Highlights

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 faced criticism upon release, but Sledgehammer Games has been adding impressive new content to improve the game.
  • The addition of remixed variations of classic maps has been a successful move for Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer, offering a unique experience for veteran fans.
  • The upcoming Season 2 of Modern Warfare 3 will feature more remixed maps, adding value to the game and showing a positive direction for future remakes in the franchise.

It's been an interesting few months for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. In a year when fans were expecting Activision to finally take a little break from its non-stop military shooter money-maker, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was awkwardly announced in August 2023, and was soon followed by a full gameplay reveal in October that left fans divided. No original 6v6 maps on launch and an overreliance on nostalgia were two major criticisms of Modern Warfare 3 right out of the gate, and that was unfortunately just scratching the surface of the full experience.

When Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 released in November 2023, it was met with an onslaught of criticism, both old and new, leading it to be the worst-reviewed game in Call of Duty's 20-year-long history. But over the last two months, Sledgehammer Games has started to bring Modern Warfare 3 back from the brink of instant failure, with its seasonal approach adding some impressive new content to the game. And while Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 still has a ways to go, there's one feature that's already added that should become a staple of the franchise moving forward.

2:53
COD Modern Warfare 3 Walking Dead
Related
Call of Duty's Walking Dead Crossover is Poorly Timed

Call of Duty has been ramping up its crossovers in recent months, but its latest Walking Dead one seems to have been timed a little poorly.

Call of Duty Should Continue to Offer Remixed Versions of Classic Maps

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's First Season Introduced Vortex Maps

Back in January, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was enjoying a fairly successful first season of live-service content. Along with a wealth of new content for Modern Warfare 3's Zombies mode, and a whole load of new modes and gameplay additions for MW3's multiplayer, Season 1 also added a handful of new maps to the game. While the four original maps were the big highlight of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's first season, Sledgehammer also added variations of three classic maps, designed to be used in conjunction with the new Vortex limited-time mode.

A mode that saw players attempt to wrestle control over the iconic one-hit-kill Ray Gun, Modern Warfare 3's Vortex mode saw three reimagined classic maps come to the game. Named Tetanus, Sporeyard, and Satan's Quarry, these three maps were reskinned versions of Rust, Scrapyard, and Quarry respectively, all of which gave the classic arenas a more eerie, otherworldly look. On paper, the idea of putting a fresh spin on classic maps is great, but the execution left a little to be desired, with some map changes causing poor visibility.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's Second Season Continues to Offer Remixed Maps

Thankfully, Sledgehammer Games is giving these map reskins another go. Coming as part of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Season 2, Sledgehammer is adding Skidgrow and Airborne to the game, reimagining the classic maps Skidrow and Terminal. While Skidgrow will give the urban map an overgrown, Last of Us-like aesthetic, Airborne will cover its airport in bugs and nests. These reskinned maps seemingly won't be branded as Vortex maps anymore, but simply "Variant" maps.

These classic map variations are genuinely one of Sledgehammer Games' best decisions when it comes to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer. MW3 was heavily criticized for relying too much on nostalgia to sell copies, and a major contributing factor to that was that the game's only 6v6 multiplayer maps were all remakes of the original 2009 Modern Warfare 2 maps. While adding variations of these maps isn't anything too drastic, it does add a nice bit of value to the game, offering a unique, new experience for veteran Call of Duty fans, and it's definitely something that other developers should consider if they're going to remake more CoD maps in the future.