Currently I have put in about 12 hours played time on MW3 (for those counting, that’s 12 hours in-game time, not the loading screen and not the lobby). I am currently level 56 (finally I got the claymore) so I feel I have a pretty good handle on what is working for me and what isn’t. So, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite and least favorite features so far. A side note, MW3 has some very interesting political and racial issues, more so than the previous COD editions. But, that will be for another time.
Hits:
1. Expanded kill streak options:
I have never been very good at getting kill streaks in my favorite game, Domination. Rather than standing back from a position and sniping off people who come into my sights, I run full boar into the middle of the action with a grenade in my hand. I usually capture more positions than anyone, and I almost always have twice the defends. However, this style of play usually resulted in my death, and thus I rarely got to use any of the cool killstreaks to help out my team. With the new MW3, you have the option of choosing from 3 different types of kill streak rewards (now called strike packages, which has a nice ring to it):
Assault: your rewards are based on kills and reset upon death
Support: based on things done (captures, destroyed equipment, and kills) and is not reset upon death
Specialist: You can choose 3 extra perks for your class, but these also reset upon death.
2. Deathstreaks:
This is a great perk to help even the field between advanced players (read: South Park-style addicts) and the middle of the pack. Deathstreaks is about what it sounds like. It gives you perks based on how many times you’ve died without killing anyone. So far the perks I have unlocked are a bit lame, but I can see them being more useful as I get used to the new maps.
3. Kill Confirmed:
Why do I like kill confirmed so much? Because it eliminated snipers. For the uninitiated, Kill Confirmed is a game that is similar to Team Deathmatch, but with one—awesome—twist. You have to pick up dog tags from the body after you kill someone for your kill to count. If an enemy player gets to the body first, then your kill is denied. This promotes the kind of hand to hand combat that was so fun in boards like Nuketown. So far, this is my favorite new thing in MW3.
Misses:
1. Lack of game relevant statistics:
In the post-game lobby, COD shows you fewer relevant statistics that I would like. In the Kill Confirmed game, they don’t tell you how many dog tags you captured or how many kills you denied. In the Domination game, they don’t tell you how many positions you captured (WHICH IS CRITICAL TO HOW WELL YOU DID IN THE GAME!).
2. Too many perks/killstreaks may be a bad thing:
With all the new ways of getting killstreak and deathstreak rewards, it gets a bit overwhelming. Remember in BOPS when you were playing, say, Domination on Nuketown, and someone had a huey and dogs? And you just wanted to rage quit, because, honestly, you can’t even do anything at that point? That’s similar to the feeling I get when there is helicopter after helicopter, juggernaut after juggernaut, and fancy UAV after fancy UAV.
3. Voting Options:
This is a minor one, but I wish they had kept the voting options from BOPS. Instead, they reverted to MW2 where you only had the choice between 2 maps. In BOPS, you could play the previous map, the next map, or a random map. This meant that you had to spend less time on the maps that everyone hated (usually the giant sniping boards like Array), and you could always play your favorites (Nuketown, Firing Range, and Summit… with the occasional Launch). I want this feature back!!
Overall, I am loving the game. It is a nice mix of old features and new ones. I am certain I will put WAY, WAY too many hours into this. Happy playing!
