Summary
The annualCall of Dutycycle remains controversial, and unfortunately, it doesn’t seem likeCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3will change that. For a good few months at the start of the year, it was heavily rumored that there would be no fullCall of Dutyrelease this year, and for many fans, that was actually a little bit exciting. The notion that Activision was taking a year off to really refocus and get the nextCall of Dutyentry right was definitely an enticing one, but inevitably,Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3was eventually announced, and it’s been a bit of a rocky road ever since.
Upon its initial announcement, many fans viewedCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3as little more than a glorified DLC, with no original 6v6 maps of its own, and a heavy reliance on bringing over content from past games. While this is still definitely on the minds of many fans, the recentModern Warfare 3Beta did seem to convince some folks that the game does hold some value. ButCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3very much still needs to prove itself, and a great way to do that is by breaking a recent, disappointing trend for the franchise.
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Call of Duty Needs to Stop Abandoning New Features After One Entry
TheCall of Dutyfranchisehas been around for two whole decades now, and for the last one and a bit, it’s been constantly derided for retaining the same general formula for the vast majority of its modes. To be fair, theCall of Dutycrowd is an infamously difficult one to please. WhenCall of Dutydevs shake things up a bit too much and introduce new mechanics many openly mock it for trying something new and wants a “return to form.” But whenCall of Dutykeeps the same formula, fans complain that they’re just buying the same game again and again every year. It’s a difficult balance to strike, and mostCall of Dutygames of the last decade haven’t quite succeeded in hitting it.
This constant desire to please everyone has led to one of the saddest trends inCall of Dutyhistory. Over the last ten years or so, whenever a new feature is added toCall of Dutyand it isn’t an instant smash-hit, it’s gone by the time the next annual release rolls around, usually never to be seen again.Call of Duty: Ghosts' Extinction mode,Call of Duty: WW2’s Headquarters and War game mode, andAdvanced Warfare’s speed reload are all just a few of the biggest examples of this disappointing trend.
Interestingly, it’s usuallySledgehammer’sCall of Dutyentriesthat actually try to experiment the most with new features, modes, and mechanics, and as such it’s usually the studio that sees the most axed features in subsequent entries. But Sledgehammer is back at the wheel once again withCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and it finally has the opportunity to break this trend, seemingly introducing a potentially game-changing feature that could impactCall of Dutymultiplayer significantly moving forward.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3is introducing a new mechanic called “Tac-Stance.” By holding down the left trigger and pressing a button on the D-pad, players can switch to this Tac-Stance, giving them an aiming option that comes between ADS and hip-fire. In Tac-Stance, players move faster and have increased accuracy, but they can’t aim down the sights fully. Though it might need some tweaking before and after launch,Modern Warfare 3’s Tac-Stancehas the potential to be truly game-changing, and its reception from the Beta has been pretty positive. This might finally be the mechanic that breaksCall of Duty’s recent sad trend, and it’d be fitting if Sledgehammer is the one to do it.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3launches on November 10 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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