News - Warzone 2 Killed The Franchise
Something that became painfully obvious to me as I worked on my story article regarding Captain Price and his life is the massive downgrade that was Modern Warfare 3, and I know plenty has been said, especially since its release a couple of months ago, but to compare the previous two installments to it, it paints the picture quite clearly, and for those of you that are wondering.
I'm referring only to the story. Modern Warfare was rebooted in 2019; it would begin a new trilogy after the original ended back in 2011; it would take a new and more modern approach to the characters we previously met; it seems like they also wanted to make it more realistic, and of course that can be argued, but that was the goal and its intentions.
The first game of the trilogy did amazingly well; it felt fresh and new, and it looked like the revenge that Call of Duty needed. It was finally a win after so many years. The story felt like it was grounded and centered; it felt like it had elements of realism. The war shown felt real and gut-wrenching.
While the performances of every single actor involved were praised, the mission structure was brilliant throughout, with some missions being filled with explosions and attacks coming from all angles, and it felt like you were in the middle of a war zone while other missions, like the critically praised Cleanhouse, dropped you into London and put you inside a townhouse where you had to move quietly and slowly to dismantle a house full of terrorists.
It didn't feel too big or too overstuffed; it was just perfect. I particularly like the characters in the game, like Alex and Captain Price. It felt like the game could stand on its own and it felt different enough from the previous games, so I waited anxiously for the first time in years for a Call of Duty to release so I could enjoy his story once again because the game teases what they seek, and I just couldn't wait, so 3 years later, finally in 2022.
We get the sequel, Modern Warfare. 2, and it introduces Fran favorites John So McTavish and Simon Ghost Riley. The game will once again tackle the backstabbing of General Shephard and his shadow company. Well, the game was also good, and it scratched the idea for the Modern Warfare series. It received a slightly lesser rating, and many viewed it as being too big, like a Hollywood film.
Many also believed that the game lost some of its grittiness and realism. That was shown in the first game, but in my opinion, it was perfect, and I don't know why, but I love seeing more of Captain Price seeing ghost soap and everyone else involved taking the bad guys down. I felt like it was the first game but bigger, and it took the time to give us more missions like Cleanhouse, where we can slow it down a little bit because so many fans enjoyed it.
I think the addition of Alejandro and Los Vos was great, and while the charismatic and savage Commander Graves stole the show, he quickly became one of the most likable characters, he felt real he felt natural and he felt cool when his betrayal happened. I was taken completely by surprise, and I felt that Modern Warfare 2 lived up to its potential, and it was only up from there.
The ending of the game teases the big bat of the series, Vladimir Makarov, and it teases one of the most savage and controversial missions in the franchise's storied history. No Russian, the stage was set, and I prepared myself for another 2 to 3-year wait for Modern Warfare 3. I guess I was expecting the game to come out sometime in 2025, but Activision decided that the game was to come out in.
2023, One freaking year since the release of two, and I was immediately bothered by this. I thought there's no way that they can turn around this quickly, not for this story, not for these characters. Modern Warfare 3 needs to be the biggest and best story yet, and in my eyes, I didn't believe that they wanted to or believed they could mess it up.
The formula was there; all they needed to do was follow it—either go real and gritty like the first one or go a little bit bigger and keep the same energy. Well, what we got was actually complete and utter trash. The game let everyone down, and it let me down, and it let me down in ways that I didn't think it could.
Modern Warfare 3 is the worst Call of Duty game ever; not even IGN could back it up. That's it that's all I can say anymore. Modern Warfare 3 literally ruined what was almost a home run of the Trilogy of Games. Like I said earlier, my original point is that the game doesn't even feel like the Modern Warfare that we got used to, and sadly, even the characters take a hit.
CaptainPriz feels like a shadow of his former self, at least for most of the game, and I don't even know what G did in Modern Warfare 3. Alex from the first game looks like a completely different person, and it just seems like he wasn't even supposed to be there. Graves barely gets any significant screen time, and soap is used as shock value.
And all this begs the question: What happened to Modern Warfare 3's campaign? Well, if you sum it up, it's probably stupidity and greed. According to many reports that were later denied by Activision officials, it was believed that Modern Warfare 3 was originally being developed as an expansion to Modern Warfare 2, but it was later scrapped due to them wanting to sell it at full price, and you guessed it made more money.
Another theory out there is that Modern Warfare 2's budget was so big that it couldn't give the same amount to Modern Warfare 3; apparently the budget for the second game was over $250 million, but I really, truly just don't believe that at all. I'm sure that they make well over that with the war zone alone, and in reality.
I would assume that the executives in charge, who want and only care about money and couldn't care less about what they think, are really the main people to blame for this disastrous game. And it's a Pity because the way that I saw modern warfare's campaign was great it may not be the most realistic, or the most groundbreaking, game ever created but it was like a really good War film at least in my opinion, it felt cool it felt badass and it followed a great core of characters it was one of my favorite games to play and the stories alone were as good as anything I've played prior but even for me a DieHard fan of the rebooted series I'm worried that Modern Warfare 4 or will be more of the same but I do think that these reviews and this feedback might have been a reality check for Activision and they may try to go back to what made Modern Warfare 2019 and Modern Warfare 2 special, but it may already be too late, the rebooted Trilogy is tarnished forever and they ruined what could have been one of the greatest trilogies that they have ever made Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 killed the Modern Warfare franchise.
