Highlights
- Fans are discussing Modern Warfare 3's Rust map.
- Rust, known for its small size and large oil tower, made a return in 2019's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and is set to appear in the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
- Opinions are divided on the visuals of the new Rust map, with some praising the improved visibility due to fewer shadows while others find it washed out compared to its 2019 iteration.
Fans of Call of Duty's Modern Warfare subseries share discourse regarding the latest remake of the iconic Rust multiplayer map. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is currently hosting the final day of its open beta, which has seen players gain access to four of the 16 remade Modern Warfare 2 (2009) maps in Highrise, Skidrow, Rust, and the fondly-remembered Favela.
Rust, the fan-favorite multiplayer map set in a desert oil yard, made its debut in 2009's Modern Warfare 2, the sequel to the revolutionary Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The map is known for its small size and large scalable oil tower in its center, which players can climb to gain high ground vantage points to opponents on the ground. Rust made its return when it was added to 2019's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare as a post-launch map. Fans of 2019's installment have praised the combination of the game's faster-paced movement and Rust's small size. Despite originally being a Modern Warfare 2 map, Rust is set to make its third mainline appearance in the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 reboot alongside 15 other nostalgic maps from the 2009 Modern Warfare 2.
With players having had an opportunity to go hands-on with Modern Warfare 3 during the open beta, fans have been mostly positive about the sequel's movement changes and the remade MW2 maps. On Reddit, TANMAN84444 posted two images of the same vantage point on Rust from an XclusiveAce video. One image was from 2019's Modern Warfare, and the other from the Modern Warfare 3 beta. The older 2019 Rust featured more shadows, which was a pain point of the game with many players at the time struggling to see opponents tucked away in darker corners. The photo of Modern Warfare 3's Rust has less visual noise in large part due to the noticeable lack of any shadowed areas at all.
The comparison sparked some debate under the post with some glad that the new Rust map has fewer shadows and better visibility, and others feeling that the map's visuals look washed out and of lower quality than its earlier 2019 iteration. Many commenters under the post dinged Modern Warfare 3's graphics due to the game still being playable on the increasingly dated PS4 and Xbox One generation. Surely, more competitive players would prefer Modern Warfare 3's seemingly downgraded visuals and shadows in favor of improved visibility. It's also possible that Sledgehammer Games may alter the shadows on Rust and other maps for the final release, as it's important to keep in mind this is only a pre-release beta.
It'll be interesting to see if Sledgehammer's original Modern Warfare 3 maps that'll be releasing post-launch will also be smaller and more focused like the MW2 maps, and if they'll also feature fewer shadows like Rust. As it's the final day of Modern Warfare 3's beta, fans will have to wait a few more weeks for the game's full release on November 10 to jump back into the action and to check out the 12 other remade Modern Warfare 2 (2009) launch maps.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S on November 10.
