Confused CoD fans are slamming the wrong MW3 with negative reviews

Keep fighting the good fight.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 characters shooting in the snow
Image via Activision

Disgruntled Modern Warfare 3 players have accidentally been voicing their opinions on a 12-year-old game, with Call of Duty gamers looking to critique the new 2023 release instead raking the 2011 over the coals this week.

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Players flocked to Metacritic to take Modern Warfare 3 (2023) down a peg after its early access period began on Nov. 2. What these reviewers apparently failed to notice was the words Xbox 360 sitting in plain view underneath the 2011 version of the MW3 title.

MW3 is not available on the Xbox 360, but the 2011 version is. One upset gamer said “I will never buy CoD again” while proceeding to give the wrong MW3 an abysmal score. Even the positive reviews missed the mark by 12 years. Another player called the campaign underwhelming while praising multiplayer elements.

In players’ defense, there have been multiple issues to vent about with the new release (though voicing them on the old game may not achieve too much).

Either way, MW3’s early access has been flamed by players for a variety of reasons, most recently the sequel/DLC update’s newest creation, Open Combat Missions. The new campaign element places gamers in the middle of a map to complete various objectives and players do not like it at all.

The lack of set pieces and forgettable gameplay, as fans described, lit a fire under a large portion of the CoD player base. Of the 15 missions in MW3’s campaign, six are Open Combat missions. Players called the addition “lazy” and claimed this installment had drifted away from the large-scale, action, extravaganza it once was.

This issue was only amplified by the belief MW3 was seemingly meant to be a DLC. People were outraged by MW3’s premium release price tag. The $70 title features an unbelievably short campaign with Open Combat Missions underdelivering alongside it, and this was clearly more than enough to get the poor reviews flowing.

Let’s just make sure we’re roasting the right MW3 next time, okay?

Author
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Harrison Thomas
CS:GO, Overwatch, and Valorant Staff Writer - Played CS:GO since 2012 and keep a close eye on other titles. Give me a game and I'll write about it. Ranks are private information. Contact harry@dotesports.com