Summary
Whatever direction Sledgehammer Games chooses to take with the nextCall of Dutyentry, it will need to address the criticisms leveled against last year’sModern Warfare 3remake. Though it may not be the ideal solution,Call of Duty2025 may be better off revisiting the framework implemented forBlack Ops 4than repeating the mistakes ofModern Warfare 3.
TheModern Warfare 3remake has some high points,but the game earned far more overall criticism than mostCall of Dutyentries. Much of this criticism was focused on the game’s lackluster campaign mode, which many considered to be far too short, boring, and uneventful, comprised of ineffective story beats and levels that often felt like recycled content. It’s been reported that the remake was originally envisioned as a DLC for theModern Warfare 2remake but was later stretched to be a full game, which would explain why the campaign feels rushed and far less ambitious than its predecessors. It should be noted that Sledgehammer Games has disputed these reports. Regardless of development context, theMW3campaign caught a lot of flak, and this can’t happen with future games.
Sledgehammer’s Next Call of Duty Might Be Better Off Cutting the Campaign Entirely
Call of Duty 2025 May Benefit from Following Black Ops 4’s Lead
Black Ops 4famously scrapped its campaign, drawing the ire of manyCall of Dutyfans. While this decision was certainly controversial at the time, Treyarch and Activision never sold the game as anything different from what it wound up being, and the success of theBlack Ops 4multiplayer proves that players still got a good deal of enjoyment out of the game. LaunchingBlack Ops 4without a campaign was disappointing, but most consumers didn’t feel like they were misled.
This was not quite the case with theModern Warfare 3remake. The game’s campaign mode was sold as a continuation ofModern Warfare 2’s story in terms of both plot and quality, so when it turned out to be something of adowngrade from the originalModern Warfare 3campaign, the response from gaming audiences was much more vitriolic. Many players felt that the game’s marketing suggested a grander and more refined campaign in keeping with the series' reputation.
If whatever factors that resulted inModern Warfare 3’s campaign feeling rushed (budget restraints, creative vision, etc.) are still present during the development of the nextCall of Duty, it may be best to just omit the campaign entirely, rather than sell the game as having a complete one. From a marketing and optics perspective, this could be beneficial, since Activision andSledgehammer Games wouldn’t have to deal with bad publicityresulting from a perceived failure to deliver on their promises. Moreover, the developers could pour all their efforts into supporting multiplayer and other, non-campaign modes.
Given the campaign’s poor reception, it can be argued that Sledgehammer perhaps could have put its resources to better use duringModern Warfare 3’s development. If the 2025CODis at risk of having another lackluster campaign, then maybe Sledgehammer ought to focus more on additional content for the base multiplayer or Zombiesmodes. Maybe Sledgehammer could even free up resources to double down onCall of Duty’s neglected War mode, making it a core part of the franchise moving forward.
Of course, the ideal outcome would be for 2025’sCall of Dutyto have a strong campaign worthy of players' time and money, but that might be easier said than done, especially sinceModern Warfare 3’s business-as-usual sales may not exactly discourage history repeating itself. It would be better forCall of Duty’s 2025 release to have no campaign, but better multiplayer and spin-off modes, than another underdeveloped single-player story.
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
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
