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The Modern Warfare 3 open beta came to a close earlier this month, offering up the first opportunity for most of us to test out Call of Duty's newest offering firsthand. As Treyarch gears up for the full release happening early next month, there is no better time to analyze what was available during the beta and compare it to its predecessor.
Before we begin, it is important to note that everything mentioned here is only from the beta of the game and that many things could change prior to release. Furthermore, we can only cover the multiplayer aspects of the game since modes like the campaign, warzone, and the highly-anticipated zombies mode were not available during the beta. Lastly, we will only be talking about what's changed about the game from a gameplay perspective. Game aspects like the UI, gunsmith, perks, and equipment will not be included here.
Now with that out of the way, what's changed between Modern Warfare 3 and Modern Warfare 2?
Tactical Aim Down Sights
The most obvious change that's happened to Modern Warfare 3 is the addition of the new tactical ADS option that pops up whenever you start aiming. This option lets players ADS and shoot accurately without any of the zoom that comes with most scope attachments. As useful as it seems on the surface though, it has become quite the nuisance having the popup text be ever-present every time you ADS as well as automatically going into tactical mode every time you ADS while sliding. It might just be a problem of not being used to the feature but as for right now, it is going to take some getting used to.
Increased Time T0 Kill
Something beta players did enjoy was the increased average time to kill in Modern Warfare 3 compared to its predecessor. With this change, gun fights might actually start to feel like fights instead of battles of who can shoot first. There are still a few guns that can be considered melt machines but hopefully, Treyarch find the right balance of weapons before the game comes out.
Movement
As far as we can tell, no actual changes to speed were made for Modern Warfare 3, but from the get-go, you can immediately feel a difference. This might be a result of fewer restrictions to movement than just an overall buff to speeds but either way, this is definitely a plus especially if you enjoy the hyper-fast-paced combat of Modern Warfare 2019.
Speaking of movement, players will be happy to know some sorely missed movement mechanics are making their return. The biggest ones being slide-cancelling and reload-cancelling, now slide-cancelling is still not as fast as it used to be in MW 2019 so don't expect that but it is clear that Treyarch is aiming for a middle ground when it comes to these types of mechanics that, let's admit, has been abused in the past.
Unfortunately, jump shots are still not as good as they used to be and strafing is mostly the same. It does seem that assault rifles do have faster strafe movement but further testing needs to be done to confirm this.
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Visual Changes
Modern Warfare 3 has lessened the amount of visual recoil as well as the amount of muzzle smoke when spraying your weapon. An issue that arose over time in MW2 was how difficult it became to stay on target sometimes because of how far the reticle would bounce and how much smoke would cover up most of the screen. Thankfully that seems to be toned down and the reticle doesn't bounce as far off-center as it used to.
Meanwhile, the game also features the return of the classic mini-map style. While it does not mean much from a gameplay perspective, it is pretty neat.
Graphics
The last thing we will cover for today is the graphical changes for Modern Warfare 3 vs Modern Warfare 2. Sadly, there is not much to say here, Modern Warfare 2019 was a huge graphical leap in quality when it first came out, unfortunately, neither of its sequels will be replicating that leap. That does not mean that the game does not look good though, it looks great but just the same as MW2 and MW 2019 did.
This is to be expected considering the games are released yearly but regardless, if you were hoping for something better than Modern Warfare 2, I am sorry to disappoint.
So that's our breakdown. Did you get to play the Modern Warfare 3 beta? Was it better than MW2?
We'll be continuing our coverage of Modern Warfare 3 as the release date approaches so keep your eyes peeled for more on that and for more news and updates on all things gaming, stick with ClutchPoints Gaming.
