November is fast approaching, which means it is almost time for another installment to Activision's Call of Duty franchise. This year Infinity Ward and Activision are delivering a remake of the third installment of the Modern Warfare story, the epic finale of Task Force 141's Captain Price and Sergeant "Soap" MacTavish.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be giving players a brand-new campaign, a fresh open-world zombie experience, and 16 multiplayer maps on launch, consisting of remastered fan favorites from 2009's Modern Warfare 2 along with an additional 12 new multiplayer maps throughout the year. Players excited to jump into their next mission can access the open beta live this weekend to get a taste of what Activision will be gifting us this holiday season.

How to Access the Open Beta

For PC and Xbox players who have already pre-ordered their copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 the beta will be available to play for a few additional days, launching earlier today Thursday, October 12th at 10am PT / 1pm ET and open until Monday, October 16th at the same local time. Players who have not pre-ordered the game will have their opportunity to join the fray, albeit a few days later, on Saturday, October 14th at 10am PT/ 1pm ET,

Log in to Call of Duty HQ, if the Call of Duty HQ and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is not currently installed, look in the store or under purchased games to find the HQ (labeled simply as Call Of Duty under owned games). Once the Call of Duty HQ is installed, players want to connect to the Activision network, scroll down to the Modern Warfare 3 tab, and launch the beta. For those who have pre-ordered the game, an option to join the open beta may be available in the first tab of the Call of Duty HQ titled What's Hot.

Inside the beta, players will have the ability to customize weapons, operators, finishing moves, and more, and jump into three playlists: Mosh Pit, Cutthroat, and Ground War. Mosh Pit will drop players into 6v6 classic game types like Team Deathmatch and Domination, while Ground War, an upgraded and intensified form of Domination, sees large team, large map battles to capture and control five objectives. Modern Warfare 3's new mode, Cutthroat (taking its name from the billiards game) will pit three teams of three against each other in a fight to the last man standing. Players will not respawn until the next round, and the first team to reach the round score limit will be declared the victor.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's Open Beta launches October 14th, on Xbox and PC, available now with pre-order.