Having received an Xbox 360 for Christmas, I did what any self respecting forty year old man would do. I went out as soon as I could and got a copy of Modern Warfare 3 and spent the rest of that day ignoring my family.

I really tried to play the entire single-player campaign. I think I got about half way through it. But single player is boring, and this one seemed particularly insipid. Every level began the same way (a guy coming back to consciousness) and ended the same way (a guy going unconscious). I guess I need to get into single player mode again sometime.  Let’s face it, though, getting shot at by enemy “bots” doesn’t give one the same thrill as being  attacked by human adversaries.

I am currently a complete noob. I was playing MW2 on my gaming laptop, but that thing over heated about three weeks ago. Switching over to the Xbox controller is more difficult than I expected. When it comes to gaming, you can’t beat a good old Microsoft Intellimouse.  I need to find out if the controller that comes with a 360 is the best controller or if there are smoother ones I can buy.

As I acclimate to the new control system I have plenty of eye candy to enjoy. These are the lushest, most colorful maps I have ever seen in a multiplayer level (I need to admit here that I have yet to play BF3).  I have already lost a number of lives just because I paused to admire the architecture. I haven’t measured anything, but these maps are larger than the maps in mw2.  The details are incredible. The term photo-realistic comes to mind.

It does appear to me that there are less walls that one can shoot through than there were in mw1 or 2. Also, I suppose I shouldn’t have hoped for destructible environments, as this newest incarnation is based on the same engine as mw1 and 2 and even Call of Duty 2, the game that got so many of us hooked on multiplayer fps games.

But Modern Warfare 3’s  biggest alleged weakness (its older engine), is also its best virtue. They have been tweaking this engine, streamlining it and adding detail, for years. The newest incarnation, IW5.0, is just a pleasure to behold. Such an excellent combination of video, audio, and controller feedback. I can only imagine what this game is like on an HD television with a good stereo system…but I know I’ll be paying my brother a visit sometime quite soon.

I haven't figured out how the new weapon and perk features work yet. But I wanted to drop you a quick note to say, if you liked modern warfare 2, you are going to LOVE modern warfare 3.  Do not fear the newest incarnation. Buy it. Buy it now.