Summary
- The upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 campaign is set to be ambitious, with new combat and exploration features, as well as open combat missions.
- These open combat missions allow players to tackle objectives at their own pace and use vehicles and killstreaks, which are usually associated with multiplayer.
- However, the presence of killstreaks in the campaign may make it easier and less challenging, which could negatively impact the game's overall fun and difficulty. Measures should be taken to balance the use of killstreaks.
The campaign of the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is clearly set to be an ambitious one. Thanks to the recent Gamescom Showcase event, a wealth of new information is available regarding the release's single-player, and its multiplayer is set for its own standalone presentation at a later date.
The Gamescom Showcase portrayed things such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 campaign mechanics, showing a range of new combat and exploration features, as well as entirely new mission types. Open Combat missions were one of the most interesting announcements from the presentation, but the presence of usable killstreaks within these missions may pose a serious problem despite their value in shaking up the Call of Duty formula.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3: Open Combat Campaign Killstreaks
The Open Combat missions of Modern Warfare 2 are exactly what they sound like, being dedicated single-player missions that take place in a large open area. These missions are a huge departure from the usual linear set-pieces of CoD campaign missions, allowing the player to dictate how they tackle objectives and at what pace.
These missions also differ from the franchise's norm in that vehicles can be freely used within them, as well as a range of killstreaks. As veteran fans will know, killstreaks are a core part of the Call of Duty franchise's multiplayer, rewarding players with lethal in-game opportunities after racking up a certain amount of kills. While killstreaks have appeared in CoD campaigns in the past as set-piece gimmicks, Open Combat missions plan to make killstreaks a dedicated and deeply important single-player mechanic.
These killstreaks will not be available in the more traditional linear experiences of Modern Warfare 3's campaign, but their presence in Open Combat segments will be hard to ignore. While campaign killstreaks will serve as an unmissable shake-up of the longstanding Call of Duty formula, they could have some negative consequences for the flow and difficulty of certain missions that could be quite significant.
The Downside of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's Open Combat Killstreaks
With killstreaks being so synonymous with Call of Duty's multiplayer, there are some serious implications about what the presence of them in campaign modes can bring about. For example, kills come in thick and fast in singleplayer at a much greater rate than multiplayer, probably making killstreaks much more plentiful in the campaign missions.
This creates an instant disparity in the function of killstreaks between singleplayer and multiplayer, making things much easier for the player in what should otherwise be challenging and intricate experiences. Killstreaks can very easily be an overpowered mechanic in Open Combat missions, negating the thrill of difficulty behind Call of Duty's harder difficulties like Veteran.
Of course, this can be curtailed by limiting how many killstreaks can be called in per-level or even per-area. As well as this, it would be smart for Modern Warfare 3 to keep the available campaign killstreaks down on the lower end of the killstreak hierarchy, doing away with more powerful CoD multiplayer killstreaks such as the AC-130.
If sensible measures are put in place to curtail the potency of Open Combat killstreaks, then it could be a welcome mechanic for the campaign. However, if left unchecked, then killstreaks in Modern Warfare 3's campaign could shake things up to the detriment of the game's challenge and overall fun.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launches on November 10 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.