Preview: The Modern Warfare 3 beta feels best without nostalgia

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 releases as a full-price title on November 10, 2023, continuing the long-running annualized schedule, for better or worse. Sledgehammer Games released the MW3 multiplayer beta for players to preview ahead of the game’s full launch, complete with several game modes and maps to explore.

At its core, the Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer beta feels like this strange mashup of the old and new. On the one hand, so many aspects about this latest title center on the original maps from 2009’s Modern Warfare 2 and the look 2022’s MW2. But on the opposite end, it features its own mix of new features like new movement and weapons. These aspects results in a mixed but somewhat promising new release.

Two slides back

The bulk of the Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer beta is the original maps from MW2. Locations like Estate, Rust, Highrise, and so on are 14-year-old maps returning for this new game. For the most part, these locations feature a slick new set of paint but otherwise have the same layout back in the day.

This results in situations where some maps, such as Highrise and Skidrow, feel pretty good but a bit faster than some players might remember due to the new movement mechanics. These two maps, in particular, felt fun to play for every game mode in the title, including Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, Domination, and Hardpoint.

However, outside of those two, the multiplayer suite became a bit messier. Estate feels a bit too awkward in its larger size and weird elevation levels, while Rust and Favela are far too small to work for most game modes outside of Team Deathmatch. In the full release with classic maps like Terminal and Scrapyard, multiplayer should feel better, but this was an odd selection to show in the beta.

Outside of the multiplayer maps, the shadow of 2022’s MW2 also feels a bit too heavy. It is understandable that high-budget game development and the fairly short turnaround time resulted in this game’s remake-like idea. However, the in-game menus, some of the weapons, UI, and the overall graphical style feel a bit too similar to the previous game, which not everyone loved. It’s almost to the point where some might argue the current beta feels like full-price DLC, which isn’t too outrageous of an argument for now.

One dolphin dive forward

Even with the nostalgia issues, MW3 shines with its fresh ideas. Sledgehammer Games has fantastic weapon and gunplay design, and this game has it in spades. The new weapons like the ACR-like MCW and the Rival-9 SMG feel appropriate for their class, have solid sound effects in combat, and can be tweaked with a healthy but not overwhelming dose of attachments.

In addition, the movement in the Modern Warfare 3 beta feels spectacular. It shifts the style of last year’s game further in the lightning-fast direction, which I honestly adore. You can slide cancel, dolphin dive, and tactical sprint your way across these maps in a short bit of time, which works for a couple of maps. With new additions like the tactical slide, there’s also much more variation in how to approach corners, campers, and tricky situations.

But by far the most tragic part about Modern Warfare 3 is the lack of new content. This is a shame since new features like the Popov Power Ground War map are where I had the most fun. Ground War is back with its Battlefield-like massive 64-player lobbies and five points on large maps to capture. Thankfully, this Ground War map was built from the ground up for this mode and feels great because of it.

It takes a long time to get from one side to the other on the map, even with vehicles like helicopters, and it reminds me of the peak times of multiplayer FPS games like Battlefield 3. I dabbled a bit in these types of large-scale modes in past Call of Duty titles, but this is the closest it has felt to DICE’s magnum opus.

After maxing out my level in the beta, I eventually found myself solely playing Ground War and trying out the many different playstyles it promotes. In one map, I might perch up on a building many meters above the ground and snipe at enemies from afar. Another time I might stick to the middle point right smack dab in the center of the map and defend it for the entire lengthy match.

And yet still in another match, I might ride around with my squad and blast enemies in our tank. I had the most fun in the beta with this mode and I look forward to more Ground War action in the full release. I only hope the other old-school maps showcase what Sledgehammer Games does right with MW3 when the game launches on November 10, 2023. Otherwise, it might be a bit too much of a sugary sweet dose of nostalgia.