Debate of the Day: Are You Buying Modern Warfare 3?

This is a question I wouldn’t normally ask about a title, one as simple as “are you buying it,” but there’s another layer that comes with the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The hype is enormous. Activision is touting it as the most anticipated game IN HISTORY, and analysts are projecting it will be the fastest selling game of all time, unseating the past COD installment, Black Ops, for the record.

But I have my doubts. Why? Well it has a lot to do with this fall, and the fact that there are SO many quality titles out or coming out, that I wonder if everyone has left room in their gaming budget for MW3, a game that many view as relatively the same as the last few installments, albeit with some tweaks and upgrades thrown in.

Have we even invented these helmets yet?

Looking at the last few weeks and this one specifically, you have to wonder how many Battlefield 3 converts were made in the last week, especially ones who would actually NOT buy MW3 as they’re that satisfied with their newly discovered franchise. Furthermore, with the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim this Friday, might some be holding off on COD so they can maximize time with a sequel that many would argue is even MORE anticipated to fans of that respective series?

As for me? I’m buying them all. Battlefield, Modern Warfare, Skyrim. I’ll pick them all up on day one. Part of it is my job, part is that despite the relative sameness of the last few COD games, they have been fundamentally good games, and I have enjoyed playing them. I’m wondering if any of you out there feel differently, and if you AREN’T picking up MW3, I’m just curious as to why. Call it a market research study.

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53 Comments

  1. Nope. I already have Battlefield 3. Where I am I going to find time to play another Call of Duty game between that, Skyrim, Uncharted 3, Arkham City, and Assassin’s Creed Revelations?

    At least one game had to be sacrificed, so I chose the weakest of them.

  2. Nope. I loved the first 2 MWs, but Black Ops left a bad taste in my mouth. All the bugs and the stupid getting killed with a knife from 30ft away made me so mad I traded it in after having it a week. And I absolutly hated the upgrade system. You could get all the upgrades for any weapon immediatly if you had the money. There was no incentive to use specific guns to unlock the cool stuff for them. Plus BF3 is amazing. I got hooked on the BF games when I got BF 2142 for the PC. That game was amazing. And I really think the whole aspect of having vehicles in the game adds that dimension that sets it above. I’ll probably play it at my friends house and I’m sure it’ll be pretty fun. I just can’t justify buying it until I know they fixed the dumb parts that were in Black Ops.

  3. Skyrim all the way! Then uncharted, I’m just might borrow MW3 if it is all it’s cracked up to be. Honestly I’m really only interested in the zombie levels. I found them more entertaining than the Black Ops campaign and multiplayer combined.

  4. Battlefield 3 is everything I was hoping it would be, and since the maturity level of players on BF3 is about to skyrocket, I’m sure I will be enjoying it even more. The one word that sums up why I am picking BF3 over MW3 is “Jets.”

  5. SKYRIM!!!!! Won’t have time for anything else, I hear that there will be over 400+ hours just in the game alone not including DLC. I might pick it up later but it wouldn’t be my first choice.

  6. I really want to pick it up, but I have a limited gameing budget as it is and I’m probably gonna lean towards Skyrim. Part of my problem is justifying to cost/time issue in that I have so little time to actually play my games why would I spend so much on them? I think I’ll probably get it in the spring/summer when they start cutting the price because I still love the series (I own all of them) even if MP irritates me sometimes.

  7. I will not be picking it up. I converted to Battlefield Bad Company 2 and totally forgot about the Call of Duty games. Battlefield 3 is alot more enjoyable for me than CoD ever was. MW3 is going to be MW2.5. Not buying it again.

  8. I’d gotten Arkham City, Gears 3 and Battlefield 3 already and had planned on getting MW3, Skyrim and Saints Row this month but I wound up having to take my dog to vet last week (nothing serious thankfully but it cost me €40 from an already tight budget approaching Christmas) so I now must set aside MW3 for the time being.

    It’s probably for for the best anyway, I’ve become rather jaded with competitive game modes on Xbox Live these days. Since the advent of Party Chat all I’m met with in every single game is silence and discoordination. Sure I can stick to playing with friends, but most of us are in our thirties now and getting a group of us online, on the same game and at the same time isn’t so easy these days!

    For all the complaints about screeching teenagers (who could be easily muted anyway) the original Gears and Tom Clancy games were some of the most fun times I’ve had on the 360. Almost any random game I joined would be filled with people trying to organize an attack or build a solid defense and just generally having fun, as a team. It’s where I made most of my XBox Live friends in the first place.

    Now every Team game plays like a Free-for-All. I’d hoped Battlefield would draw back players who were interested in team work and communication but alas, the everyman-for-himself-and-hope-it-all-works-out strategy is dominating supremely.

    Anyway, I’ll stick with Skyrim and Saints Row. Maybe I’ll rent Modern Warfare if I get the chance, just to play through the campaign.

  9. MY list of games that I have got/pre-ordered
    BF3
    Arkham Asylum
    MW3
    Skryim
    Saints Row 3
    Assassins Creed Revelations
    Rage

    MW3 is the least important, as it is just multiplayer that I am interested in, likewise for BF

  10. BF3 (come on, vehicles vs. getting teleport-knifed?) until Skryrim comes out.

    Then Old Republic in December.

    No room for the “Madden” of First Person Shooters.

  11. I picked it up at midnight last night. From the little I have seen so far they seem to have fixed quite a few of the problems I had with black ops, of which it had quite a few. No more commando, no danger close, there are still noon tubes but they seem to be weaker this time around. So I am having a really fun time.

  12. Oh yeah, one more distinction that needs to be made is that this is NOT made by the same people that made black ops, this is infinity ward, the guys that made the first two modern warfares, you know the good call of duty games. All this call of duty fatigue and hate seems to be from black ops, but I don’t care what you say call of duty 4 was a god damn masterpiece, mw2 not as great but damn good.

  13. Skyrim will be my purchase of the month, followed by some Batman: Arkham City action should I get bored of Skyrim too quickly.

    COD has gone from a great FPS to pick up and play through (COD and COD2) to a multiplayer spam-fest with a tacked on, terrible single player and all focus on squeezing as much money out of players as often as possible (quarterly $15 DLC, new game every year). Gives you a whole new respect for games like TF2 or Starcraft 2 where the updates and new content are free.

  14. Skyrim. I’ve logged hundreds of hours on both Oblivion and Morrowind individually. I can only imagine Skyrim will be a bigger timesink. Also, I burned myself out on COD and was never that impressed by the Battlefield series.

  15. I won’t buy it on the first day like the last 2, but will wait for “real” reviews (as in from people I know who play the game instead of game sites who gets sucked in on the greatest games just to get people on their side).

    I’ve been a COD fan for a long time now and the one that really ruined it for me was Black-Ops. It just wasn’t the same. The textures were not as great. Maps were too big. Spawn points were wrong and generally the core of the game of what makes the game fun dies within a few weeks.

    The way it works is that Activision owns the COD Modern Warfare title. Modern Warfare 1 & 2 were great games and they were made by Infinity Ward. Those guys left due to some money problems and they handed the project to Treyarch – the company that did COD:World at War. I also played World at War and the textures were very messy, maps too big etc, fun for few days etc.

    Other than that, there is no budget for video games. Just get everything that’s good.

  16. I just tried to pick it up. Its noon of the Tuesday of release. Line at gamestop was still insane considering it is the middle of the day at a standalone store (not the mall).

    They were sold out of PC copies. Just gonna DL off steam I suppose.

    MW series are damn good. I’ll play it just to finish out the single player, let alone the multi. Will probably also give BF a try sometime in the future.

  17. Already pre-purchased Skyrim on Steam. That’ll keep me busy for a very long time. My buddy has Uncharted 3 and Batman so I’ll borrow them from him eventually. I need to finish up the last Assassin’s Creed before getting the new one (very close but haven’t been back to it in a while) so I’ll just wait till it hits the bargain bin. I also just picked up Bioshock 1&2, Dead Space 1&2 and STALKER 1&2 during the Steam Halloween sale and I’m sure to buy something during the Black Friday sale. Combine that with my usual play time for NHL 12 and LotRO and I’ve got a year’s worth of gaming in the pipeline. I had thought about pre-ordering The Old Republic but I’m going to have to hold off for a while.

    Haven’t bought a COD game since the first Modern Warfare. If I want some online shooter action (which is rare) I just have more fun playing TF2 and Day of Defeat anyway.

  18. I must be the only one who is buying new Zelda here. And after that Saint Rows 3.

    I’m in no rush to play Skyrim. Oblivion bored me and Morrowind is superior. Therefore i will wait for full analysis by real players and not paid up critics and fanboys (i’m talking globally here).

    However i will say that Oblivion was later really fun with all the mods fans provided, not to mention all the bugs that they fixed.

    It will probably be same thing with Skyrim. That’s why PC for Skyrim is way to go.

  19. No way, plenty to come out/has come out that’s fresh. another iteration of an FPS that follows the madden video game business model really isn’t something that has interested me.
    BF3 is also definitely more my cup of tea.

  20. Nope. I always loved Battlefield much more than COD. More tactical and less milliseconds-reaction-based gameplay. Battlefield 3 is the freaking king of multiplayer shooters IMHO, can’t imagine what will ever top it, besides the next Battlefield.

    I did play and enjoy Modern Warfare 1+2 but that was only in the time between Battlefield 2 and Bad Company 2 (the first was console exclusive).

  21. I loved all of the cod titles from #2, excluding 3. yes even black ops loved it rocked #1 spots on multiple weekly leaderboards and top 500 on domination all time leaderboard. but im kinda trying to boycott mw3 i think activision has been abusing things like dlc for a long time now. they release a dlc pack and the next day they are advertising the next. and now with this elite package im in disgust. everything in their should just come with a game for $60+. and if people keep giving them money they are going to push the envelope as far as they can. i bought battlefield 3 and am going to hold that for a while so at least activision releases they have some competition. but im sadly unhappy with EA’s activation of online play. basically giving second hand sales a curb stomp. but at least they included a complete game for my $60

  22. H to the -ell no. The CoD series has become the epitome of “dude-bro” games, designed for those people who only have copies of Madden and Halo next to their consoles (see: college fraternities, people who buy A&F or Hollister clothes).

  23. I’ve never really been interested in Modern Warfare and games like it. I used to play medal of honour when I was younger and found some enjoyment in that but the multi-player culture that has evolved from all this doesn’t appeal to me. I prefer story-based games and have enjoyed Arkham City and Uncharted 3 immensely. I can’t wait for Skyrim either, looks amazing.

    I will say this on the B3 vs MW3 debate, if pushed I’d choose battlefield. I played one of the older games on my cousin’s PC and found the experience pretty cool and enjoyable; this sequel also looks amazing in terms of detail and gameplay. Call of duty had its intense story lines but multi-player has never really been my thing (playing Timesplitters 2 with friends seems such a long time ago now).

    I guess screaming teens and arrogant elitists just kill the atmosphere and enjoyment that I seek in a gaming experience.

  24. This time around I have gone the Battlefield route and couldn’t be happier. Firstly the 9 years olds screaming “fuck, fuck, fuck, cunt” and all the other words they shouldn’t even know yet don’t happen, yes they all buy COD (so that should be one great reason not to by COD).

    Also Battlefield plays very very well, the game mechanics work. Yes there is the ,from time to time, server issue. COD will have the same server issues on the first few days (if you think the servers wont get slammed on the week of release your insane).

    All in all you only have to pick one FPS (in the modern warfare style) every year as they are all pretty much the same. Since Battlefield came first and isn’t populated with kids make it mine from here on in. http://dailystooge.com/

    From Ric The Real Stooge
    WELCOME TO THE STOOGE REVOLUTION

  25. @ RWARRRRRR
    The activision dlc model is terrible. But the map packs are essentially optional. EA’s online pass is not optional. You could wait a month and buy mw3 from gamestop for 50 bucks and get the exact same game that others bought today. If you wait for battlefield and buy that for 50 bucks from gamestop you have to pay another 10 dollars to play online. Now to me that is screwing the customer way more than two 15 dollar map packs, because without that online pass you are getting access to less than half the game. For me the multiplayer in an FPS is about 95% of the appeal. So to me EA is giving you MUCH less “game” for your 60 dollars. With mw3 you still get 16 maps, almost all the guns, etc. Now I am rambling but I hope you get what I mean.

    Also one more thing about the bf3 vs mw3 argument, I tried bf3 and I think mw3 has better sound, physics, and overall feel. Bf3 is very pretty and it has vehicles but mw3 kills have much more “heft” if that makes sense.

  26. I feel like an echo here, but for some reason I can’t help but comment as well.
    I loved some of the old Call of Duty games, but after a while it felt like they were releasing them soon and each new game feels like an expansion pack with a story. I got Black Ops on sale, and I’ll probably end up getting this one if it sells for cheap soon, or else I’ll be able to wait. While some may be doing the whole BF3 vs MW3 thing, I’ve liked the battlefield series so far, and got BF3, but I haven’t played it yet since part of me is scared it might be just like Modern Warfare. If anyone’s had a long history of playing both, I’d love to hear your take on BF3.

  27. Personally, I thought that the original Modern Warfare was a great game. Having an excellently paced plot, a quality engine, and all around fun, the game was utterly brilliant. But when Modern Warfare 2 came out, I was playing on the same engine, with more or less of the same weapons, and hitting similar plot points (except they killed practically everybody in Modern Warfare 2), I was disappointed. And again I was disappointed with the release of Black Ops. So in short, I’ve given up on Call of Duty. Until, at least, they start using a new engine, or completely redesign the series from the ground up. Also, my priorities are elsewhere. There are tons of games coming out that I want, and others that have already come out that I still haven’t bought yet – namely Skyrim, Skyward Sword, and Dark Souls. So no, I won’t be purchasing Modern Warfare 3.

  28. Definately not. After being jaded from the glitches in MW2, I didn’t even consider Black Ops and have no need to support the CoD franchise anymore.
    I have Gears 3, Dark Souls, Forza 4, BF3, an dsoon to be AC Revelations and Skyrim all untouched as I work my way through Arkham City. And with The Old Republic coming in Dec. I have too much on my plate to even consider another CoD DLC that I would have to pay full price for and subscribe to.
    And the guy above, Yautja, you couldn’t be any more right about the dude/bro thing. Maybe with them flocking to CoD I could finally go back to enjoying some Reach multiplayer.

  29. Bought MW3 – Amazing! Tons better than Black Ops and MW2. Only ever play the multiplayer, campaign mode just doesn’t do it for me any more. MW3 gameplay is smooth, the guns are enjoyable and a lot of CQB maps. The new game type “Kill Confirmed” is a lot of fun and the Support Point Streak system is great.

    Incidently, the Misses has pre-ordered Assassin’s Creed Revelations, and I’m hoping someone will buy me Uncharted 3 and/or Arkham City for Christmas.

    Also, this is the first COD title I’ve bought on the opening week – I was fed up of always being a Christmas Noob.

  30. @Sam:

    The point of the online pass is to discourage sales of used games, which is extremely bad for the business. Developers and Publishers make no extra money on used game sales. Buying a used game is taking a sale away from them and giving the money to Gamestop instead. If you want to save money on Battlefield 3, wait till Black Friday and go to Walmart. I bet it’ll be $45.

  31. @Guy Incognitus
    Yes, I understand that. But it also keeps me from renting it, just to see if I like it then buying it, which was my plan. I have never played a battlefield game and I hate most FPS’ so I am not willing to plunk down 60 or even 45 bucks on that game. The online pass system also keeps me from taking my copy of the game over to a friends house and playing it with them there, which is something I plan on doing with my copy of MW3. Both the DLC model for mw3 and bf3 online pass are annoying as hell, I was just arguing that I would rather deal with the dlc because that is optional.

  32. @ Guy Incognitus

    That’s a crock o’ shit right there! A used game isn’t a stolen game, it’s already been paid for!

    If I wanna trade in game I paid upwards of €50 for, after clearing it in six hours and discovering little point in replaying it then thank god Gamestop gives me that option, because you can bet your ass the publishers won’t care if their game isn’t worth the asking price.

    And if someone who didn’t want to pay the full €50 for the game but would be willing to give it a try for €25 decides to pick it up, well that’s just fine, and it’s not a crime for Gamestop to capitalize on that opening in the market!

    The publishers already got their money for that disc, just because I’m not the one currently using it doesn’t make it the equivalent of a stolen game.

    How would you like it if you got a great deal on used car, but then Toyota wouldn’t let you drive it on the roads without first paying them an additional fee!

  33. @Murderbot:

    Let’s say two customers are interested in buying BF3. That’s two sales. If the first one trades it in at Gamestop and the second buys it there, that’s one sale. That is a loss of revenue for EA. The online pass recoups the profit part of that revenue. I have no issues with this business model, especially since for a new game, Gamestop will give you less than half its value and sell it for $5 off full price.

    Once Toyota sells the car, they no longer have any costs associated to that vehicle. The roads are maintained by the government and you pay them for use instead. Once EA sells a game, they must maintain the servers that host the online portions of that game at a cost. They are different business models.

  34. @Guy Incognitus
    See but that business model is going to cost them future customers. For example, I didn’t buy COD4 at first because I didn’t like FPS’ but then I heard good things but was still wary so I got it at gamestop used for like 30 bucks just to see what all the fuss was about and now I have bought the last 3 COD games at midnight on the day of release. But considering EA is basically saying “buy this new or else” I probably won’t ever get the game or future BF games. Even though they may very well be better than the latest COD game I am still wary because I still dislike most shooters. There is no way for me to build trust in that series the way I have with call of duty, black ops terribleness be damned.

  35. @ Guy Incognitus

    But the guy who buys the game first, is no longer occupying his space on the servers after he trades it in. He’s just giving his seat over to the next guy. The seat that was already paid for!

    And twisting a customers arm, forcing him to buy a new copy might drum up a few EXTRA sales, but if someone doesn’t want to pay the full price, and doesn’t have the option of getting it used for a cheaper amount, they may decide not to bother with the game at all.

    People who wanna buy new, will buy new, but you can’t claim that the speculative sales of used games customers are an actual loss to the publisher! They weren’t guaranteed that sale to begin with!

    If publishers keep getting their way, eventually customers won’t even be able to claim ownership of their games. Physical copies will be done away with, games will only work when connected to the server and instead of a once off payment they’ll sell everything on a subscription basis and try to convince us that it’s better for US this way.

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