I don't get it, the online is so bland, why is this the most popular game in the world? Why are the sales going up each year? I am a Battlefield and Halo player so I am bias, but still, why is this so popular?

The sound is bad, visuals are meh, the gun play is so simple, the movement feels so janky, and the amount of dudes just lying down in corners waiting for people to run by is just insane.

I am not meaning to be a jerk, I loved Call of Duty 4 but this feels like the same game, it feels so dated and simply when compared to other modern shooters.

Nope. You aren't missing anything. In fact, you're hitting every nail on the head.

I hate to join the CoD haters, but at this point I don't feel that is unreasonable. Black Ops had an interesting story and at least some heart in it, so it gets a little pass. But every aspect of Modern Warfare 3 hits the bottom of the barrel and keeps digging as far as I'm concerned.

Just opinion, mind you. I loved CoD4, WaW, and MW2. And like I said, BlOps was interesting enough. But MW3 is so bland. It's not that it's completely bad, it's just that there is nothing worth seeing in it.

It's only huge because it's the newest call of duty. I am sure most fans of the series would tell you they prefer black ops.

I've actually started playing it again because of FACE OFF. It is actually a pretty fun game mode, especially when playing with a friend.

@big_jon said:

I don't get it, the online is so bland, why is this the most popular game in the world? ... I am not meaning to be a jerk, I loved Call of Duty 4 but this feels like the same game

You answered your own question. CoD4 was a great game that people adored. People aren't buying more Call of Duty for anything new or different - they are buying for whatever little tweaks there are to the same game they've been playing for years and still love. The best comparison I can make is Madden - new CoD multiplayer is mostly just a roster update.

I imagine CoD will eventually reach that same point, where fewer people buy it every year like Madden has reached. But it's still a ways to go before it crest the hill and goes back down.

No, you haven't quite got it yet....

After you realize that the game is completely inferior to just about any other FPS that's out there, that's when you take the disk out and discover that it can be used as a very useful beer mat.

@big_jon:

I don't know, are you the only one?!?!?!?

this is exactly how i felt when i played it for the first time. there's nothing that hasn't been done in cod 4 to black ops, gameplay wise.

It's just not for you, man. I'm in the same boat.

The amount that has changed from MW1 to MW3 is simply astounding really, and it wasn't the right direction for me. I loved the original MW.

The reason I ask is because I see people say that every Halo is the same, being a large Halo fan I know this to not be true, so I guess I am wondering has the game changed more than I know? are there big changes that I have not noticed or are they all subtle, same ones?

CoD 4 was pretty amazing. MW2 was okay but I got bored of the MP pretty quick after the first 2 months or so. Black Ops campaign was great but never touched the MP was just more of the same. Didn't even bother with MW3.

It's not that I'm a CoD hater, I just think it is pretty overdone and boring at this point. I'm looking forward to Black Ops 2 because it seems just crazy enough to be interesting and different.

i like the infinity ward cod franchise (i dont like the little changes treyarch makes, and their map design is terrible), and your comparison to halo was a good one. the changes to the killstreaks this year is actually a big change once you start getting into it. it may sound small, but the handling to the guns is slightly different each year. the changes to call of duty are small, but for advanced players they make a huge difference. that being said, as a hardcore cod player i wish they didnt rush a game out every year because the core gameplay will get stale (and has for many other gamers).

COD is casual series designed to allow anyone and everyone to jump in and enjoy the game. Nothing more.

@big_jon said:

I don't get it, the online is so bland, why is this the most popular game in the world? Why are the sales going up each year? I am a Battlefield and Halo player so I am bias, but still, why is this so popular?

The sound is bad, visuals are meh, the gun play is so simple, the movement feels so janky, and the amount of dudes just lying down in corners waiting for people to run by is just insane.

I am not meaning to be a jerk, I loved Call of Duty 4 but this feels like the same game, it feels so dated and simply when compared to other modern shooters.

Yeah well, 90% of the people in the world are just as bland so... that's why bland 0 challenge unoriginal games and shit brain dead music make a killing, it appeals to a way way broader audience...

I refused to buy a Call of Duty game after World at War.

@big_jon said:

The reason I ask is because I see people say that every Halo is the same, being a large Halo fan I know this to not be true, so I guess I am wondering has the game changed more than I know? are there big changes that I have not noticed or are they all subtle, same ones?

I am big COD guy, but MW3 is the only game so far that I have played where the developers haven't learned when it comes to online experience, the only good new addition is the point streaks, but otherwise MW3 is horribly broken, even for COD standards. The same issues MW2 suffered from exists in MW3, at least the issues with Black Ops were different. The main problem from my perspective, is the fact that the core user base are the little potty mouthed kids, who care so much about K/D that they ruin my fun, bellied up in corners, lying prone everywhere, stuff like that. But otherwise, @lebkin: is right, the same reason I go back to Madden and Fifa every year is the same I go back to COD, they might not revolutionize the genre or the series, but it's mostly simple, pick up and play fun.

@big_jon: I enjoy Halo, Battlefield, and Call of duty, all three offer something different. Maybe try different modes in COD; I like to mix it up, Kill confirmed, Team defender, and demolition. If your a below average player; play mercenary. Just jumping into regular team deathmatch, by yourself is a bad idea; your going to run into clans, and your going to get murdered. I enjoyed the MW3 single player, Survival mode and spec ops are a great co op package, and the multiplayer is great fast paced fun. To counter your point; I don't get all the hate towards the COD series. Dude's camping, waiting for players to run by; yeh, that doesn't happen in Battlefield at all. If u don't like COD, don't play it.

Nope, not missing anything. As someone that used to enjoy COD I say you got it right. Sure a lot of people say new game modes and such keep it interesting but it's been so done to death without any real updates.

Yeah, I loved CoD gameplay all the way up to MW2, but since I've just been bored as hell of that kind of gameplay. MW3 had a free week a bit back on Steam, I played two matches and was deathly bored by it. No offense to anyone who likes it, I've just become bored of it. It does what it means to do well, but I'm just not into it anymore.

I liked the single player campaign. Honestly I haven't played MP COD since the second game. Everything I see and hear about it turns me off. I just rent each game to play the single player. It is a decent way to spend a weekend. I really miss the scale of the earlier games though. I guess it wouldn't be too impressive today, but back in 2003 some of the levels in the original Call of Duty blew my mind. Seeing all these soldiers fighting a battle that you were just one minor part of was one of the greatest moments of my gaming life. It was the first time I can remember where a shooter made me feel like part of an actual battle. It was a technical marvel. One of the games I built a new computer for in late 2003. It was magical. There was nothing else like it. It put Medal of Honor to shame. The second game just upped the ante. Around the time the third game hit I started to see how badly the game was designed. They took their big turn with 4 and they managed to improve the pacing but completely lost the scale of the first 3 games. I felt like Black Ops was the pinnacle of the linear corridor shooter that started with 4 and with MW3 they managed, at least for me, to bring back some of the scale while still keeping the modern pacing. So I guess MW3 had my favorite campaign of the post MW era aside from liking the story and setup of Black Ops. I'm interested in seeing what Infinity Ward has planned for the launch of the 720.

::yawn::

oh,are we still bashing call of duty? ::sigh:: ok,uh, the games never change,rabble rabble, casual game.rabble rabble, destroying the industry,rabble rabble.

the call of duty games are soldily made games. they are better than a large majority of games out there. that said, MW3 is the weakest of them all and i think BLOPS2 will probly be my last COD until they change the game up.

MW3 was my first COD game because I didn't start gaming on a current generation console until this past year. I've played quite a bit of the multiplayer and completed the campaign. I personally don't see how anyone can enjoy the campaign and I've gotten bored of the multiplayer but the thing I think people find compelling about the multiplayer is that there's no a lot of fuss to get quickly into a game. I don't have to worry about ping, I don't have to worry about the number of players on the server, I don't have to wait long for a host migration or worry about the host shutting down the game and I don't have to worry about not being able to find a match at any time of the day. Sure you can say the same thing about Halo I imagine (the last Halo I played was Halo 1 on PC) but how many other games can you really say that about? As McDonald's proved long ago, most people are willing to trade quality for ease and convenience.

Since CoD 4 and WaW the franchise hasn't been terribly engaging. I still purchased MW2 and BLOPS but i didn't enjoy them nearly as much as their predecessors. I think to a certain extent this has to do with the fact i enjoyed the ultra self serious tone CoD 4 and WaW set and wasn't as much of a fan of the summer blockbuster feel the later games went for.

I was nodding my head in agreement until you stated you are a Battlefield player. Now you just sound like a biased hater. Both games are trash.

@JordanK85:

this is a very good point. i love knowing i can want to play cod and then a minute later im there. im not stuck in a lobby waiting,im not trying to find a server. just BAM! i dont play cod nearly as much as i used to but i do pop it in and play a few matches in im waiting for my girlfriend to shower before we leave or if i just need to kill some time real quick. i can just jump in and jump out. i really wish alot of other devs would copy this sort of style. i love battlefield 3 but it can take ages to get into a match.