The upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 seems to be a return to form, despite being initially planned as an expansion to last year’s installment. Recently, the company confirmed that the classic Call of Duty multiplayer minimap, absent in recent entries, will in Modern Warfare 3, likely due to the numerous complaints from the community. This will fix one of the most annoying issues of contemporary Call of Duty games, bringing back the blistering-fast pace the series is known for.
As part of Modern Warfare 3’s marketing campaign, Activision has started sending text updates with teases pertaining to the upcoming game. One tease (as relayed by Charlie Intel) confirms the existence of a “red dot,” which refers to the minimap in multiplayer.
Since Modern Warfare (2019), slow pacing has been one of the most prominent complaints about the series. Animations were sluggish, weapons felt heavy and unwieldy, and the minimap did not show enemy red dots, even when they’d fire unsuppressed weapons. This caused players to approach gunfights much more cautiously, which slowed the pacing to a halt. It didn’t feel like Call of Duty at all. Slow pacing in FPS games isn’t inherently wrong, but Call of Duty is known for being a fast-paced shooter, encouraging players to run around quickly. This has been absent in recent installments, much to the disappointment of fans.
The newer style minimap present in Modern Warfare (2019) and onward only shows un-Ghosted players during UAVs, forcing players to rely on killstreaks to know where their opponents are. While enemy red dots do appear on the compass at the top of the screen, this only offers the general direction of your opponents, lacking the precision needed to pinpoint them effectively. It also then encourages players to earn UAVs by playing passively.
This was a baffling change that was offputting, especially to series veterans. It also made suppressors practically useless, as red dots would not appear on the minimap regardless. But finally, Activision is reverting back to the classic minimap style. This will likely encourage a steady flow throughout matches, allowing players to know the location of their opponents and rewarding aggressive play.
To make things balanced, Activision could slightly penalize players for using suppressors, by significantly reducing the range and speed of the weapon while the attachment is equipped. This way, not everyone will automatically default to using suppressors as they have in some of the earlier entries. If balanced properly, there should be an incentive to use weapons with or without suppressors, hopefully resulting in some varied weapon builds. In turn, this would mean there will still be plenty of enemy red dots on the minimap.
While much of the reception to this minimap tease has been positive, many players argue that the feature shouldn’t have been removed in the first place. Still, it’s heartening to see that Activision is finally listening to the community and will seemingly start things off on the right foot with the upcoming entry. The game is rumored to have a slew of exciting features such as remastered maps from the original Modern Warfare 2 (2009), slide canceling, reload canceling, map voting, and many others, making us optimistic about Modern Warfare 3.
