While the multiplayer, zombies, and Warzone portions of Modern Warfare 3 were generally well-received, the campaign was not. The game’s Metacritic score (mostly focused on the single-player) came in at a franchise low for a mainline entry at 56. Most of the criticism was aimed at Modern Warfare 3’s campaign and its uninspired open-ended missions.
A new report says the franchise’s shift to this more open-ended format will continue with this year’s upcoming Call of Duty.
From Insider Gaming (emphasis mine):
“It won’t be the first time that the series has seen an open-world eqsue campaign though, as the first glimpse of what such a campaign could look like was first explored with Modern Warfare 3 and its ‘Open World Missions’. However, sources explained that unlike Modern Warfare 3, Gulf War’s campaign has been built from the ground up, rather than using assets from previous entries.”
A Bloomberg report from last November citing sources of the development team said the game was developed in less than half the time of previous Call of Duty games.
While the open-world missions of Modern Warfare 3 felt more like doing contracts in Warzone, I’m curious to see what the developers can come up with given the time and resources to do it right. That’s assuming development is going smoothly. Call of Duty 2025 is also said to be exploring the more open-ended mission structure introduced in Modern Warfare 3.
The Insider Gaming report also mentions how the development duties are split up with this year’s Call of Duty. Raven Software is handling the campaign while Treyarch works on multiplayer and zombies.
I’m fine with the franchise trying something new with the open-world mission structure, but it needs to find a way to do it while also retaining the set-piece moments Call of Duty campaigns are known for. If Call of Duty 2024 comes out and its campaign is another dud, the developers need to go back to linear campaigns.
We’re still early in the life cycle for Modern Warfare 3, so I wouldn’t expect to hear too much in the way of official news for Call of Duty 2024 until Summer at the earliest. We used to see reveals in the May/June timeframe, but we have seen that stretch towards August with Modern Warfare 3. But now that Microsoft owns Activision Blizzard, they should play a big role in the usual June show Xbox hosts.