Summary
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 asCall of Duty, a series that has managed to retain its popularity for two whole decades now.Every year, a newCall of Dutyrolls around, and every year the money rolls in, with the same audience knowing what it’s getting into.Call of Dutyis like a form of comfort food, but that might no longer be the case withCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3is 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 saveModern Warfare 3from marking the newest low point for theCall of Dutyfranchise. Every element ofModern Warfare 3feels rushed, from its reusedMW2maps to its barebones, half-baked campaign mode, but by far one ofModern 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’sModern Warfare 2,Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3marks the full launch of Activision’s newCall of Duty HQplatform. Rather than being able to access eachCall of Dutytitle from a separate launcher,Call of Duty HQnow collects all the recent entries, acting as a one-stop shop for modernCoDgames. On paper, this sounds straightforward and even quite helpful. But in actuality,Call of Duty HQis a nightmare, and it makesModern Warfare 3feel like the most inaccessibleCoDto date.
One of the biggest issues withCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s accessibility appears from the moment players start up the game. Rather than just being taken toModern Warfare 3’s main menu, players are given a slew of different options to choose from, with multiple tabs appearing forWarzone,Modern Warfare 2, andModern Warfare 3.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s menu UIis confusing, and it only gets worse the more players attempt to access the game’s content. Going into any ofModern 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 multipleCoDgames 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 ofCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3itself, which is equally inaccessible, but in an arguably much worse way.Call of DutyZombies has always been a mode that fans can just pick up and play. Even on more complicatedCoD: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 modeisn’t nearly as accessible, instead bringing a slew of overly complex mechanics like weapon loadouts and weapon insurance over fromWarzoneand 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 playedWarzoneorMW2’s Raids.
The Next Call of Duty Needs to be More Accessible
Accessibility has always been one ofCall 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 3does 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 3has proven that the franchise has a lot of issues right now, and its accessibility should be its first priority for future fixes.
