Highlights
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Season 1 is much stronger than its predecessor, MW2, with more original maps and multiplayer content.
- The MW3 season focuses on multiplayer fans, with original maps at launch, the return of 2v2 Gunfight, and the addition of ranked play.
- The inclusion of Modern Warfare 3 Zombies instead of the Spec Ops mode provides a better debut season, with new content and a Zombies-themed multiplayer mode called Vortex.
Though there are some gamers who miss the days of season passes and map packs for the Call of Duty franchise, when done right the seasonal approach has several benefits. The most obvious is that all the meaningful, playable content is free, like maps, modes, and weapons, with only cosmetics being paid for. Additionally, seasonal content is supposed to provide a regular drip of content to make it feel as if there is something new to do every week. While Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 struggled to make good on this promise, it seems like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is getting off to a great start.
Call of Duty seasons usually offer two bursts of content, with a bulk of the maps, modes, and updates coming on launch day and a smaller batch of features arriving in the mid-season Reloaded update. While fans can usually expect consistency across Call of Duty’s seasons once the game hits its stride, first impressions are important, and 2022’s Modern Warfare 2 did not leave a good one with its inaugural season. Fortunately, when looking at the roadmap for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Season 1, the difference is night and day.
5 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Zombies Features CoD 2024 Needs To Have
While Call of Duty 2024 is expected to revive the heavily missed round-based gameplay, it should still keep several features from the open-world MWZ.
Why MW3 Season 1 is So Much Stronger Than MW2
MW3 Season 1 Keeps Multiplayer Fans in Mind
While both roadmaps focus heavily on the free-to-play hit Call of Duty: Warzone, and offer a similar spread of content via a new full-sized map and fresh features for the battle royale game, MW2’s first season made multiplayer an afterthought. This has been a major criticism of the Call of Duty franchise in recent years, with fans feeling as if Warzone takes priority over the actual paid games. In MW2 season 1, there were only two 6v6 maps, with one coming in-season and both being remakes. In MW3, there are two original maps available at season 1’s launch in addition to a third that will come with the midseason update.
However, Modern Warfare 3 is getting exciting multiplayer content beyond 6v6 maps, as 2v2 Gunfight is making a return. Not only are Gunfight maps from MW2 carrying forward to allow for a deep map pool at launch, but a fresh map has been added with more to come in future seasons. Headquarters and Infected are coming as part of the midseason update, as is ranked play, which is great news for fans of competitive games. Two fan favorite killstreaks, the EMP and Swarm, have also been added to multiplayer.
While Modern Warfare 3’s launch map lineup being composed of remakes saw it criticized as being a filler game that banks too much on nostalgia, it likely allowed for this strong first season, as MW3 can now drop bigger batches of original maps each season. Perhaps future games will adopt a similar approach of prioritizing original content after launch instead of in the base game.
MW3 Zombies Is Season 1’s Secret Weapon
The existence of Modern Warfare 3 Zombies instead of the reboot’s bland Spec Ops mode (which received one mission in MW2 season 1 and was quickly forgotten in favor of raids) allows for an even better debut season. In addition to Zombies-specific content like fresh schematics, another Wonder Weapon, a story mission, and an exciting endgame area within the Dark Aether, Zombies has inspired a multiplayer mode. Called Vortex, the free-for-all experience not only has players fighting over a Ray Gun, but also features three maps that get Zombies-themed visual overhauls to better suit the mode’s vibe. Even the seasonal cosmetics are a step-up, with MW2’s soccer crossover overshadowed by collaborations with Dune and The Boys. MW3 is understandably controversial and deserves criticism about things like its campaign, but its first season is a great sign for its post-launch support.
