Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer preview

This post was uploaded before COD: MW3 was released. For up to date information including hints & tips on how to dominate the score boards, subscribe to YouTube.com/iKingOfHouse

As I type, an event called Call of Duty: XP is taking place in LA. Alongside a load of Modern Warfare themed events, guests are being exposed to MW3 for the first time.

For those of us unable to attend COD XP, Infinity Ward (developers) and Activision (publishers) have just released the following MW3 multiplayer trailer:

At 0:07, 1:03, 1:50 & 2:59 you get to see potential “load outs” for MW3. If you’re not familiar with the Call of Duty series, a load out is simply a particular combination of weapons, equipment, kill streaks and perks.

For your reference, the load outs shown in the video are as follows:

0:07: Potential MW3 load out #1

Primary Weapon: M4
Secondary Weapon: M320 GLM

Equipment: Flash Grenade & Frag Grenade

Slot 1 Perk: Recon
Slot 2 Perk: Quick draw
Slot 3 Perk: Stalker

3 kills: UAV
9 kills: Overwatch
15 kills: Juggernaut

Proficiency: Kick

Game type: Kill Confirmed

1:03: Potential MW3 load out #2

Primary Weapon: M4
Secondary Weapon: FMG9

Equipment: Bouncing Betty & EMP Grenade

Slot 1 Perk: Extreme Conditioning
Slot 2 Perk: Assassin
Slot 3 Perk: Sitrep

7 kills: Airdrop trap
9 kills: Remote turret
11 kills: EMP

Proficiency: Focus

Game type: Capture The Flag

1:59: Potential MW3 load out #3

Primary Weapon: ACR
Secondary Weapon: XM25

Equipment: Portable Radar & Claymores

Slot 1 Perk: Recon
Slot 2 Perk: Blast Shield
Slot 3 Perk: Dead Silence

5 kills: Ballistic Vests
10 Kills: Recon Drone
14 kills: Stealth Bomber

Proficiency: Focus

Game type: Team Deathmatch

2:50: Potential MW3 load out #4

Primary Weapon: ACR
Secondary Weapon: Dragunov

Equipment: Camera & Throwing Knife

Slot 1 Perk: Blind Eye
Slot 2 Perk: Overkill
Slot 3 Perk: Sitrep

2 kills: Scavenger Pro [specialist kill streak]
4 kills: Steady Aim Pro [specialist kill streak]
6 kills: Marksman Pro [specialist kill streak]

Proficiency: 2 Attachments

Game type: Ground War

So, what’s new?

At a fist glance, not much as the kill streaks and perks match up with information released last month.  However, look a little closer and you’ll see that each load out comes with a proficiency. Besides ‘focus’, ‘kick’ and ‘2 attachments’ it is unclear what proficiencies are available and how these will impact gameplay. [Update 11th October 2011: More on MW3 gun proficiencies]

The video also provides a glimpse of the equipment which will be available to MW3 players. For the most part, this looks pretty standard – throwing knives, claymores, tactical and explosive grenades have featured in most of the previous Call of Duty titles.

Bouncing betty and EMP grenades are definitely a new addition. I suspect the former will play out as per your standard claymore, whilst the latter is likely to be effective against enemy equipment. This isn’t a complete guess: at 1 minute 28 seconds into the video you see an EMP grenade being used to disable a sentry gun.

In my previous post, MW3 Speculation, I was able to list the specialist kill streaks but couldn’t confirm how they would work. After watching the MW3 multiplayer trailer I am fairly certain the support streaks will provide a very viable alternative to the traditional offering (lethal kill streaks & support kill streaks). Given the choice of 6 perks vs 3 kill streaks, I think I’d go for the former. Only time will tell…..

Finally, we get a sneak preview of the “Kill Confirmed” game mode. This looks like a variation of team deathmatch, in which dog tags must be collected from a dead body in order to confirm a kill. At this point it isn’t clear whether or not the dog tags have to be picked up by the player who killed an opponent, or if the ‘job’ can be done by anyone on that player’s team.