How do you follow the basic rules of engagement against an enemy that doesn’t care about any form of decency? Every war these days, the story seems to argue, is asymmetrical. The game leans heavily into the idea of trying to portray the inhumanity of proxy wars, and how impossible decisions are forced upon soldiers.
#Call of duty modern warfare 3 reviews series#
The series has always struggled with the tension between portraying how warfare can turn anyone into a monster, while also presenting human monstrosities with the verve and style that makes you feel like struggling with your conscious after killing a bunch of people is really fucking wicked, man, and the new engine’s ability to make everything look, sound, and feel even more “real” only highlights that tension.
#Call of duty modern warfare 3 reviews pro#
Modern Warfare was built on a new engine, and playing it on a PlayStation 4 Pro connected to a 4K television - which how I reviewed this game, although I’d love to see how it looks on a high-end gaming PC - is a stunning way to spend an evening. Modern warfare is complicated, and the challenge isn’t making sure your bullets find the enemy the difficulty comes from trying to figure out who the enemy even is. The most stressful moments of Modern Warfare take place before the bullets start flying, when you’re trying to track your target in environments filled with civilians, not knowing when it’s safe, or necessary, to begin firing. A terrorist hiding under the bed, gun trained on the door, may be able to take you down before you have a chance to react. Your enemies know that they’re going to lose the battle as you clear out a house, room by room, after the lights have been killed and you have every advantage.īut you still have to decide, in a split second, if that woman is diving for a child or a detonator. Your side has night-vision goggles, an array of suppressed weapons aimed with infrared laser sights that are invisible to the enemy, air support, and rock-solid discipline. Or at least that’s the central message of the campaign of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Which is why their enemies abroad spend so much time making sure the playing field is not even. The military forces of first-world nations, with their technological superiority and years of relentless training, are unstoppable on an even playing field.