“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III,” not to be confused with the 2011 game of the same name, saw its full release on Friday, Nov. 10. I’ve been playing it through early access for the last few days. When I heard about a zombies mode added to the game, as well as the return of the original multiplayer maps from 2009’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” I was in.

The part of me that used to love “Call of Duty” was excited enough to allow $70 to leave my wallet, and play it as soon as possible on my PS5.

Before I get into whether the revamped multiplayer maps or the “zombies” mode lived up to the expectations of an old “Call of Duty” fan, I want to touch on the game’s campaign mode that was released a few days before the multiplayer modes.

Campaign Review

“Modern Warfare III’s” campaign did a few things really well. There were two or three particularly fun and unique levels with cool set pieces and objectives, and some of the plot points were unexpected and interesting. That is, unfortunately, pretty much the end of the list for positives.

This campaign is essentially a rehashed version of the old “Modern Warfare” campaigns with returning characters such as Soap, Ghost and, of course, the main antagonist and mastermind leader of a Russian terrorist cell, Vladimir Makarov. Barry Sloane also reprises his role as Captain Price, who remains the most compelling “good guy” in the story due mostly to an incredible voice acting performance.

The most interesting levels and story elements appear in the first half of the campaign. The campaign storyline centers around Makarov committing acts of terror and war crimes as he tries to frame Urzikstan, a fictional country that seems to be a mix between Syria and Afghanistan. Early in the campaign, that aspect of the story is explored in a way that might make you think you’re in for a momentous and action packed ride, that is before everything seemingly falls flat.

Around half of the missions require the player to run around “open combat zones” and complete seemingly innocuous tasks and objectives. These levels are incredibly bland and they feel like nothing more than repurposed sections of the “Warzone” multiplayer maps. Players will often even find themselves opening crates in these levels and hoping for rare weapons to pop out, exactly like you might do in “Warzone.” These sections often do very little to progress the story in any important way, and the gameplay is not particularly fun or interesting.

The biggest issue in “Modern Warfare III’s” single-player campaign is that it is far too short and doesn’t end with any interesting resolutions. It took me just over four hours to complete the 14 total campaign missions on the standard difficulty, but I had to break that up into multiple sessions because it was never really compelling enough to keep me hooked in.

As far as the actual story of the campaign, it was completely unsatisfying after the halfway point, and while I don’t want to spoil it, the ending was unexceptional. If you want to find out what happens in the story, it should be easy enough since it can be completed in one sitting.

I know most people don’t buy “Call of Duty” games for the campaign, but this campaign feels particularly like a rip off. Rumors have existed since last year that 2023’s “Call of Duty” release was originally going to be a downloadable content expansion for “Modern Warfare 2,” and while that hasn’t been confirmed, it would explain a lot about this campaign.

Multiplayer Review

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’s” multiplayer is exactly what players can expect. If players enjoy the simple gameplay loop, the handful of available game modes and the same old progression system, nothing has really changed and players will probably enjoy this iteration of “Call of Duty’s” multiplayer.

The multiplayer maps in this game are all from 2009’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” and that may not be everyone’s cup of tea. I am personally quite partial to these maps, and have always thought that they were some of the best in the series.

If players are not familiar with these maps, just know that many opponents will be. Plenty of users are sniping from the exact same spots and spawn trapping in the exact same ways that players saw over a decade ago in the original “MW2.”

I have no serious complaints about the standard multiplayer modes. I will say that nothing that makes the game fun is particularly new or exciting, but it still has the DNA of a fun and satisfying “Call of Duty” game.

The weapon customization and progression system is essentially a copy and paste of last year’s “Modern Warfare 2.” While I think the weapon progression is an unnecessarily convoluted system compared to older titles in the series, it has something for everyone, and plenty of people do actually like it. It certainly lends itself well to being a part of a multiplayer experience that players have to put a lot of time and effort into if they want to experience everything.

There is however, one new addition to the multiplayer called “War” mode where players on either team are tasked with defending or attacking certain objectives. The matches are painstakingly long, and, most of the time, the gameplay defaults into a team deathmatch style of combat where the objectives take a backseat during a 30 minute match.

This mode feels like an attempt at bringing in “Overwatch” style gameplay into “Call of Duty,” and it was by far the most boring part of the multiplayer experience. This isn’t really a knock on the overall multiplayer experience, however, because it can safely be ignored if it is not for you.

Almost everything about the standard multiplayer modes feel fun. The game feels smooth and it’s not at all a departure from the formula that has worked for “Call of Duty” throughout the years. Overall, my verdict is that the multiplayer is good, but it’s not amazing or revolutionary. It is probably around as good as “Call of Duty” multiplayer can or will ever be.

Zombies Review

When you first enter the “zombies” mode in “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III” you are greeted with a familiar sound. The zombies menu music from “Call of Duty: Black Ops” is playing ever so eerily in the background as players wait in the lobby. That, however, is where the similarities to “Black Ops” begin and end.

“Zombies” in “Modern Warfare III” (now known as Modern Warfare Zombies, or MWZ) is a game mode where you must traverse a large open world map, not unlike a “Warzone” map. There are various objectives and “contracts” sprinkled throughout the map that three players can complete to earn “essence” (the in-game currency) as well as other rewards such as perks, weapons and other items.

Throughout the map, there are hordes of zombies as well as non-playable character soldiers and mercenaries who, for whatever reason, also oppose you. Players must constantly stay vigilant when completing tasks as there are enemies, both living and dead, in all areas of the large map.

The map is called “Urzikstan,” and it is broken up into three zones, marked by colors on the map screen. The outer edges of the map is where players begin and are marked as a gray zone on the player’s in-game map. All of the zombies and other enemies are fairly simple to deal with in these zones. The first inner circle after this is marked as yellow, and the enemies here get considerably more difficult. The final zone is red, and the enemies in this zone are, as expected, the most difficult.

One problem with this mechanic is that there is no real “blending” of the zones. Everything in the first zone is incredibly easy to deal with, almost to a boring degree at times. However, if you take one step into the yellow zone the enemies are immediately and noticeably more difficult, which is a bit jarring to say the least.

Each match lasts for a maximum of one hour, which means there is no current way to experience the old “Call of Duty” zombies system of lasting for as many “rounds” as possible. It is essentially impossible to explore everything on the map and do all that there is to do in one hour, which is where an interesting new mechanic comes into play.

In “MWZ,” you are able to earn weapons, perks and other items, and take them into future matches. This is actually the whole point of the game mode. The way this is done is by playing the game mode, completing contracts and objectives around the map, earning those items, and then successfully “exfiltrating” from the map at designated pickup zones where you escape in a helicopter. This will end your game and set you up for a future match where you can begin with better items than before.

Ideally with each new match you play, you’ll have better and better gear and you’ll be able to push into even more difficult areas of the map and discover what new dangers await you. The catch is that if you fall victim to a horde of zombies or a group of AI mercenaries instead of successfully exfiltrating, you will permanently lose whatever you decided to carry with you during that match.

“Modern Warfare: Zombies” is a game mode that has some potential, but ultimately feels a bit cluttered and chaotic. It is not immediately clear what players are meant to do in this game mode, and there are seemingly as many ways to become bored or frustrated with it as there are ways to have fun with it.

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III,” is available now on Xbox, PS4, PS5, Battle.net, and Steam.