Poor Modern Warfare 3. No, not the new one. The original one, from 2011. It’s getting review-bombed by angry Call of Duty fans who seem a bit confused about which Call of Duty is which.
The backlash mostly stems from the early access launch of the new Modern Warfare 3’s single-player campaign, which has received a largely negative reaction online. IGN’s review scored it 4/10: “Underbaked, rehashed, and cobbled together from multiplayer parts, Modern Warfare 3’s single-player campaign is everything a Call of Duty story mode shouldn’t be.”
It doesn't help that Activision has decided to launch Modern Warfare 3 as a game tied to Call of Duty HQ, a new hub that appears to have replaced last year's Modern Warfare 2. This has resulted in even bigger file sizes and longer waits to get into the game, and reinforced the sentiment that Modern Warfare 3 is little more than Modern Warfare 2 DLC positioned as a mainline sequel. Remarkably, the PlayStation 5 version of Modern Warfare 3 doesn't have a platinum trophy, either.
While the backlash to Modern Warfare 3’s campaign gets more vociferous, some people are taking their anger out on the wrong game. This week, screenshots emerged on social media showing negative user reviews clearly aimed at the new Modern Warfare 3 posted to the Metacritic page for the 12-year-old Modern Warfare 3 by mistake.
Metacritic confirmed to IGN it was in the process of removing these user reviews. “Generally, yes, if someone reviews one game thinking they're reviewing another, we'll moderate that review,” Metacritic boss Marc Doyle told IGN.
At the time of this article’s publication, the Metacritic page for Modern Warfare 3 (2011) has a user score of just 3.6 against a critic Metascore of 88. “This game is destroyed for me,” wrote one user who left a user review score of 2/10. “I will never buy Call of Duty again.”
The original Modern Warfare 3 from 2011 is being review bombed by people mistaking it for the new #MWIII pic.twitter.com/xTFKDIglkF
— Modern Warfare 3 News (@WarzoneIntel) November 4, 2023
“The amount of idiots review-bombing the wrong game is laughable,” said another user who left a 9/10 user review score.
It appears to be the opposite situation over on Steam, where users are leaving new and positive reviews for Modern Warfare 3 (2011) to make a point that it’s better than 2023’s effort. Modern Warfare 3 (2011)’s most-helpful review posted in the last 30 days, according to Steam, simply reads: “Realized this isn't MW3 2023. Wasn't disappointed at all.”
“I came back to play this campaign because the new one was terrible,” reads another Steam review.
Admittedly, Activision’s decision to release new Modern Warfare games with the same names as old Modern Warfare games shows how ridiculous video game titles can get. But it’s worth pointing out it’s not yet possible to leave a user review for Modern Warfare 3 (2023) on either Metacritic or Steam, since the game has yet to launch fully. No doubt Activision is bracing itself for the backlash to flood onto the right Call of Duty review pages when the game comes out.
For more on Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (the new one!), check out IGN's investigation into why video game cheaters are so hard to stop. Modern Warfare 3 launches proper November 10 as the first Call of Duty to release following Microsoft’s $69 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard, but don’t expect it to hit Game Pass until 2024. Check out IGN’s Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer review in progress to find out what we thought of the recent open beta.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
