Critical Consensus: Modern Warfare 3

Through its multiplayer modes, Call of Duty has been slowly morphing into a role-playing game, but Modern Warfare 3 has finally tipped the balance. Edge awards the game 9 out of 10, principally for, "what feels like the best iteration of Call of Duty's world-conquering multiplayer thus far," not to mention the return of Spec Ops and a new Horde-esque Survival mode.

"In multiplayer there are significant changes, the most noticeable being how much slower sprinting feels. Weapon weight is now a factor in how your character moves, and the removal of perks like Lightweight means that movement isn't as lightning-quick as in previous Call of Dutys. For a minute it feels like running in treacle; after that, you realise Call of Duty was always a tiny bit too fast."

The other key change is the usurping of killstreaks as the only means of accessing the game's more destructive and spectacular features. Modern Warfare 3 is now more accessible to a wider variety of skill levels, which can only help boost its dominance among online shooters - sorry, science fiction RPGs.

Multiplayer has become more accommodating for everyone, and it makes Call of Duty better

Edge magazine

"Your 'pointstreak' can now be channeled towards Assault, which is the familiar killstreak system, or Support, in which the rewards are initially geared towards helping your team, but your pointstreak doesn't reset if you die... In objective-based game modes, points count towards your streak progression. Capture enough flags: get a gunship."

"Multiplayer has become more accommodating for everyone, and it makes Call of Duty better: how many players regularly clock up 15+ kills without dying? Controlling an attack chopper was a distant dream for most in Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer; in Modern Warfare 3 it's not easy, but it is attainable."

However, the further one retreats from the broadsheets into the specialist press, the lower the score becomes. Eurogamer's Dan Whitehead awards the game an 8 out of 10, highlighting the single-player's rigid adherence to formula as a cause for concern rather than celebration.

Modern Warfare 3's surfeit of online options is again singled out as the most admirable of Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer's achievements. Indeed, the game's recently announced Elite service is the key to what Whitehead describes as, "perhaps the most exciting development": exclusive game modes for private matches.

"Perhaps an admission that Call of Dutys community doesn't have the best reputation for civility, the decision to offer greater flexibility and variety to those playing with friends will be a boon to anyone who loves the game, but hasn't got the stomach for all the racist and homophobic epithets that too often greet each point scored."

"These are the more offbeat modes: Juggernaut matches, Infection modes where players swap teams with each kill, Gun matches where every fresh scalp gives you a better weapon. All are fully customisable and open to remixing in whatever way you fancy."

"Even better, these settings can then be saved and shared with friends, who share with their friends, and so on, spreading mutant community-designed game modes virally. The best ones will be highlighted on Elite, and may even be added to the game proper in future updates."

Ultimately, while Modern Warfare 3 hardly breaks the mould, it is a reminder that the Call of Duty mould constitutes a, "phenomenally well-tooled gameplay machine, and one that goes out of its way to please." More importantly, Whitehead is brave enough to suggest a winner - by a nose - in the hyperbolic battle with Battlefield 3.

"Comparisons to Battlefield 3 are expected, but played back-to-back, also fairly futile. Where multiplayer is concerned, the two are far more different than their surface similarities would suggest. Where COD wins out is in its coherence."