Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Bloody military shooter with disturbing cinematic moments.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Learning1
Best: Really engaging, great learning approach.
Very Good: Engaging, very good learning approach.
Good: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
Fair: Somewhat engaging, okay learning approach.
Not for Learning : Not recommended for learning.
Not for Kids: Not age-appropriate for kids; not recommended for learning.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is an extremely violent first-person military shooter. Players spend the vast majority of their time engaged in frenetic firefights, killing hundreds of enemy combatants with a wide variety of realistic weapons ranging from guns to bombs. Movie-like sequences show both soldiers and civilians being killed, their bodies littering streets and building hallways. One particularly disturbing scene depicts a family being killed by a truck bomb, though players are spared the gory graphical details. Soldiers use strong language, and one of them is a frequent cigar smoker. Parents should note that this game’s primary appeal is multiplayer. Millions of players will spend countless hours online in head-to-head matches that support open online voice chat, which may involve inappropriate language and personal subjects.

  • This game glorifies military violence and exploits players’ emotions via scenes depicting acts of terrorism and war crimes committed against civilians. However, it also explores themes of courage, self-sacrifice, and soldierly camaraderie.    
  • The game’s troops are battle hardened warriors who are clearly thrilled by and take satisfaction from intense combat. That said, they are also noble soldiers who, occasional acts of vengeance aside, fight for a righteous cause and are willing to sacrifice themselves for their comrades, their countries, and the civilians they attempt to protect.
  • Controls are standard for the genre, and should feel familiar to veteran players. Portions of the campaign can be challenging, but several difficulty levels allow players of all skill levels to enjoy some success. Online play can be frustrating for inexperienced players, given the level of skill possessed by franchise veterans.  
  • Players engage in realistic, first-person military combat using rifles, handguns, grenades, rockets, bombs, and other modern weapons. Enemies scream and writhe in pain, and blood gushes from wounds and stains the environment. Cinematic sequences show soldiers and civilians being executed with guns. One short scene depicts a little girl and her mother caught in a truck bomb explosion.
  • Not applicable.
  • Soldiers use strong language throughout the game, including the words “f--k” and “s--t.”
  • Not applicable.
  • One of the main characters smokes a cigar. Players see him lighting up and inhaling from a first-person perspective. Players can shoot packages containing a white, powdery, unnamed narcotic.
  • Some privacy concerns: This game has an online community of millions of players. Online play supports open voice chat, which means players can share personal information and engage in discussions involving inappropriate subjects and language. The new Call of Duty Elite community provides players a way to be part of the game even when they’re away from their consoles.

What kids can learn

1

While elements of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 focus on war strategies and communicating with others, we don't recommend it for learning because of its graphic violence.

Subjects
  • Language & Reading
  • Math
  • Arts
  • Hobbies
Skills
  • Emotional Development
  • Communication
    conveying messages effectively, listening, speaking
  • Collaboration
  • Responsibility & Ethics
  • Tech Skills
  • Health & Fitness

What's it about?

CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 3 picks up where its predecessor left off, with global superpowers engaged in a third world war. Led astray by terrorists with an inscrutable agenda, Russian soldiers are attempting to invade the United States and several European nations. Players take on the roles of several different soldiers -- Americans, Brits, and even a couple of Russians -- in the fight to repel the invasion on several fronts, with battle zones ranging from New York to Berlin.

Outside the campaign, players can engage in solo or cooperative missions in Special Ops mode, which allows teams of players to work together to complete short, story-driven missions or attempt to survive endless waves of enemy attackers. However, the most popular part of the game is sure to be online competitive multiplayer, which allows players to increase in rank and ability via experience points and specific challenges. It offers new modes -- including one called “Confirmed Kill,” which requires players to collect enemy dog tags to score points -- as well as a new online community called Call of Duty Elite, which allows players to track their progress and communicate with one another outside the game.


Is it any good?

 

There are plenty of reasons why the Call of Duty games are so popular, and they’re all on display in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Its cinematic campaign is essentially an interactive Hollywood war film filled with implausible -- but highly entertaining -- action sequences experienced from a soldier’s perspective, including a plane crash, a high speed boat ride through a burning Manhattan harbor, and a firefight inside a blinding African dust storm. It only lasts around six hours, but they’re six of the most thrilling hours adult gamers will spend in front of their televisions all year.

Online multiplayer, meanwhile, is polished, deep, and extraordinarily habit-forming. Its enormous array of modes and rewards is unmatched, and the new Call of Duty Elite community provides players a way to be part of the game even when they’re away from their consoles. There’s no denying that it feels a lot like its recent predecessors, and some players may be beginning to tire of the formula, but incremental improvements to an already great experience should go a long way to appeasing most of the franchise’s tens of millions of fans.


Explore, discuss, enjoy

  • Families can talk about violence in games. What markers do you look for to determine whether a game is too violent for your kids? Do your kids understand why violent games may be inappropriate for their age?

  • Families can also discuss online safety. What should you watch out for when playing online? What would you do if you encountered someone who was rude or, worse, seemed potentially dangerous?


This review of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was written by

What kids can learn

1

While elements of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 focus on war strategies and communicating with others, we don't recommend it for learning because of its graphic violence.


Subjects
  • Language & Reading:
  • Math:
  • Science:
  • Social Studies: geography, global awareness, power structures
  • Arts:
  • Hobbies:
Skills
  • Thinking & Reasoning: decision-making, problem solving, strategy
  • Creativity:
  • Self-Direction: identifying strengths and weaknesses, set objectives, work to achieve goals
  • Emotional Development:
  • Communication: conveying messages effectively, listening, speaking
  • Collaboration:
  • Responsibility & Ethics:
  • Tech Skills:
  • Health & Fitness:

What's it about?

CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 3 picks up where its predecessor left off, with global superpowers engaged in a third world war. Led astray by terrorists with an inscrutable agenda, Russian soldiers are attempting to invade the United States and several European nations. Players take on the roles of several different soldiers -- Americans, Brits, and even a couple of Russians -- in the fight to repel the invasion on several fronts, with battle zones ranging from New York to Berlin.

Outside the campaign, players can engage in solo or cooperative missions in Special Ops mode, which allows teams of players to work together to complete short, story-driven missions or attempt to survive endless waves of enemy attackers. However, the most popular part of the game is sure to be online competitive multiplayer, which allows players to increase in rank and ability via experience points and specific challenges. It offers new modes -- including one called “Confirmed Kill,” which requires players to collect enemy dog tags to score points -- as well as a new online community called Call of Duty Elite, which allows players to track their progress and communicate with one another outside the game.


This review of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was written by
Teen, 17 years old
November 9, 2011
 
Are you people freaking serious?
"... blood gushes from wounds and stains the environment..." You're not serious are you??? Blood appears as a small decal and rarely hits a wall and does NOT stain the ground. 88% say sexual content is an issue.... Oh give me a break...
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Parent of 5, 14, and 17 year old
November 13, 2011
 
What a parent who knows what he's talking about thinks.
Alright, this is Call of Duty. Obviously this isn't a game for a 9 year old. Now I would like to adress somethings said. First off, the tea bagging idea. This is not an option in the game. There is no "tea bag button" . Players tease each other online, by crouching then standing up repetatively on a body they just killed. This is something done online, and really isn't that obvious unless someone explains what the person is doing. Now as to the online talking to people. People saying things to your 9 year old and making him cry isn't the games fault. That could happen in any game, including an E game. They are random people talking to your kids. You shouldn't be buying this game for your 9 year old anyways! Now onto the blood and swearing. YOU CAN TURN IT OFF. This is an M game people. You are buying it for your 8 year olds and then complaining about swearing. I can garuntee you if the parents had known that you could turn off explicit content, they would. Turning off explicit content turns off all of the swearing (except for online, which can't be controlled) , and blood. This instantly makes the game T and makes it something that is okay. At the beggining of the game, the first time you play it, it will ask you if you want to turn off explicit content. Be there with your kid when he first plays it, and make sure he turns it off.
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Parent
November 10, 2011
 
Be careful
Tell your kids to turn off they blood and the swearing. Take it away if they are doing bad at school and give back when they start doing good in school. It is if they get something good for doing good in school and take it away of they start doing bad. Stop worrying about the blood it is a part of life when you get cut there blood it is no different from a video game and real life. Swearing turn that off and swearing is a part of life to we are not perfect and we swear sometimes we all do we can replace the f word to fudge in front of our kids and they know it is the f word deal with it. DEAL WITH IT YOU CAN DEAL WITH AND YOU CAN WITH THE GAME!!!
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Parent
November 11, 2011
 
Don't believe the bias reviews
If you are a parent, like myself, and worrying on what your child is playing i believe that you will not have to worry about anything in the game. For on 99.99% of the time your child will play online with friends. Yes there is killing but its not to be worried because its the joy of winning or gaining points that they like not the "kill". And also the campaign mode, which is where the bad (and bias) reviews are coming from, is extremely over exaggerated on the review. There may be cursing but if your child is of my recommended age and mature he is exposed to this all day long. If you don't want him/her to hear language like that then don't let him go to school. Either way the amount of language in the game is a small amount of it, and is minuscule to what your child hears every day. Let your child have the game its pure fun and is a great game being a gamer myself i play it with my child! All and all it is okay for your child to have the game
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Teen, 15 years old
January 12, 2012
 
An honest and detailed review from a player.
Okay I know that most people aren't going to read this review because it's coming from a 15-year-old, but if you've read this far keep reading. I got Modern Warfare 3 (Mw3) for Christmas 2011, and it's the latest Call of Duty game I've had since Call of Duty 2 (cod2), and it was a major step up. Ever since I had played Modern Warfare 2 at a friend's house, I've been wanting to get a new Call of Duty game since. The graphics, the enhanced multi-player, the customization, the perks system, the leaderboards, everything. I kept looking at reviews to try to get my parents to buy me the game, but for two years they stuck to the stubborn response of "It's and M rated game." Finally however, either they approved of my high school grades or felt that I was mature enough, I got the game along with a Playstation 3 (PS3). Immediately I plugged the system in and inserted the disc. First things first though. When you get the game, and you're not a very experienced Call of Duty or first-person shooter (FPS) gamer, play the single player first, or you'll get crushed online. Even after previous experience with other COD games and after playing though several missions on the single-player campaign, I went through my first online game at a miserable 2 kills and 20 deaths. If your kid goes straight to the multi-player (There will be a message that strongly recommends that you play the single player first) and doesn't have any kind of experience, he'll get destroyed by people who have been playing the series since Call of Duty 4/ Modern Warfare 1, a whole 4 games ago, and will get discouraged. Okay so onto the part that most parents probably care about most. The reason that the game has an 'M' rating. Well first thing's first, in America, if you're game has blood and mild swearing and is rated 'T', you'll get sued. Also, the ESRB's rating system isn't very specific in my opinion. The 'M' rating has quite a large range, from the 'M' games that couldn't quite make the 'T' rating, to regular 'M' games, to 'M' games that are nearing the Adults Only 'AO' rating (Sony (PS3), Mircrosoft (Xbox360), and Nintendo (Wii) never allow games with an AO rating to be published on their platforms). Modern Warfare 3 tends to be slightly towards the lower side of 'M'. However it still has its reasons. Your kid is probably getting the game strictly for multi-player (or possibly for Special Operations or 'Spec Ops'), so I'll review that first. The first thing you need to know that this is where the game could pretty much be called a 'T' game. Blood is very minimal, characters in-game don't swear, in fact, all the in-game voices are notifications that help out your team except for the lines said at the beginning and end of each match. This is an improvement from COD World at War (WaW) (the 5th game in the series), because Mw3's beginning and ending lines don't contain swear words and aren't as 'negative'. For instance, a beginning line in WaW in free-for-all (every man for himself) is "Kill all who oppose you" and an ending line for U.S. Marines is "Outstanding Marines! Outfu*****standing!". Mw3 doesn't use these kinds of lines. Instead of blood spraying out of shot opponents, something that looks a lot like money flies out, which I'm not sure what that purpose is for or if it's suggestive of anything. The only problem I have is that the players online aren't the best, epecially when it comes to vocabulary. Many players online swear constantly. If a person you kill has a mic, (you can't hear the other team in team based games), you'll have about a 1-1.5sec space where you can hear their reaction. Usually these contain swear words from either frustration or shock. However you can pull up the leaderboard by pressing 'select' on your controller, and mute those people by selecting their name. This gets read of the swearing problem at once. Another problem with the online is that if your kid doesn't like practicing to get better, he'll drop this game quickly. Many people on this game are pros, and I still usually have more deaths than kills every game. Definitely stay away from the Search and Destroy game mode if you're inexperienced, because the people on that game mode are hardcore players that are extremely good. Alright onto single player. This is where the game gets its 'M' rating. Also, the more accurate you are with a gun, the more violent it is. I played a mission with a sniper rifle after i had some experience online, and most of my shots were headshots. No matter the gun however, headshots usually result in blood spraying out of the enemy's head, and, if they're close to a wall, splattering against it. Knifing an enemy usually has blood come out of him at a very close perspective, and dead enemies will occasionally have pools of blood coming from them. Players will see many allies die in combat at the hands of Russian and/or terrorist hands, even quite a few main characters die. One scene depicts a family in vacation in London (where you actually control the father holding the camera), where a mother and her daughter are blown up by a truck bomb and the father (you) dies almost instantly from a poisonous gas that's spilled out all over London. The game however gives you a few warnings about this scene and lets you skip it without being punished at all in terms of medals/trophies or anything. All in all, the campaign is where Modern Warfare 3 gets its 'M' rating. A little side note for Spec. Ops. it's like a cross between multi-player and single player. The missions and modes can be played with one person, two people, or with another online (again beware of swearers). The violence is slightly up from multi-player, but not as much as the campaign. Overall, people play the game mostly for the multi-player action (and possibly the new 'Survival Mode' in Spec. Ops.). Most people don't play it to kill avatars though, it's for the points and endless competition the game offers. The story-line is fairly immersing (starting off right after Modern Warfare 2 ended), and has tons of replay value. Just know that online players are very tough (they make even the toughest enemies in single player pathetic at times), and the single player is rated 'M' for a reason. I'll say a line that's probably overused by now, but if you're kid is mature enough, this game is worth it. If he/she starts slipping up in things like school however, take it away. I suggest playing it only on weekends (anyways that's when the less experienced people are online anyways), and defiantly not before exams (I never had time anyways). Some say that this game is great for venting out a bad day, but only if you're good at the game, cause being beaten won't help (although I also have a great time played weather being destroyed or not!) Once you've gotten used to the game however, you'll find that Infinity Ward, the maker of the game, added some things that help new players out, such as point streaks that don't reset on death. Thanks for reading!
What other families should know:

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Parent
December 10, 2011
 
The Honest Truth
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is perfectly acceptable for children ages 12 and up. The reasoning behind this notion is... 1. Without this game, my child was constantly ridiculed. After I got this game for him, he had something to talk about with his friends 2. Players can mute other players when on multiplayer. This eliminates all profanity that may be used during online gameplay. 3. It came to my mind that my boy might not know what kind of horrors the armed forces may be going through every single day. 4. If parents are worried about the violence and foul wordplay, at the beginning of the game players have the option to turn off both af these things. 5. Don't go thinking that the parents who gave the game 17+ are reasonable, look at how many spelling and punctuation errors their reviews had compared to mine.
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Parent
November 13, 2011
 
ModernWarfare 3 isn't Bad for Your Children!
This game isn't very harmfull to your kids. Yes, it does have some guns and shooting but it really is a violent game compared to some of the other first-person shooters; even the ones that are rated T. My kids have fun playing this game and still have good grades in school and are healthy growing boys.

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Educator and Parent
November 11, 2011
 
13 and up, good game
Look, my son loves these games, and i am a little concerned with it all, because i have recently been talking to the parents of his friends, and they all say how bad it is. I watched my son play yesterday, and he was having a great time, sure it was bloody, but he is 13, cut him some slack. He is mature enough now that i am sure that he will not use the language and the blood and gore will not affect him. If you are worried about the LIVE version of it, i took great notice, and the live part is difficult to use, and you can only use it with your friends on live. And live is not even that great, they don't need it, and you can just turn off the sound, my son is mature like that.
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Parent
November 29, 2011
 
WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PARENTS
Oh my god! Are you parents SERIOUS! What the heck! MW3 has no sex, language your middle/high schooler hears more in school, but if you really hate it that much you can turn it off. It is so fun. What people usually do is look at the M and say "NO!!" but it isn't a bad game. People get mad because because a dude smokes a cigar in it. HELLO!!! 50% of people out there smoke, who cares. I know I'd let my kid play it. I'm saying it's not as bad as people think. IT IS FINE!!!!!
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Teen, 14 years old
November 13, 2011
 
Parental Overreaction?
I am 15 years old, I bought a copy of this game and play it with my 12 year old little brother. Yes, the game is violent, yes, there is language, and yes, many online users get thrills from harassing younger players. This in turn, causes many parents to overreact when they see game play. But if they would take time to read the rating and see it is rated "M for mature" perhaps they would realize that their child shouldn't be playing it! Many parents also complain of the online language, this is not a reason to panic as there is a simple "Toggle Mute" option allowing the console owner to mute any player in the lobby. With these simple points in mind, Modern Warfare 3 is a stunning fps and my personal favorite in the Call of Duty series thus far. It features graphics, sounds, and controls make Modern Warfare 3 a contender for top game of 2011. However, if u are the parent of a young or impressionable child, instead of buying the game, and then realizing your mistake and posting on this forum, take some time to look at the game you are buying.
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This review of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was written by
Platforms:Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Available online?Not available online
Genre:First Person Shooter
Developer:Activision
Release date:November 8, 2011
Price:$59.99
ESRB rating:M for Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Violence (Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

This review of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was written by

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