Line #80 VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfareIII


1	!! This page assumes you have played ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2019'' and ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfareII'', all spoilers for both games' singleplayer campaign and Spec Ops missions will be unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!
2	[[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mwiii_reveal_full_tout.jpg]]
3	[[caption-width-right:1000:''"Never bury your enemies alive."'']]
4
5	->"''The ultimate threat awaits.''"
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7	The one to celebrate [[MilestoneCelebration twenty years of staying frosty]].
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9	''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III'' is the twentieth overall entry in the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series, and the third entry in the ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2019'' series, a ContinuityReboot of the original ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' trilogy.
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11	It's been a year since Task Force 141 took down Iranian Quds Force Major Hassan Zyani and prevented him from using America's weapons against them. Peace isn't on the horizon, however, as a Russian Ultranationalist [[PrivateMilitaryContractor PMC]] group known as the Konni Group has surfaced, breaking their leader Vladimir Makarov out of a gulag after four years of imprisonment. Seeking to restore Russia to its former glory, Makarov and his unit begin a campaign of terror, starting with an invasion of Urzikstan. Task Force 141 knows Makarov all too well, though, and commence their own mission to bring him to justice before he can spark a full-on war with the west. Along the way, they'll have to contend with the fallout of their ill-fated partnership with Shadow Company...
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13	In addition to the franchise-standard multiplayer suite, which includes all 16 maps from the original ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2 Modern Warfare 2]]'', ''MWIII'' also includes its own take on the series' [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyZombies Zombies mode]] in place of the previous game's co-op missions. This time, Zombies sees players drop into the Urzikstani desert, working together to survive the undead hordes in an open-world experience similar to Outbreak in ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsColdWar Black Ops Cold War]]'', as well as DMZ in ''MWII''. The Urzikstan map is also set to be incorporated into ''Warzone'', as a replacement for ''MWII'''s Al Mazrah map.
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15	It was first teased on August 7th, 2023, was officially revealed via the ''Warzone 2.0'' Shadow Siege event on August 17th, and was released on November 10th on the same platforms as ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfareII'' (Platform/PlayStation4, Platform/XboxOne, Platform/PlayStation5, Platform/XboxSeriesXAndS, and [[Platform/MicrosoftWindows Windows PC]]). The reveal trailer can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITIcmA4Zwa8 here]] while the reveal of the character Makarov can be found [[https://youtu.be/C_6J06wdgXY here]].
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17	Not to be confused with ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare3'' from 2011.
18	----
19	!!This video game provides examples of:
20	* AKA47: Perhaps the most egregious example in the series to date, as not only are the names fictional, but the game leans more heavily on fictionalizing aspects of the weapons. The Scorpion Evo 3, though correctly named in the gameplay demo, is now the "Rival-9"; the SVA 545 is comparable to the AN-94 gameplay-wise but is modeled as more or less an AN-94 barrel and gas piston mated to a regular AK-74 receiver with some elements of the Type 81 (the magazine shifted forward, rather than having the mag release meet the trigger guard); the venerated ACR is now the "MCW" for its regular version and the "Sidewinder" for a .450 Bushmaster conversion; and the AMR-9 is a Model 635/991 hybrid with a fictional handguard extension for mounting lasers and lights. Even the CZ 805 BREN went through two names, called the "Draekur-556" in the campaign premiere before being renamed again to "MTZ-556" for the released game. Weapon blueprints can be named with more accurate names, averting this trope if the player cares enough to research the correct names.
21	* AllThereInTheManual: How [[spoiler: Alex]] is still alive after his apparent death at the end of the first ''Modern Warfare'', and how [[spoiler: Graves]] is still alive after the ClimaxBoss fight you had with him at the end of ''Modern Warfare II'' and why Farah trusts him, are all covered in Warzone's multiplayer seasonal content which many players may be unfamiliar with.
22	* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: Done in spades with the playable cast, although there are still some familiar faces. [[spoiler: The very first mission of the game has you playing as Makarov's eventual right-hand man, Andrei Nolan. Later on, you take control of Captain Price for first time in the campaign, and even Laswell.]]
23	* {{Animesque}}: Asides from various calling cards based on anime, Jet has two packs that turn her into an anime girl wearing cyberpunk armor, the Cyber Cat ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin cat-based cyberpunk armor]]) and the Mikan Endo ([[AsianFoxSpirit kitsune-based cyberpunk armor]]). The latter has a unique FAMAS that inflects a unique death animation based on anime {{eyecatch}}es.
24	* ArtEvolution: As time went on, more and more deluxe skins were outright silly, futuristic, out-of-genre, or unrealistic; compare the MythologyGag remake of [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyInfiniteWarfare E3N]] being more like modern-day armor that only suggests a robotic aesthetic to later skins that ''are'' robots, like the Cyber Junkie or Scorpio Scout skins, the {{crossovers}} with shows like Series/TheBoys that has an aesthetic subverting that of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse or TabletopGame/Warhammer40000's over-the-top mashup of every sci-fi work there ever was, or even celebrities like Creator/NickiMinaj or Creator/SnoopDogg.
25	* ArtifactTitle: Played with in terms of the map "Skidrow". While "skidrow" is slang for any sort of run-down urban area, the original Skidrow map was based on the real-life neighborhood in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles named "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skid_Row,_Los_Angeles Skid Row]]". The remastered version in this game places it in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity.
26	* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: Ghost identifies a green DeadlyGas (the same from Warzone) as concentrated sarin. However, sarin is a colorless, odorless nerve agent and doesn't cause people's faces to melt off like say, [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps Nova-6]].
27	* ArtisticLicenseMilitary:
28	** The MCW 6.8 rifle was claimed during the beta to be chambered in the MCX Spear's .277 Fury round (a full-power ''battle rifle'' cartridge) rather than the intermediate 6.8x43mm Remington SPC cartridge that was offered as an option for the real-life ACR. The released game changed this... to "6.8mm Wraith", equivalent to the 6.8mm TVCM used by the [=RM277=] (the "Cronen Squall" of ''MWII''), which is still closer to a battle rifle cartridge (same length as 7.62mm NATO). This is also all in spite of that the model is still visibly using a magazine of STANAG dimensions, which is far too small to carry either of these larger .277 cartridges.
29	** The TAQ Eradicator (based on the FN HAMR) is actually a 7.62mm SCAR-H with a drum magazine, while the real HAMR is chambered in 5.56mm, much like the HAMR's first appearance in ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII Black Ops II]]''.
30	** The most serious offender however is the Longbow sniper rifle, which is actually a bolt-action 7.62x39mm Kalashnikov rifle. No such configuration exists in any real-life [=AK=], with its closest approximation, the Ukrainian Gopak, being straight-pull bolt action. Partially justified in-game by its description, which describes it as "heavily modified".
31	** The TAQ Evolvere has a top-open feed cover typical of most machine gun designs, instead of the side-open feed cover unique to the FN EVOLYS, which the Evolvere is based on.
32	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Makarov's plans are foiled and his army has taken a crippling blow. The ULF’s terrorist designation is cleared during a Congressional hearing, and General Shepherd’s treachery against Task Force 141 is finally brought to light. However, Soap is killed by Makarov, who [[SequelHook manages to escape to fight another day]], which causes Price to finally take care of Shepherd]].
33	* BreadEggsMilkSquick: The Wubz and Friends pack, a friendly, fuzzy fireteam of [[SugarBowl tooth-rotting happy mascots]], include:
34	-->Wubz loves candy, sunshine, and his friends!
35	-->Stubz loves kittens, candy, and his friends!
36	-->The Harbinger of Dread loves only nightmares and the screams of the damned... and his friends!
37	-->Bubz loves unicorns, clouds, and his friends!
38	* BreakingOldTrends:
39	** For the first time in twenty years the direct sequel to a ''Call of Duty'' game is being released as the next overall installment in the series to its canonical predecessor. This also marks the first time a ''Modern Warfare'' game was developed primarily by a studio other than Infinity Ward (Sledgehammer Games also developed the original ''Modern Warfare 3'', but only completing the unfinished development left by Infinity Ward after the leadership and many of the developers defected or were fired from from the company), as well as the first time a ''Modern Warfare'' title has a Zombies mode.
40	** On a much smaller note, this is the first time a proper rifle-length G36 appears in a ''Call of Duty'' game, as previously only its subcarbine ([=G36C=]) and machine gun ([=MG36=], or rather a [=G36K=] [[WeaponsUnderstudies dressed up as one]]) siblings have appeared, although the Holger-26 machine gun in ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2019 Modern Warfare I]]'' can be modified into a G36 through the Gunsmith system.
41	* ContinuityNod: The teaser trailer repeats Price's assertion of "cutting heads off snakes" and Makarov "not [being] new".
42	* ContinuitySnarl: The "Flashpoint" level is a flashback to one of Task Force 141's earliest operations, but is stated at the beginning to be set on April 6th, 2019, which would place it about seven months before [=TF141=] was even formed in this continuity - it didn't happen until after the 2019 ''Modern Warfare''[='=]s campaign, which took place from October 25th to November 4th of that year.
43	* CutAndPasteEnvironments: Many of the levels in the single player campaign are rather obviously environments taken from the Verdansk map in ''Warzone'', though some of these are justified by certain levels taking place in Verdansk.
44	* DontTouchItYouIdiot: A non-verbal version: earning the [[AchivementMockery "Weakest Link"]] in a squad-based Battle Royale mode has your character [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace accidentally discharge a pistol]], which gets yanked away with a DeathGlare by a Shadow Company grunt.
45	* EnemyMine: TF 141, Shepherd, and Shadow Company begrudgingly join forces to take down Makarov. [[spoiler:While critical to destroying Konni in Urzikstan, any cooperation afterwards ends. Even Farah and the ULF end their decade-long partnership with Shepherd after realizing how much he's willing to lie to save his own skin]].
46	* EverythingIs3DPrintedInTheFuture: By default, all the Aftermarket Parts and conversions are almost entirely textured as 3D-printed plastic or carbon fiber, even when they are made out of metal or injection-molded plastic in reality or where 3D printing wouldn't make sense (i.e. machine gun receivers).
47	* FiveSecondForeshadowing: In the first level, you're a member of a special ops team infiltrating a Russian prison, similar to a level from ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2''. However, your teammates seem remarkably uncaring about civilian casualties—while they warn you not to shoot the other prisoners, they justify it when it happens by saying "A dead prisoner can't riot"—when, in most cases, the level will end if you shoot a civilian. [[spoiler:In fact, you're playing as a member of Konni group, breaking Makarov out.]]
48	* GangstaStyle: Tactical Stance is a new aiming mechanic between hipfire and aiming down sights, where the player braces the weapon at an angle but does not aim down the sights. Faster than ADS, more precise than hipfire.
49	* GunsDoNotWorkThatWay:
50	** The [=BP50=] (FN F2000), same as it was in ''Vanguard'', has a hole in the stock where the fire control group should be.
51	** While double-barreled rifle concepts do exist in reality, they are essentially two (or more) guns combined into a single receiver. The various double-barreled Aftermarket Parts depicts them feeding from the same magazine, which would be mechanically impossible.
52	** The "JAK Burnout Kit" for the Holger 26 ([=G36K=]) gives it a blistering rate of fire that also ''sets the gun on fire'' after 20 rounds. Not only would it take much more sustained fire to heat a barrel to where it starts glowing, but no one in their right mind would want to intentionally do so (which is especially egregious when you consider that many JAK kits use what appear to be 3D printed furniture, which is just plastic and would easily melt if it were anywhere close to something that can set a metal barrel on fire). The heating is also completely cosmetic and the gun instantly cools upon ceasing fire, with no damage to barrel, gun, or operator.
53	* GunshipRescue: Just like in the previous game, you take control of a Shadow Company AC-130 in the penultimate level while Task Force 141 storms the hangers for Makarov's chemicals, with the standard armaments plus countermeasures against missiles.
54	* HeavilyArmoredMook:
55	** Armored enemies make a return from ''Modern Warfare II'', though you have access to various advantages such as armor-piercing bullets or higher-caliber machineguns to make killing them a bit easier.
56	** ShieldBearingMook enemies make a return, however unlike previous games in the series most of them now wear body armor, making them even harder to bring down.
57	** Similar to ''Modern Warfare (2019)'', ''Black Ops: Cold War'', and ''Vanguard'', Juggernaut-type enemies appear in the single-player campaign, [[spoiler:with two appearing at various points in "Payload", and a pair of them serving as a FinalBoss fight of sorts towards the end of the final mission.]] They're about 50% more durable than they were in ''Modern Warfare (2019)'', though you can break their helmets with concentrated fire to kill them with a headshot.
58	** Andrei Nolan is noted as wearing heavy armor in "Highrise", so you can shoot him all you want when chasing him without worrying about failing the mission to capture him alive. At the end of the chase you corner him and he ends up accidentally blasting himself with a smoke grenade when you try to get close.
59	* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: TF 141 more often than not go without helmets, compared to previous titles. [[spoiler:A typical ballistic helmet would have saved Soap's life in the last mission from a close-range pistol round.]]
60	* ImpersonatingAnOfficer: The mission "Flashpoint" has SAS fight against Inner Circle members who impersonate Verdansk police officers to massacre civilians.
61	* JustTrainWrong: The second half of the final mission takes place at a maintenance point somewhere in the Channel Tunnel and has trains passing through the area that can run you or your enemies over. There are ''much'' more trains going through the area in-game (roughly one every 30 seconds in either direction) than go through the real-life Channel Tunnel (400 per day on a normal day, which average to one train in either direction every 3 minutes and a half).
62	* MightAsWellNotBeInPrisonAtAll: Makarov's reveal is of him inside a Russian prison. However, given the events of the previous game and his relevance in this game, it appears he maintains good control and communications with his ultranationalist partners while inside prison. The fact he's allowed to wear a nice suit instead of the prison outfits the other gulag prisoners have to wear, and has ready access to cigarettes, also implies he's receiving favorable treatment as a result of his influence.
63	* MissionPackSequel: Although every ''Call of Duty'' since ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2019'' has been built on that game's engine and assets (notably all sharing similar-feeling gunplay and movement, just with different weapons, historical setting, tweaked character health[=/=]accuracy, etc), ''Modern Warfare III'' is by far the most noticeable example of a Mission Pack Sequel, heavily re-using assets from ''Modern Warfare II'' and ''Warzone''. In fact it was originally supposed to be a [=DLC=] campaign for ''Modern Warfare II'' before Activision told Sledgehammer Games to expand it into a full stand-alone game.
64	* MoodyTrailerCoverSong: The trailer is scored to an ominous version of Music/BlueOysterCult "(Don't Fear) the Reaper", underscoring the higher stakes in the story now that Makarov is making his moves to start another global war.
65	* MythologyGag:
66	** The "wavelength" effect of the title screen is evocative of the original ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare3 Modern Warfare 3]]'' title screen, and even starts off with the iconic green color scheme.
67	** The beginning of the game has a team of soldiers infiltrate a gulag in order to spring a Prisoner 627, a reference to Task Force 141 rescuing Captain Price from a gulag in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2''. [[spoiler:However, rather than Price they're rescuing, it's Makarov]].
68	** During the final mission, you can find (and pet) a dog called Riley, which was the name of the dog in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts''.
69	** Both the final missions of this game and the original ''Modern Warfare 3'' feature Makarov poised to deliver a CoupDeGrace upon an immobilized Price [[spoiler:only to be interrupted by Price's squadmate wounding him, forcing him to shoot them dead in retaliation]].
70	** Ghost appears at the end of the flashback mission dressed as his [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2 2009 counterpart]] did: a balaclava with the original skull design, a headset, red-tinted sunglasses, and a gray hoodie.
71	** One of the Blackcell operators, Arthur, is more-or-less someone wearing [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyInfiniteWarfare a FTL rig]], down to the circuits crossing his arms.
72	** One of the Operators gets a skin heavily based on VideoGame/CallOfDutyInfiniteWarfare's Ethan, a robot.
73	** The Warden aftermarket kit for the Lockwood turns it into dual-wielded lever-action shotguns, a reference to the infamously overpowered dual [=1887s=] from ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2''.
74	** Several Season 3 additions reference Sledgehammer's earlier ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare Advanced Warfare]]'' installment. The MORS railgun and Bal-27 assault rifle arrive in the game from ''Advanced Warfare''[='s=] arsenal while the "JAK Atlas" aftermarket kit for the [=AMR9=] rechambers it for [=5.56x45=] and changes the full-auto setting on the fire selector to five-round auto-burst (hold trigger down for continuous bursts), which is the same functionality that the weapon of the same name in ''Advanced Warfare'' had. The name of the kit likely references the Atlas Corporation, the BigBad of ''AW'', and the JAK parts being all 3D-printed refers to the main weapon of ''AW'' using 3D-printed bullets.
75	** Along with DevelopmentGag: there was a ''Zombies'' mode proposed for ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2019'', which even received concept art and focused on soldiers (either Barkov's gang or the US Military) weaponising zombies; here, the Zombies mode revolves around the cast from ''2019'' trying to prevent Zakhaev from weaponising Aetherium and zombies.
76	* NeverFoundTheBody: In "Danger Close", [[spoiler:Shadow's gunship takes down a helicopter assumed to be carrying Makarov, and Shepherd and Graves are quick to declare him dead despite TF 141 not being able to find the body.]] Of course, he's revealed to be alive the very next mission. [[spoiler: Graves]] himself is revealed to have pulled off the exact same trick in the previous game, so he should really know better.
77	* NostalgiaLevel: ''MW III''[='s=] launch lineup of 6-on-6 multiplayer maps is entirely comprised of remade maps taken from ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2'', which includes locations such as the ever-popular Terminal, Favela, and Scrapyard (last seen in the 2019 ''Modern Warfare'').
78	* OddNameOut: The Wubz and Friendz Party Pack introduced four skins based on characters like the ones you would see in a colorful kids show. The brown one is called Wubz, the green one is called Stubz, the purple one is called Bubz and the pink one is called [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Harbinger Of Dread]].
79	* OldSaveBonus: Any unlocked content originating from ''Modern Warfare II''[='s=] multiplayer or ''Warzone 2.0'' (paid or otherwise) is also available in ''III'' -- including operators, weapons/attachments, skins, etc. (with some exceptions). New players for ''III'' have to unlock content from ''II'' via unlock challenges.
80	* PresentDay: As with the previous two games, the campaign begins on the same day the game released, November 10th, [[TheNewTwenties 2023]], and takes place over the following week, with the exception of a single flashback mission to 2019.
81	* RecycledTitle: Like ''Modern Warfare II'' before it this game's title is shared with a previous game in the series (in this case the 2011 installment) and the logo employs a Roman numeral to differentiate itself.
82	* ShoutOut:
83	** Pathfinder's Kabuto skin turns her into a SuperSentai {{Tokusatsu}} warrior that's based on Franchise/KamenRider.
84	** The Codasaurus pack turns Riptide into [[RaptorAttack a velociraptor]] taken out of ''Film/JurassicPark''. He also carries around [[VideoGame/DeathStranding a baby (dinosaur) kept in a small pod filled with amber liquid]].
85	** The Petrol skin for Dokkaebi turns her into a [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Transformer that's primarily based]] on Bumblebee.
86	** The "John Doe" operator is [[VideoGame/DeathStranding a sludge-covered skeleton in Vietnam-era combat gear]].
87	** The Cyber Junkie pack for Swagger turns him into a geared-up robot with the aesthetics of ''VideoGame/{{Titanfall}}''; fitting, given ''VideoGame/{{Titanfall}}'' and ''VideoGame/Titanfall2'' were made by Infinity Ward shortly after leaving Call of Duty and Activision due to a number of fights during the development of ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2''.
88	** Similarly, the Trash Talk 2.0 skin for Ripper turns her into happy lil' robot akin to ''Titanfall'''s [=MRVNs=], and slaps the smiley screen they normally wear on their chest on Ripper's head instead.
89	** The JAK Burnout kit works identically to ''VideoGame/Titanfall2'''s Spitfire: an LMG that starts out with slow, inaccurate shots before ramping up in fire rate to blistering, fiery levels.
90	** The Wubz and Friends series take after various SugarBowl kids' shows with amorphous blobs for mascots, like Series/TheTeletubbies or WesternAnimation/YoGabbaGabba.
91	** The Killer Serial Creep turns Swagger into a mishmash of various ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' enemies: he wears the Army surplus outfit and glasses of Creator/PaulDano's [[Film/TheBatman2022 Riddler]], has filthy bright-red lipstick like Creator/HeathLedger's [[Film/TheDarkKnight version of the Joker]], and his head is wrapped up in bandages, much like the Calendar Killer from ''ComicBook/TheLongHalloween'' and Hush, one of Batman's newest archnemeses.
92	** Izanagi's getup, a purple skintight top that shows off her hips, is patterned on ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'''s Juri Han.
93	* SpottingTheThread: During the flashback mission at Verdansk stadium, you enter a room full of paramedics. They will tell you that security let them in before asking you to help a victim. If you're clever enough to remember being told at the start of the mission that first responders will not enter until the scene is clear, then that should clue you in they're Inner Circle posing as paramedics, and you can shoot at them with no penalty (or wait for Price to tell you). Otherwise, if you do help the paramedic, they will pull their guns out and ambush you, and you have to kill them quick.
94	* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Price ends up blaming himself for [[spoiler:stopping Soap from executing Makarov when they first apprehended him]], believing that so much death and destruction could have been avoided otherwise. This is what pushes him to avert this trope by [[spoiler:assassinating General Shepherd the first chance he gets]].

Context VideoGame / CallOfDutyModernWarfareIII