SPOILER ALERT
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is coming Nov. 8, 2011, Kotaku has learned, delivering with it mammoth battles that engulf a dozen cities around the world including New York, Paris and London. Multiple sources have shared details of the game's story, art, sounds and game modes with Kotaku, noting that the game will reshape the landscape of the Call of Duty franchise, bringing an impressive number of eclectic settings, deep multiplayer gaming and a story that ties up nearly all loose ends from previous titles, including the final moments of key figures in the series' history.
While we haven't seen the game in action ourselves, we've gone to great lengths to nail down as much as possible the veracity of our sources. We believe that the imagery and chief details are accurate. That doesn't mean things can't change before release, but this appears to be a full run down of where Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software is on Modern Warfare 3 as they add the final polishing touches.
The game opens moments after the cliffhanger ending of Modern Warfare 2 with the U.S. struggling to stave off a surprise Russian attack. The single-player campaign will ping-pong players around the world as they take on the multiple throwaway roles as a Russian Federal Protective Services agent, SAS Operative, tank gunner, and AC-130 gunner as well as key characters from previous installments and new recurring characters. The game will feature about 15 missions, kicking off with the invasion of Manhattan by a Russian force and wrapping up with a final encounter in Dubai.
The plot, as described, seems to be keeping with developer Infinity Ward's habit of delivering complex, short sequences punctuated by lots of gunfire and scene changes. The game also has players take control of several vehicles, returning gamers to the AC-130 gunship as a gunner and plopping them down in a tank as part of a U.S. Armored Division.
Multiplayer in the game returns with a chunky list of playable maps as well as two types of Spec Ops modes: "Survival" and "Mission".
Activision, the series' publisher, still hasn't officially unveiled any details about the game, though executives have said that a new Call of Duty game was coming this year. Last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops, developed by Treyarch, sold more than 7 million copies in the first 24 hours and within six weeks reached $1 billion in sales.
We've contacted Activision for comment and will update the story when and if they provide reaction.
The Modern Warfare 3 Files: Exclusive First Details on the Biggest Game of 2011
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A brief audio clip that we believe is a piece of the upcoming Modern Warfare 3 refers to SEAL Team Six, the unit widely assumed to have killed Osama Bin Laden in a raid in Pakistan earlier this month. It makes perfect sense. America's favorite fighting men would have to get mentioned in the 2011 edition of the jingoistic Modern Warfare series. It is, however, both a likely coincidence and a sign that the new edition of the hottest franchise in video games might again be pushing some provocative buttons before year's end.
The SEAL Team Six reference is barked in an audio file that was part of a larger leak of presumed Modern Warfare 3 images, story details and sound clips provided to Kotaku. Those leaks indicate that Modern Warfare 3 involves a near-future war between the United States and Russia, though it focuses on the operations of elite military units spread around the globe. In the audio file, which can be heard here, a voice of a military operative says: "Seal Team Six was sent in but they lost half their team on infil. We need to strike fast before the Russians can launch a counterattack." The word "infil" is likely shorthand for "infiltration". The rough audio file may be part of the game or part of a promotional campaign around it.
The Modern Warfare 3 leak we received this week includes a summary of each of the missions in the November-scheduled game. None of them feature SEAL Team Six prominently, but the reference we heard takes on increased relevance given the SEAL's post-Bin-Laden elevation to the status of American super-heroes. While we have no indication that the reference was added after the Bin Laden raid—SEAL Team Six, after all, was referenced in the first Modern Warfare—that doesn't mean gamers in November wouldn't interpret it as a tie-in.
With their rise in popularity, the big modern combat first-person shooters that come out each fall have come closer to becoming the topic of mainstream news. They're no longer just mainstream headline material for their sales success but, bit by bit, for their content. Two years ago, Modern Warfare 2 was a national news topic because of the inclusion of an optional mission that enabled the player to participate in the massacre of civilians at a Russian airport. Last year, Medal of Honor made headlines for the planned option to let gamers play as the Taliban against NATO troops in a virtual version of the current war in Afghanistan.
Presumed concept art for a London attack in Modern Warfare 3
From the scraps of story we've seen about Modern Warfare 3, however, the bigger eye-brow raisers may not be any name-checking of the SEALS. According to leaked information, an early mission involving a near-future Russian military assault is tentatively entitled "Black Tuesday" and leads to a battle near the New York Stock Exchange. That could be a reference to the infamous stock market crash of 1929 but would surely also reverberate with New Yorkers who recall the day of the week when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. Another level, set in London, involves terrorist threats, a battle in subway tunnels and a truck bomb in front of the house of Parliament, which sounds like a remix of both perpetrated and foiled terrorist attacks on London in the past decade.
Video game proponents can be expected to defend the validity that their favorite medium should and can be as topical as books, movies or any other form of entertainment. Nevertheless, if the plot goes unchanged from what we've been shown this week, it can be expected that Modern Warfare will exemplify its modernity not just for the caliber of guns its characters wield but for the anxieties with which it intersects.
What are SEAL Team Six and 'Black Tuesday' Doing in Modern Warfare 3?
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is coming Nov. 8, 2011, Kotaku has learned, delivering with it mammoth battles that engulf a dozen cities around the world including New York, Paris and London. Multiple sources have shared details of the game's story, art, sounds and game modes with Kotaku, noting that the game will reshape the landscape of the Call of Duty franchise, bringing an impressive number of eclectic settings, deep multiplayer gaming and a story that ties up nearly all loose ends from previous titles, including the final moments of key figures in the series' history.
While we haven't seen the game in action ourselves, we've gone to great lengths to nail down as much as possible the veracity of our sources. We believe that the imagery and chief details are accurate. That doesn't mean things can't change before release, but this appears to be a full run down of where Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software is on Modern Warfare 3 as they add the final polishing touches.
The game opens moments after the cliffhanger ending of Modern Warfare 2 with the U.S. struggling to stave off a surprise Russian attack. The single-player campaign will ping-pong players around the world as they take on the multiple throwaway roles as a Russian Federal Protective Services agent, SAS Operative, tank gunner, and AC-130 gunner as well as key characters from previous installments and new recurring characters. The game will feature about 15 missions, kicking off with the invasion of Manhattan by a Russian force and wrapping up with a final encounter in Dubai.
The plot, as described, seems to be keeping with developer Infinity Ward's habit of delivering complex, short sequences punctuated by lots of gunfire and scene changes. The game also has players take control of several vehicles, returning gamers to the AC-130 gunship as a gunner and plopping them down in a tank as part of a U.S. Armored Division.
The single-player campaign, which appears to wrap up most of the unanswered questions and character fates of the first two Modern Warfare titles, also introduces new characters who appear to be destined for future Modern Warfare games, especially two Delta Force operatives codenamed "Frost" and "Sandman".
Multiplayer in the game returns with a chunky list of playable maps as well as two types of Spec Ops modes: "Survival" and "Mission".
Activision, the series' publisher, still hasn't officially unveiled any details about the game, though executives have said that a new Call of Duty game was coming this year. Last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops, developed by Treyarch, sold more than 7 million copies in the first 24 hours and within six weeks reached $1 billion in sales.
We've contacted Activision for comment and will update the story when and if they provide reaction.
The Modern Warfare 3 Files: Exclusive First Details on the Biggest Game of 2011
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A brief audio clip that we believe is a piece of the upcoming Modern Warfare 3 refers to SEAL Team Six, the unit widely assumed to have killed Osama Bin Laden in a raid in Pakistan earlier this month. It makes perfect sense. America's favorite fighting men would have to get mentioned in the 2011 edition of the jingoistic Modern Warfare series. It is, however, both a likely coincidence and a sign that the new edition of the hottest franchise in video games might again be pushing some provocative buttons before year's end.
The SEAL Team Six reference is barked in an audio file that was part of a larger leak of presumed Modern Warfare 3 images, story details and sound clips provided to Kotaku. Those leaks indicate that Modern Warfare 3 involves a near-future war between the United States and Russia, though it focuses on the operations of elite military units spread around the globe. In the audio file, which can be heard here, a voice of a military operative says: "Seal Team Six was sent in but they lost half their team on infil. We need to strike fast before the Russians can launch a counterattack." The word "infil" is likely shorthand for "infiltration". The rough audio file may be part of the game or part of a promotional campaign around it.
The Modern Warfare 3 leak we received this week includes a summary of each of the missions in the November-scheduled game. None of them feature SEAL Team Six prominently, but the reference we heard takes on increased relevance given the SEAL's post-Bin-Laden elevation to the status of American super-heroes. While we have no indication that the reference was added after the Bin Laden raid—SEAL Team Six, after all, was referenced in the first Modern Warfare—that doesn't mean gamers in November wouldn't interpret it as a tie-in.
With their rise in popularity, the big modern combat first-person shooters that come out each fall have come closer to becoming the topic of mainstream news. They're no longer just mainstream headline material for their sales success but, bit by bit, for their content. Two years ago, Modern Warfare 2 was a national news topic because of the inclusion of an optional mission that enabled the player to participate in the massacre of civilians at a Russian airport. Last year, Medal of Honor made headlines for the planned option to let gamers play as the Taliban against NATO troops in a virtual version of the current war in Afghanistan.
Presumed concept art for a London attack in Modern Warfare 3
From the scraps of story we've seen about Modern Warfare 3, however, the bigger eye-brow raisers may not be any name-checking of the SEALS. According to leaked information, an early mission involving a near-future Russian military assault is tentatively entitled "Black Tuesday" and leads to a battle near the New York Stock Exchange. That could be a reference to the infamous stock market crash of 1929 but would surely also reverberate with New Yorkers who recall the day of the week when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. Another level, set in London, involves terrorist threats, a battle in subway tunnels and a truck bomb in front of the house of Parliament, which sounds like a remix of both perpetrated and foiled terrorist attacks on London in the past decade.
Video game proponents can be expected to defend the validity that their favorite medium should and can be as topical as books, movies or any other form of entertainment. Nevertheless, if the plot goes unchanged from what we've been shown this week, it can be expected that Modern Warfare will exemplify its modernity not just for the caliber of guns its characters wield but for the anxieties with which it intersects.
What are SEAL Team Six and 'Black Tuesday' Doing in Modern Warfare 3?
Last edited:
