Highlights

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is receiving negative reviews, but its multiplayer mode is a redeeming factor. However, the overall game still feels rushed and lacks original content.
  • The accessibility of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a major issue. The menu UI is confusing and overwhelming, with dense tutorials and on-screen text boxes that can discourage casual players.
  • The game's Zombies mode and campaign also suffer from inaccessibility, introducing complex mechanics or resurrecting characters without proper explanation. Call of Duty should prioritize fixing these accessibility issues in future releases.

The gaming industry can be one of the most lucrative in the wider entertainment space, but just like movies and TV shows, for a game to really earn the big bucks it needs to have mass appeal. While there are plenty of gaming franchises that have a pretty big following, only a handful are on the same level as Call of Duty, a series that has managed to retain its popularity for two whole decades now. Every year, a new Call of Duty rolls around, and every year the money rolls in, with the same audience knowing what it's getting into. Call of Duty is like a form of comfort food, but that might no longer be the case with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is getting some pretty scathing reviews, but it isn't all bad, with its multiplayer mode being the game's saving grace. But even the nostalgia-baiting multiplayer mode can't save Modern Warfare 3 from marking the newest low point for the Call of Duty franchise. Every element of Modern Warfare 3 feels rushed, from its reused MW2 maps to its barebones, half-baked campaign mode, but by far one of Modern Warfare 3's biggest missteps is its inaccessibility, which could end up being detrimental to the franchise moving forward.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Is Strangely Inaccessible

What Makes Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 The Most Inaccessible CoD Yet

Though it started to rear its head with last year's Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 marks the full launch of Activision's new Call of Duty HQ platform. Rather than being able to access each Call of Duty title from a separate launcher, Call of Duty HQ now collects all the recent entries, acting as a one-stop shop for modern CoD games. On paper, this sounds straightforward and even quite helpful. But in actuality, Call of Duty HQ is a nightmare, and it makes Modern Warfare 3 feel like the most inaccessible CoD to date.

One of the biggest issues with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's accessibility appears from the moment players start up the game. Rather than just being taken to Modern Warfare 3's main menu, players are given a slew of different options to choose from, with multiple tabs appearing for Warzone, Modern Warfare 2, and Modern Warfare 3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's menu UI is confusing, and it only gets worse the more players try to access the game's content. Going into any of Modern Warfare 3's menus will immediately bombard first-time players with a string of dense tutorials and on-screen text boxes, which can easily overwhelm casual players. And with multiple CoD games being available in one spot, it forces players to download some elements from all titles, even if they don't own them.

Then there's the actual content of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 itself, which is equally inaccessible, but in an arguably much worse way. Call of Duty Zombies has always been a mode that fans can just pick up and play. Even on more complicated CoD: Zombies maps, casual players can jump in and have fun for a few rounds without knowing all the arena's secrets. Modern Warfare 3's Zombies mode isn't nearly as accessible, instead bringing a slew of overly complex mechanics like weapon loadouts and weapon insurance over from Warzone and DMZ.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 's campaign is also inaccessible in its own way, bringing characters like Alex Keller and Graves back to life with no explanation for those who haven't played Warzone or MW2 's Raids.

The Next Call of Duty Needs to be More Accessible

Accessibility has always been one of Call of Duty's most important elements, and a key reason behind the franchise's mass appeal. While adding more complex modes and features isn't necessarily a bad thing, Modern Warfare 3 does such a terrible job of tutorializing them for a more casual audience, deciding not to show these new features through gameplay but instead just presenting players with walls and walls of in-game text. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has proven that the franchise has a lot of issues right now, and its accessibility should be its first priority for future fixes.