Predictions of Modern Warfare 3 reception

[Treblaine]

So. On the eve of it's release, and apparently still with no embargo on reviews being lifted, how do we think this game will be recieved?

I'm talking in terms of critical AND popular perception of the entire game and individual elements (single-player, spec ops, etc) and which platform might fare better than others (PC better... or just a "console port").

And how will it sell? Will it beat Black Ops's stupendous sales? Or could it even perform worse than MW2? How will it do on PC? Especially considering this time there isn't even a boycott, when there WAS a boycott there were enough people playing it.

And after the critics have their say (1), and the pundits have had their 15 bytes of fame (2), and all the beans have been counted in terms of sales success (3) what about the wider significance: the legacy.

(4) What will the significance of Modern Warfare 3 be? Will it be the last dying gasps of a dying and irrelevant franchise, will it be Activision's "Guitar Hero World Tour" or EA's "MoH: Pacific Assault"??? Or will this be looked back has "Modern Warfare 2, done right" will this be COD's redemption after so many years of bad mouthing and consternation for so many infuriating game design elements this is the one where they REALLY nail it?

After so many missteps and shortcomings, is this wounded giant now the underdog that can actually make something truly significant and worth while? I'd like to think so, this is Activision's 11th hour and I'm still giving them a chance for redemption.

So:
(1) Critical/journalist reception
(2) Public reception
(3) sales success/failure
(4) legacy / wider importance

 

[mitchell271]

1) The non-complete-gamer journalists will praise it and love it. The ones who make of living playing games will enjoy it put will think it isn't very different from the last one. They will either praise the changes in multiplayer or criticise them for trying to make the game more like Battlefield. Will score 8-9.
2) I have friends who say, "Battlefield? Fuck Battlefield! CoD is where it's at!" Admittedly, they're the generic frat boy type of gamer, but they're the biggest demographic. It will sell millions on the first day, and if you say otherwise, you're just in denial.
3) see above
4) CoD will (unfortunately) live on and spit out a few more games before the public gets tired of FPSs and move on to something else because of the oversaturated market due to Activision and people trying to cash in on the modern-FPS genre. Activision will eventually scrap the project, fire the teams, and cash in on the next big trend.

tl;dr FUCK YOU ACTIVISION. You've made CoD annual to make more money and if you deny that, you're even bigger assholes than I thought. However, CoD:MW3 will do well thanks to the, "clueless dipshit demographic" (Yahtzee).

 

[For.I.Am.Mad]

*shhhh* If we don't talk about it, it might not sell well.

 

[Radeonx]

It's going to be a good game that unfortunately gets high reviews not because it's pretty good, but gets perfect scores because of it's popularity.

It is going to a sell a shit ton, and the fans are going to love it (Except for the douchebags who constantly rag on it even though they can completely avoid it).

And then it will be forgotten when the next Call of Duty comes out next year.

 

[Elijah Ball]

everybody will love it for 3-4 months, then everybody will start talking about how shitty it is and how they cant wait for the next one because it'll be perfect.

 

[Knusper]

1) I reckon won't get a lot of praise but strengths inherent in the series will be recognised
2) It'll provide umpteen millions of people with loud explosions and jumping off cliffs...
3) ...so it'll sell loads, because this is CoD
4) Forgotten by the time the next instalment comes out

My reaction: I won't give a damn because it'll be 3 more days until Skyrim.

 

[distortedreality]

It will do well on both critical and popular fronts imo.

I'm actually just installing it now, am looking forward to crazy set pieces and ridiculous story telling in SP and decent MP.

I think it's obvious that you'll still get the rabid anti-CoD crowd bagging the game, reviewers (paid for or not depending on your point of view) lauding the game, and people who enjoy the series will just keep playing.

I actually think it will outsell BLOPS, I have no real reason, just a gut feeling.

As far as legacy/wider importance goes, it's a MW game - it's mindless fun, and I don't think it will have any real lasting effect on games in the future, as I doubt it will be bringing anything new to the table.

edit - I'm actually surprised I haven't seen any user reviews up yet, it's been out in Australia (physical copies) for about 10 hours now.

 

[Last Hugh Alive]

Modern Warfare 3 will do just fine. It likely won't sell quite as well as Black Ops, but will receive similar critical acclaim.

Its currently Tuesday morning here in Australia and I'm giving some serious thought into going to the store now to pick up MW3 and sneak in about 4 hours of the campaign before work. The only thing that's stopping me is the impossible level of heat outside.

 

[distortedreality]

The only thing that's stopping me is the impossible level of heat outside.

Dude it's not even 40 degrees yet

 

[Last Hugh Alive]

The only thing that's stopping me is the impossible level of heat outside.

Dude it's not even 40 degrees yet

True, but I'm one of the lonely souls out there who happens to hate Summer anyway.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

(1) Critical/journalist reception:
Mostly, they judge on how well-made the games are, and while I don't like most of the Call of Duty games, judging by the one I have played they're very well put-together. They won't mind that the story is more dragged-out than Halo, either.

(2) Public reception:
There will be two kinds of people who bought it: people who bought it to love all over it and ignore every other game in the world, and people who bought it out of peer pressure and hate the franchise on principle.

(3) sales success/failure:
Runaway success, possibly breaking Black Ops' record and definitely smashing Battlefield 3. As much as you might hate Activision, they know who their core audience is and they don't ignore them to go try and steal someone else's money pie, like EA did.

(4) legacy / wider importance:
Forgotten as soon as Treyarch releases their next CoD, except maybe by the modding community.

 

[ResonanceGames]

I think the last few COD games can give us a pretty good idea:

1.) The dust will settle with a Metacritic score somewhere in high 80's

2.) The public reception will be glowing. Not so much on the internet, where haters will come out of the woodwork, but Joe Codplayer will love it.

3.) Most financially successful game of all time.

4.) Wider importance? Next to zero. It'll have the same legacy you'd expect from Transformers 4 or the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Once the popcorn bag is empty, you throw it out.

 

[LITE992]

1) I predict between 8 and 10. CoD has been building on the success of CoD4. Not much else to be said, it will be enough like CoD4 for people to like it and different enough for most reviewers to ignore the sameness of recent CoD games.
2) People will praise it within the first few months, then there will be complaining because of some balance issue. At least the PC version will have dedicated servers.
3) Probably will outsell the previous CoD game, Battlefield 3 and probably become the best-selling entertainment title of all time. I don't want it to, but it's CoD.
4) By the time the next game comes out, only a couple thousand will be playing MW3. There's a reason CoD4 had the impact it did, and unless CoD makes some changes, there won't be another CoD4.

 

[Ruwrak]

Same as MW2.

More running, shooting, sucking your thumb behind a piece of concrete to regenerate health, toss a grenade, toss a flashbang (one of them that never work), take two bullets to the toe and die.

Mweh. Not yet excited..

 

[Jonny49]

I think it will fall short of it's predecessors critically, yet sell more than both of them.

I personally wasn't very hyped for it, but now I can't wait to get my hands on it. What can I say? Call of Duty does what it does really well, and I can't wait finish the story of Price and Soap and jump online for some run-and-gun, throwing-knife, rocket-launcher-to-the-face action!

 

[hashtag]

(1) IGN will probably rate it 9-9.5, calling it 'standard for FPS' they'll probably ***** about the campaign being short. Many professional gamers (Hutch, WoodysGamerTag, etc.) will praise it and say "it's the best CoD ever".
(2) Will sell millions. I doubt it will break any records when it first starts out, but will still sell more than Skyrim, Battlefield 3 and any other game coming out this year. Moreover, many CoD players will hate it many will love it.
(3) See above.
(4) CoD will continue to do what it has always done, be there.

 

[vrbtny]

(1) The Critics can say whatever the hell they like, the game will still sell more than cookies on mandatory cookie day.

 

[IamSofaKingRaw]

By people on the internet?

Sales don't matter
Game is copy and paste
Series went downhill since COD4
BF is better
Same engine
Can't spell ignorant without IGN
Of course the game will get a 9....
the campaign sucks (even though I'm 99% certain it will be loads better than BF3's)
Graphics suck
Laggy as hell
I am disappoint
Quickscoping $^&$ have returned
Camping mutha$%^*&*!
One person on this site making a thread with a VERY long post about their disdain for the MP
RAGE
RAGE
RAGE
UC3 will be GOTY