Summary
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is facing criticism for its short campaign and design choices, such as the open-world Zombies mode.
- Fans are frustrated with Call of Duty HQ, which is a mandatory hub that takes up a large amount of storage and has complicated menus.
- Activision's statements attempting to explain the reasoning behind Call of Duty HQ are not satisfying fans, who are calling for its discontinuation or improvement.
Call of Duty HQ has been causing many headaches for fans who are trying to install and gain access to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. For the first time ever, two Modern Warfare titles are being released back to back, with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 following up 2022's Modern Warfare 2. This third installment of the Modern Warfare reboot trilogy is bringing 16 remade maps from the original MW2 and also lets players carry over weapons and operator skins from last year's title.
So far, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has been getting off to a poor start, despite its more promising multiplayer suite. Its early access campaign period has been met with widespread dissatisfaction from fans and critics alike, as it's been noted as the shortest Call of Duty campaign in the franchise's history. Modern Warfare 3's Zombies mode has seen some criticism as well, with its Warzone- based design not satisfying fans of classic round-based Zombies. All of these frustrations pale in comparison to the strife brought on by Call of Duty HQ, a mandatory hub that replaced Modern Warfare 2's application and allows players to access Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3, and Warzone all from one menu.
IGN pointed to a number of disgruntled fans on Twitter who have been voicing their confusion and frustration surrounding Call of Duty HQ and its exorbitant storage requirements on both consoles and PC. Fans who only want Modern Warfare 3 are being forced to install the 120+GB Call of Duty HQ. Additionally, navigating the menus of the HQ has become a major headache for fans as well, as the large majority of players feel the menus of Modern Warfare 3 are needlessly fragmented and complex. Call of Duty HQ's puzzling 100+GB update which rolled out recently certainly didn't help the sentiment surrounding Modern Warfare 3's launch.
Statements from Activision attempting to explain why Call of Duty HQ is taking up so much space aren't helping either. There are certainly large portions of the Call of Duty community who wish to see Call of Duty HQ discontinued, as there's a possibility that next year's Call of Duty title will also launch as part of CoD HQ and hog up even more storage space. However, there are still many who believe the concept of an all-in-one hub application for all Call of Duty titles is a good idea, but that it's just been executed poorly.
We are continuing to work on fine-tuning Call of Duty HQ to optimize the player experience as we launch Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 later this week. - Activision
As Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launches fully tomorrow, there will surely be many more players who will have to face the trials and tribulations of Call of Duty HQ for the first time. It'll be interesting to see what Activision will do to alleviate these issues for the playerbase, and whether it's even possible to decouple Modern Warfare 3 as a separate entity at this stage. It would be a safe bet that the menu design would be the first alteration made to Call of Duty HQ if Activision plans to make serious changes.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 58 /100 Critics Rec: 14%
- Released
- November 10, 2023
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Sledgehammer Games
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Engine
- iw 9.0
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
WHERE TO PLAY
The war has changed. Call of Duty returns with an all-new campaign, modernized versions of classic Multiplayer maps and an open-world PvE Zombies experience. The campaign, a direct sequel to the record-breaking Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, sees Captain Price and Task Force 141 face off against ultranationalist war criminal Vladimir Makarov as he extends his grasp across the world. In Multiplayer, the 16 maps that launched with Modern Warfare 2 in 2009 return with upgraded graphics, new modes and innovative gameplay features. In Modern Warfare Zombies, team up with other squads for the first time ever as you work together to survive in the largest Zombies map yet
- Platform(s)
- PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
- Genre(s)
- First-Person Shooter
