sideline gamer: call of duty modern warfare 3

I've been watching video games again... because its video game release season (that's what PJ tells me, anyway), and as far as I can tell, this Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 thing is a big deal... possibly the biggest. I know a lot of people are probably going to compare this to Battlefield 3 (again, that's what PJ tells me) but I'm going to avoid doing that because I feel like they are actually very different games, even though they have baseline similarities- like both being WW3 type games, and taking place in NYC as well as major European cities.  Moving on...

MW3 opens on Wall Street- which was INSANE!  It was so realistic, eerily life-like and perfect... you know, until everything started blowing up and crumbling down.  In the first minutes of the game, you play not only in the normal shooting mode, but also in a helicopter and in a boat!  I could tell it was awesome because PJ got really excited about the boat, I got excited when I saw the Staten Island ferry terminal.

Some of the cooler parts of the movie... err... video game... are the slo-mo segments and the AC-130 plane support mode.  There are times in the game where you bust into an area, either by falling through the ceiling or exploding open a door, and things go SLOW.  This gives you a chance to very carefully and thoughtfully kill every person in the room besides whoever you are trying to save or capture.  I usually took these moments to marvel at how you literally kill everyone in sight during these games.  In contrast to these very slow, very precise moments are the AC-130 plane support parts.  Basically, you're surrounded by enemies on all sides, and you get transported somehow from the ground into a plane that shoots at everyone coming at you and you are then able to save yourself and your buddies.  Once you save the day, you are spirited back to the ground, pretty seamlessly, and then you continue to shoot everyone in sight.

Honestly, one of the best parts of the game is the end.  I know that sounds horrible but bear with me.  I'm not going to give you any details, just in case you also pretend video games are movies, but the end was satisfying in a way that a lot of other games recently are not.  It's like the bonus scene at the end of the movie, when you get the satisfaction of seeing everything resolved.
Good. Stuff.
I knew this wouldn't be complete if I didn't comment on the on-line gaming mode.  After a few weeks of Team Deathmatch and cursing 12 year old boys on surround sound, I can give a bit of insight.  My one comment is that all the maps seem kind of... similar.  Sure, they are literally all over the world and look totally different... but the density of spaces and the actual size of the areas are all pretty much the same.  I'm hoping that this is something they will work on with map packs... or blah blah blah I just watch this crap because I have to.

<3 barb

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