Summary
Performances and voice acting have always been an underlying strong suit of theCall of Dutyfranchise. While some early entries in the series - and maybe even some later ones - featured some occasionally corny dialogue and over-the-top voice work, mostCall of Dutyentries fromCall of Duty 4: Modern Warfareonwardshave had pretty great performances across the board. Even the handful of celebrities thatCall of Dutyhas had over the years have been decent more often than not. Thankfully,Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3continues this long-standing tradition.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3is a disappointing game in a lot of ways, but it isn’t without its strengths. Unfortunately, a lot of those strengths are found inModern Warfare 3’s multiplayer mode and not its campaign, which is being torn apart by both critics and fans alike. But while the issues withCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s campaignare plentiful, there’s one element that shines through, and that’sModern Warfare 3’s performances, with a talented team of actors clearly giving it their all regardless of the material that’s been put in front of them.
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s campaign is incredibly short, suffers from some real pacing issues, has very little depth to its story, and wastes some of its best characters, but through it all, the game’s performances remain a consistent highlight. For the last three games now, Barry Sloane’s Captain John Price has been the star of theModern Warfareshow, giving each moment of tension and intensity the perfect amount of gravitas, while also injecting a touch of humor to keep things fun.
Right alongside him is Claudia Doumit. Now a well-known face thanks toThe BoysandGen V, Claudia Doumit’s Farah Karim is still one of the best original characters made for theModern Warfarereboot series, and her performance throughout the series has been consistently excellent. Though they share just a few seconds of screen time together inCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Price and Farah’s limited back-and-forth is easily one of the campaign’s biggest highlights, and it’s all down to Sloane and Doumit’s chemistry.
Another major highlight ofCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s campaign is the dynamic between Task Force 141 members. While last year’sModern Warfare 2laid the groundwork for the team’s various interwoven relationships,Modern Warfare 3is smart to put it front and center of most campaign cutscenes, with each character having a distinct personality and role within the team. The banter between the team also helps to makeModern Warfare 3’s campaign feel a bit lighter, as its story deals with some pretty heavy subjects. However, it is a shame that Task Force 141’s actors don’t get a whole lot of screen time together, and there are virtually no lengthy gameplay sequences where players can listen to witty back-and-forths between characters likeModern Warfare 2’s “Alone” mission.
But whileCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s actors go a long way in elevating the game’s story and characters, the game’s graphics also deserve major kudos for assistingMW3’s narrative. TheCall of Dutyseries has never really been associated with nuance, but with the rebootedModern Warfareseries' phenomenal graphics, that’s not really true anymore. Now, every speck on an actor’s face can be translated into an in-game cutscene, showing every minute facial gesture, and adding a great deal of realism to the game’s story in the process.
