After a rough campaign launch, can Multiplayer and Zombies save the day?
To say there was a ton of pressure on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III's multiplayer and Zombies modes would be an understatement. The campaign disappointed on almost every front, leaving many fans hoping the other pillars of the game could pick up the slack.
Since I've already shared my full thoughts on the single-player experience elsewhere, I won't retread that ground here. Instead, this review focuses squarely on the multiplayer suite and the Zombies offering, both of which became fully available once the game launched late last week.
Multiplayer
If you're coming into Modern Warfare III hoping for a fresh and unique take on Call of Duty, you'll likely be disappointed. I had concerns after trying the beta a few weeks back, and unfortunately, most of them have been confirmed.
To call this a brand-new entry feels misleading. The amount of content recycled from last year's game is hard to ignore. Weapons, items, attachments, and even progression systems carry over with minimal change. While there are a handful of new additions sprinkled in, they pale in comparison to what fans usually expect from a full-priced, yearly installment. This Time around, the latest slate of gear feels like a fraction of the usual offering at best.
Maps
The most significant selling point of Modern Warfare III's multiplayer is its nostalgia factor. The full roster of maps from 2009's Modern Warfare 2 makes its return, and there's no denying that many of those classics rank among the most iconic Call of Duty maps of all Time.
To Activision's credit, a lot of care has clearly gone into these remasters. They look fantastic, run smoothly, and even feature thoughtful modern tweaks that make them feel at home in the 2023 era. For a while, it's exciting to drop back into Sub Base, Rundown, Wasteland, and the rest of the lineup.
But that thrill doesn't last forever. After a few sessions, the initial wave of nostalgia starts to fade, and the cracks begin to show. While these maps are certainly preferable to some of the weaker, more experimental arenas we've seen in other Call of Duty entries, they don't quite rekindle the same spark or excitement that they did back in 2009. The fun is there—but the magic feels harder to capture.
Progression, UI/UX, and Matchmaking
The real problem with Modern Warfare III isn't just the recycled content—it's the UI/UX and progression systems, which feel like they've completely derailed the franchise. Unlocking weapons and items is way too complicated. Weapon customization features numerous attachments, making it feel like working on a science project rather than simply changing your gear. Plus, the new Call of Duty HQ hub is a mess. It's confusing and frustrating to the point where merely getting through the menus feels like a chore.
Suppose Activision truly wanted to lean into nostalgia. In that case, it should have returned to simplicity—streamlining menus, eliminating redundant systems, and focusing on clarity instead of adding even more unnecessary features, such as Aftermarket Parts.
And even if you manage to push through the mess of progression and challenges (including baffling design choices like locking attachments behind daily objectives), you still have to face the elephant in the room: skill-based matchmaking. I usually don't put much stock in influencer complaints, but on this one, it's impossible not to agree—SBMM has drained the fun out of casual play, and its presence here only exacerbates the issue.
SBMM, Servers, and Gameplay Balance
For anyone unfamiliar, skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) pairs you with opponents based on your in-game performance. On paper, it sounds fair. In practice, it quickly becomes frustrating. One intense match is enough to skew your stats, after which you'll be thrown against players running the meta loadouts every single game. There's no room to experiment with off-meta weapons or builds—you'll be punished instantly by players running the Holger, MCW, or whatever happens to be overtuned that week. Call of Duty has all but lost its identity as a casual FPS.
Server stability hasn't helped either. Yes, launch weekends are always rough, but constant disconnects, hit registration issues, and lag are simply unacceptable in 2023 for a franchise of this scale and budget.
And yet—here's the catch—Modern Warfare III's core gameplay still shines. The gunplay and movement feel crisp, the variety of modes and customisation options is impressive (perhaps too extensive at times), and the classic map pool is undeniably fun to revisit. But of course, it was almost guaranteed to work when Activision essentially resold players a package made up entirely of fan-favourite content on top of last year's engine. The formula is solid, but the flaws in systems and structure make it clear that nostalgia can only carry the experience so far.
Zombies
Zombies in Modern Warfare III is an entirely different beast—and not in the way long-time fans were hoping. Over the years, Activision has steadily shifted away from the traditional, round-based survival formula in favor of larger, open-ended levels. That evolution reaches its peak here, where Zombies feels less like the chaotic, wave-based mode that defined Call of Duty and more like an extraction shooter. In fact, it bears a much closer resemblance to Warzone 2.0's DMZ mode than to Black Ops Zombies.
The result? The mode has lost much of its identity. There's no coherent story to follow, no real pressure, and a tiny challenge. Because the entire experience is built on a modified version of Warzone's Al Mazrah map, much of your Time is spent wandering a largely empty world, looting and completing contracts just to fill the space. Rather than feeling like a mainline Zombies experience, it plays more like a novelty Warzone spin-off—comparable to past limited-time events like the Halloween modes—rather than a full-fledged Zombies offering.
That said, a few ideas do stand out. The ability to meet and team up with players outside your own squad is a neat twist, and the escalating difficulty across different map zones adds some structure. Enemy variety is also decent, offering at least a handful of fresh encounters. But the absence of a significant Easter egg, the lack of meaningful difficulty, and the fundamental shift to an extraction-style loop make the mode far less compelling. When stacked against Call of Duty's other offerings, it's challenging to imagine Zombies being the reason anyone keeps coming back to Modern Warfare III.
In Summary
After spending over a week with Modern Warfare III, it's hard to escape the feeling that this was never meant to be a full-scale Call of Duty release. The game is light on meaningful content, leans too heavily on assets from last year's entry, and struggles to justify a premium Price tag. The campaign is forgettable, Zombies feels misguided and undercooked, and while multiplayer remains enjoyable, its biggest strength lies in nostalgia and its similarities to the already-refined gameplay of Modern Warfare II.
Ultimately, Modern Warfare III marks the lowest point in the rebooted Modern Warfare series—and arguably one of the weakest entries in the franchise's history. That failure isn't only due to rushed or recycled content, but also the overwhelming bloat in design. From convoluted menus to unnecessary systems piled on top of one another, the experience too often feels like a chore instead of the fast, fun shooter that made Call of Duty a household name. If Activision truly wants to win back trust, it needs to cut the excess and return to a more focused, player-first design philosophy.
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