This weekend Activision held a big fan event to introduce the multiplayer features for its upcoming shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. As part of the Call of Duty XP event in Los Angeles, Activision held a pro gaming tournament where 32 teams from around the world competed in Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer matches. As reported on the official Call of Duty XP web site, the USA-based team OpTic Gaming came out on top after winning the grand championship match against UK-based team Infinity. The four man team of OpTic Gaming received a $400,000 check for their efforts.
The pro gaming teams, along with the other 6,000 attendees at the Call of Duty XP fan event, were the first outside the game"s development teams to play the multiplayer portion of Modern Warfare 3. As reported by VG247.com, there have been quite a few changes made to the multiplayer component compared to previous games in the series. One is that the Killstreak feature has been redesigned and renamed as Strike Packages. Players can pick which Strike Package they want to use. The Assault Strike Package is basically the same Killstreak feature that Call of Duty fans are used to: the more kills you rack up, the more in-game bonuses you receive. The Support Strike Package is about racking up points instead of just kills: players get support oriented bonuses for points streaks. Finally there"s the Specialist Strike Package. Designed for experts, it allows the player to activate extra perks with killstreaks. However, the player loses all of the perks when they die.
Other additions to Modern Warfare 3 include a new weapons upgrade model that lets players get additional features the more they use a particular weapon in the game. There will also be new gameplay modes such as Kill Confirmed. In this mode players kill an opponent and then have to run to the dead player"s body to collect the dog tags and claim a point. The other team can also rush to collect their dead teammate"s dog tags to prevent that point from being added to the oppositions total. There will also be a way for players to make their own gameplay modes and use them in private matches.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is due for release for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC platforms on November 8. It"s also due to be released for the Wii and Nintendo DS platforms but the details about what features those versions will have are not yet known.