My favorite video game of 2011 is the first person shooter video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, or MW3, and was just released this November. I personally prefer to play this game on the Xbox 360 because to me, the graphics are better than on the Playstation 3, or PS3, but many of my friends prefer the PS3 version. Regardless of which of these two platforms is used, the game is still compelling. Some of my friends who played the Wii version of this game were unhappy with the graphics quality, but I have not personally experienced this. The storyline of MW3 picks up where Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, or MW2, left off. While the third installment in the series continues the same story line, and has a familiar, thrilling feel in game play, there are several improvements that make this installment in the series more challenging and exciting.
Several of MW3's improvements include the newly available multiplayer split screen while playing online option. Also new to MW3 is Survival Mode in Special Ops, where you and/or another player face wave after wave of increasingly difficult "bad guys" that re-spawn based on your location. Survival mode is probably my second most favorite mode of play for MW3. Also new is a reworked rewards system where completing objectives, in addition to kills, leads to "pointstreaks" that can be redeemed for rewards in the Assault, Support and Specialist Packages. Kill Confirmed and Team Defender are also new game modes for Multiplayer. In Kill Confirmed, which is my favorite mode of play for this game, you must collect the dog tags of the killed opponent to score, and you can collect others dog tags to keep them from scoring. In team defender, your team gets double points for kills while your team is holding the recovered flag.
I won't give away any spoilers, but the plot of the game campaign brings the story line that was begun in MW1 and MW2 to a satisfying conclusion. If only terrorists could be dispatched with such efficiency and satisfaction in reality!
Even though MW3 has only been available for less than two months, with all of the improvements and additions to the game since MW2, including the "poetic justice" that concludes the end of the story, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has quickly become my favorite video game for 2011.