not know what they're missing out on. :)

[DEADEND]

My biggest problem with this game right now is the shotguns are to dumb down, I understand it was a problem in the last game because people would use it as a secondary and they were too powerful as a secondary. But now that they are primary only they dumb them down too much, what they should have done is keep them the same power as last time and just made them as a primary and no more dual 1887s that's all.

[Hueynewton2012]

COD dumbed down???? really.......... lol.

I'm still on the fence regarding the purchase of this game. Can someone tell me how close is MW3 to MW2? this is the first year i didn't get COD the day it was released. Also what people need to realize is that COD is arcade, dumbed down FPS. Its targeted to those who want instant action and gratification and cheap slightly generic gameplay. For example, the lack of recoil, quick scoping, excessive camping, boosting, hacking etc. People are having a field day with game in every way and thats why i believe its so popular. I think i just talked myself out buying this game lol.

[PhantomT1412]

The campaign and coop modes are really cool but if you're getting it only for the mp, it's not worth it. This side of the game is just MW2 with some tweaks.

[DEADEND]

The SP and Spec Ops is awesome but the MP need some tweaking, like I said the shotguns are dumb down too much. But overall this is the best FPS I've played since Killzone 2.

[Klaykid123]

If for xbox, maybe worth it. MP sucks IMO. PS3 version is downright awful. They said there is no difference, when there is a HUGE diff.

[vickers500]

"this is the first year i didn't get COD the day it was released."

Same here. I was tempted to, but since there are FAR more better choices in gaming this time around, it made my decision not to buy it much easier.

I still may buy it for 30 bucks though if Amazon adds Saint's Row The Third to their "buy one get 50% off" deal, hopefully tomorrow.

"Also what people need to realize is that COD is arcade, dumbed down FPS. Its targeted to those who want instant action and gratification and cheap slightly generic gameplay. For example, the lack of recoil"

I hate to sound like a cod fanboy (believe me, I'm not), but that's why it's fun. Of the countless problems that cod has, the "instant gratification/easy fps" isn't one of them.

[bozebo]

I didn't buy Blops or this.

I played Blops on a Steam free weekend and did everything I would have been bothered with in all that time. If I had bought it, I would have only played it that much anyway.

CoD is always fun for a while, but then you realise you could just be playing the previous CoD game that you already own :/ So it tends to be money wasted (they should have fixed MW2 like any self-respecting develper would).

You will probably find it 2nd hand in like every shop in a few days :P (does it have an online pass? I have been sticking to PC for multiplayer recently apart from Reach so I am unaware of exactly what that implies lol).

[brown009]

This game is just like MW2 with less bull crap in it. Love this game but knifing should take two swipes, or make it something you should pull out as equipment instead of bringing it out of no where. Guarantee you that I will play many days of this game. Very in depth game with the leveling up system and the gun level. MW3 all the way.

[torchic]

knifing should not take two swipes. in Crysis 2 you have to hit the dude twice to kill him and, in that moment in time, the game turns into Tekken. it corrupts the flow of the game a lot. even in Battlefield 3. that knifing animation is too long. might as well pop some popcorn and watch while you take an enemies dog tag. Black Ops and CoD4 had superb knifing.

[Klaykid123]

1 hit kill knifing in general is Bullcrap. I turn and shoot a guy with half a clip and he panic knifes me in my arm with a single swipe and I drop dead? No.

[CrimsonEngage]

I can name a lot more wrong...

[flyinrhyno]

please do, ill wait.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

I honestly am not too bothered about most of the complaints. quick scoping, knifing...even teh head bob... its all things that ANYONE can do in game...and so really its not giving an advantage to one player over another due to them doing something "special" to get it, etc...

The hacking though...that I do hope IW is quick to address.

[iMpuTeD]

the spawn system and qs are my only problems. the knifing isnt even bad at all u can see they drastically made it worse ive had countless people try to commando knife only for them to look retarded and get killed. anyone that thinks with a knife first should get killed 10 out of 10 times. oh and for what its worth report any hacked gamer tags will ya thats what im doin at the very least.

[johnnn3433]

I actually really like this game.

[Rezka]

me too but deaths are way too fast

[flyinrhyno]

i like the facts that deaths are quicker, on hardcore in blackops it frustrated me that it took 3 ak74u bullets to kill

[vickers500]

@flyinrhyno

What?!?!? A whole 3 bullets?!?!? This is an outrage!

I mean, how in the hell do the developers expect us to kill anyone at all? Do they really expect us to go through the agonizing process of improving our skills slightly?

Well now, it appears Treyarch has simply lost touch with the gaming community. I mean I've heard of bullet sponge mechanics, but 3 bullets? That's just way too much.

[torchic]

just happy that Treyarch and Black Ops are both finally getting the props that they deserve after people seeing what this new IW are capable of.

[ZeroOnyx]

i happen to like a km of the changes in multiplayer such as weapons ability to level up. Whoever thinks you can't quick scope in black ops is not a sniper and i reckon has not played much of it's mp bc it's easy to do on black ops. Anyone who has truly enjoyed call of duty in the past will enjoy this iteration as well. The rest are haters spreading their disease over the net like a plague.

[ZeroOnyx]

Km was meant to say lot

[GraveLord]

What they did wrong?
-Flag Carrier is always visible no matter what. There's also a delay in the map for the flag carrier. WHY?
-End of match replays somehow end up putting everyone at 1 bar temporarily. Gets fixed when next round starts though. Is this some problem with theater mode?
-COD Elite is still effed up.

This is all I can think of at the moment.

[dcortz2027]

Fix the f*cking host turns off console = automatic loss even though your team was winning b*llshit! The maps are some of the worst maps in the history of COD online multiplayer maps. Stop throwing me in games that are already in progress and putting me on the team that's getting owned with no hope of coming back.

[flyinrhyno]

have you noticed the details in the maps? sparks flying from the ceiling, tires rolling downhill. maps that have very little camping opportunities, i think they did a fabulous job

[Games4M - Rob]

Thats the polish on the turd.

[llMurcielagoll]

I'll add one more to that list: Sticking to the same damn engine for over 3 years!

[JeffGUNZ]

why would they need a new engine? The game is perfect in mechanics and controls. Seriously, if a new engine provided prettier graphics, would it really make it amazing to the people who don't like it? The fun factor is why this game sells, simple as that.

[Nunchez]

Only 5?

[Snowii]

5?

i can name over 9000!

[Furesis]

i agree with everything he sai and i'll add these
small maps
shotguns sucks(except striker and maybe models)
quick scoping is too fast(if only faster aiming down sights didn't work on snipers)
lag
you die too fast
type 95
assassin has too many good things on it
when you put someone into final stand and somebody else kills him you dont get the kill
FMG9 akimbo
these all i have a broblem whit

[TopDudeMan]

Yeah, the knifing is horrible and inconsistent

[anniemaephorn]

I wish I can love and enjoy MW3 without having all these problems. A dream COD Multiplayer would be one without any gimmicks and noticeable flaws. I love how the weapons and perks work now. I love the maps but they feel too cramped for a 16 player game and I would spawn next to the guy who killed me, 2 times in a row. I never mind quick scoping in modern warfare 2, but yes, it has totally gotten very easy and annoying even with aim assist taken off. Hopefully IW or Sledge can find this article and make the fixes.

[WetN00dle69]

Exactly!
One of the biggest problems is this . The map are too dang small and are cluttered with crap.

[WetN00dle69]

Shouldn't it be 50 things MW3 did wrong?
Truth be told the Multiplayer in this is god awful!

[Majin-vegeta]

Mehhh you get what you pay for*Goes back to cod4*.

[SuperbVillain]

main thing COD did wrong for mewas make it even more noob friendly.Hit boxes are horrible and laggy and I feel sledgehammer did this on purpose to help up the less skilled.To me COD has become a game noobs pick up if they want to begin learning how to play first person shooters

[Kahvipannu]

I have 99 problems but the sales aint one.. hehe^^

Reading thru the comments, I would say circular maps are most discussed now, atleast at here.

[retrofly]

Maps, they are god awful.