I’ve been to Prague in real life. Amazing city. Probably the best city I’ve ever been to, actually. I only mention it because, during Modern Warfare 3, there are a couple of levels set in that city. And there was just a moment, when I was in the water getting through enemy territory and I looked to the left and saw the famous old bridge recreated there in the game and it quietly blew me away.
It was like how I remembered it; how the bridge looked from the water (I took a boat trip in real life, and can thus verify that perspective!). I’ve really enjoyed how the game has taken the trouble to make the game feel more vivid by recreating these real world places. Albeit with some artistic licence.
I’ve been to Paris, too. Though when I was there it wasn’t courtesy of zipping between a helicopter pilot raining bombs and machine gun fire on choppers and tanks and infantry with merry abandon before I was then thrust into the shoes of my man on the ground and battling at the foot of the Eiffel Tower when the thing was brought down in a toppling inferno.
The Paris level was amazing in how it switched between chopper and soldier, giving me the bird’s eye view and then thrusting me into the thick of the action on the ground. Again, another example of Modern Warfare 3 just pushing tried and tested tropes to unique effect. Maybe the latter half of the campaign doesn’t possess quite the same wow moments as the first half, but if there is a dip in that sense it’s not by much. Between sniping around Prague’s castle walls to battling through Paris catacombs (I’ve been there, too!) to emerge into a frantic car chase shootout (intense and exhilarating), it’s been relentlessly entertaining.
The demise of Soap was moving, too, mainly because of Price’s anguished reaction. He didn’t completely lose his senses – he still had the guile to trick my guy Yuri into getting knocked into the cellar so he could learn about how he knew Makarov. And the small backstory of Yuri and Makarov furnished previous games with contextual details that were nicely handled.
Perhaps my only complaint is that the ending, the last level, felt a little tacked on from the main narrative thrust. Like the whole mission got resolved, the president and his daughter were rescued, and the war was ended and diplomacy was back on the table and. . . Oops, forgot to get the bad guy! Never mind, Price and Yuri can suit up and charge into Makarov HQ all guns blazing and finish the matter off.
It was a fairly spectacular and satisfying end, of course. I particularly liked the brutality of Makarov’s demise and the comforting feel of Price lighting up a cigar to himself after another victory – it just felt, as I said, tacked on. It has for me been the most enjoyable of the Modern Warfare campaigns, though – perhaps purely from a scale and spectacle point of view.
I suspect back to basics purists will lament the lack of straight shooting battles with every level always feeling like it needs to have some extra hook – be it firing mortars, vehicle chases, setting out done targets. It was the variety and swift changes from regular battling, however, that I liked most of all. An FPS game gets a bit monotonous for me otherwise.
So it seems this Modern Warfare trilogy has come to an end. I don’t know if this is the end for all the characters that have become familiar this far (most of them are dead, to be fair) but I have no doubt that the Modern Warfare series will continue. It’s too successful not to and, if they only better the campaign next time out, I’ve got no problem with that.
It was like how I remembered it; how the bridge looked from the water (I took a boat trip in real life, and can thus verify that perspective!). I’ve really enjoyed how the game has taken the trouble to make the game feel more vivid by recreating these real world places. Albeit with some artistic licence.
I’ve been to Paris, too. Though when I was there it wasn’t courtesy of zipping between a helicopter pilot raining bombs and machine gun fire on choppers and tanks and infantry with merry abandon before I was then thrust into the shoes of my man on the ground and battling at the foot of the Eiffel Tower when the thing was brought down in a toppling inferno.
The Paris level was amazing in how it switched between chopper and soldier, giving me the bird’s eye view and then thrusting me into the thick of the action on the ground. Again, another example of Modern Warfare 3 just pushing tried and tested tropes to unique effect. Maybe the latter half of the campaign doesn’t possess quite the same wow moments as the first half, but if there is a dip in that sense it’s not by much. Between sniping around Prague’s castle walls to battling through Paris catacombs (I’ve been there, too!) to emerge into a frantic car chase shootout (intense and exhilarating), it’s been relentlessly entertaining.
The demise of Soap was moving, too, mainly because of Price’s anguished reaction. He didn’t completely lose his senses – he still had the guile to trick my guy Yuri into getting knocked into the cellar so he could learn about how he knew Makarov. And the small backstory of Yuri and Makarov furnished previous games with contextual details that were nicely handled.
Perhaps my only complaint is that the ending, the last level, felt a little tacked on from the main narrative thrust. Like the whole mission got resolved, the president and his daughter were rescued, and the war was ended and diplomacy was back on the table and. . . Oops, forgot to get the bad guy! Never mind, Price and Yuri can suit up and charge into Makarov HQ all guns blazing and finish the matter off.
It was a fairly spectacular and satisfying end, of course. I particularly liked the brutality of Makarov’s demise and the comforting feel of Price lighting up a cigar to himself after another victory – it just felt, as I said, tacked on. It has for me been the most enjoyable of the Modern Warfare campaigns, though – perhaps purely from a scale and spectacle point of view.
I suspect back to basics purists will lament the lack of straight shooting battles with every level always feeling like it needs to have some extra hook – be it firing mortars, vehicle chases, setting out done targets. It was the variety and swift changes from regular battling, however, that I liked most of all. An FPS game gets a bit monotonous for me otherwise.
So it seems this Modern Warfare trilogy has come to an end. I don’t know if this is the end for all the characters that have become familiar this far (most of them are dead, to be fair) but I have no doubt that the Modern Warfare series will continue. It’s too successful not to and, if they only better the campaign next time out, I’ve got no problem with that.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for leaving a comment. If you would like to add me as a Friend on PS3, my Username is: AngeloComet. Please notify me - either here or on PS3 - of your request so I know not to ignore!