Modern Warfare 3 Is the Worst-Rated Game in Call of Duty…

Summary

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is now the worst-rated game in the franchise's history.
The PC version of Modern Warfare 3 has an average score of 45 out of 100 on Metacritic, while its PlayStation and Xbox ports are rated at 53 and 62, respectively.
These ratings are based on over 50 evaluations. It's hence unlikely that MW3 will manage to rise above the second-worst-rated game in the franchise, Ghosts—whose worst versions still scored in the high 60s—as more reviews come in.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is now the worst-rated game in the history of the franchise, based on aggregated review scores from critics. Although Activision recently revealed it has the next four years of Call of Duty figured out, this series low suggests that the Microsoft subsidiary might have to reconsider its near-term plans for the franchise, given its current trajectory.

October 29 marked the 20th anniversary of Call of Duty, which arrived just a few days before the Modern Warfare 3 campaign early access promo kicked off. While the game's multiplayer beta already yielded plenty of player criticism throughout October, the start of its single-player early access period on November 2 is what truly opened the complaint floodgates. Many fans have subsequently taken to social media to bemoan the game's lackluster story campaign, with some going as far as to claim that it took them longer to download Modern Warfare 3 than beat its single-player mode.

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By Dominik Bošnjak

Looking at the game's current ratings, it would appear that critics are largely in agreement with that assessment, as many reviewers panned Modern Warfare 3 for its underwhelming single-player experience. That issue and some other shortcomings such as recycled content all contributed to Modern Warfare 3 becoming the worst-rated game in Call of Duty's history, going by the aggregated review scores compiled by Metacritic. Specifically, the PC version of the game currently has an average score of 45 out of 100, while its PS5 and Xbox Series X/S ports are rated at 53 and 62, respectively.

cod-modern-warfare-3-stealth-outfit — Cod mw3 stealth look

Never before has a mainline Call of Duty game averaged a rating in the 40s, or even 50s, on any platform. As for those that scored in the 60s, there are only two: the 2013 Ghosts and 2006 Call of Duty 3. Both of those boast scores in the high 60s on select platforms, although COD 3 was only dragged down by its lackluster Wii port.

Main Call of Duty Series Metacritic Review Scores History

Game	Year	PC	PlayStation	Xbox	Nintendo
Call of Duty	2003	91	78	72
Call of Duty 2	2005	86		89
Call of Duty 3	2006		80	82	69
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare	2007	92	94	94	76
Call of Duty: World at War	2008	83	85	84	83
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2	2009	86	94	94
Call of Duty: Black Ops	2010	81	88	87	80
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3	2011	78	88	88	70
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2	2012	74	83	83	81
Call of Duty: Ghosts	2013	68	78	78	69
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare	2014	78	83	81
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3	2015	73	81	81
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare	2016	73	77	78
Call of Duty: WW2	2017	73	79	80
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4	2018	83	83	85
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	2019	81	80	80
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War	2020	76	76	76
Call of Duty: Vanguard	2021	72	73	74
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2	2022	79	75	77
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3	2023	45	53	62

For cross-generation titles, only the score for the newer console is displayed.
The table does not include scores for games from portable consoles like the PSP and DS.

While Metacritic is expected to add more Modern Warfare 3 reviews in the coming days, the fact that this abysmal aggregate rating is already based on over 50 evaluations suggests that the game will likely retain its unenviable title of the worst-rated installment in the history of the franchise. For reference, last year's Modern Warfare 2 currently has 120 reviews on Metacritic.

This series low arrives mere days after a Bloomberg report claimed that Modern Warfare 3 was developed in only 16 months. Sledgehammer Games promptly denied the implication that Modern Warfare 3 was rushed, but its response didn't offer much in the way of an alternate explanation for why the latest Call of Duty game ended up disappointing so many reviewers.

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Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023) Tag Page Cover Art

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OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Avg: 58 /100 Critics Rec: 14%

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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

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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