Following the release of the trailer for Modern Warfare 3, Activision sent out a press release to officially announce the next installment of the series. Within the release, the date of the game has been set for November 8, 2011. Activision also took the time to voice their confidence in the next game, claiming it will raise the bar both for the franchise and all other first-person shooters.

 

"Call of Duty:  Modern Warfare 3 is by far the most epic Call of Duty experience yet. The teams at Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games have worked tirelessly to create for the Call of Duty player a scale that is unimaginable with a level of polish and creativity that will push the genre forward," said CEO of Activision Publishing, Inc. Eric Hirshberg. "The passion and energy of our developers is relflected in everything about the title. From the innovative gameplay, to the cinematic intensity, to the most advanced multiplayer ever, Modern Warfare 3 will raise the bar for this already incredible franchise."

 

It will be interesting to see just what will be added to the multiplayer in this upcoming sequel. One of the rumors floating around is that the multiplayer will feature environmental destruction, taking a page from its rival franchise, the Battlefield series.

 

I am a bit skeptical on this claim. While there certainly may be some nice additions made to the game, it's hard for me to say that the next game will be such a big leap. Every Call of Duty title that has launched has had some differences made in between each game, but nothing that I would say really pushed the game forward. 

 

There are also lots of first-person shooters that come out in a single year, and each one seems to copy another and make small tweaks to the game. With so many different shooters coming out, the well of creativity is bound to run dry sometime pretty soon. I think it would be better if developers took a break from the genre and let it rest before it's run into the ground just like the music game genre suffered the same fate.

 

Only time will tell to see whether or not Activision will live up to its word with such a bold statement. Once we can finally get a look at the multiplayer, then we can pass judgement on how innovative it really is. Until then, I'll be cautiously waiting on this one.