MW3 Maps Are Almost the Same As MW2 2009, But There’s a Catch

Every single classic map from Modern Warfare 2 2009 is headed to Modern Warfare 3 this year, and Sledgehammer Games has confirmed that the biggest changes to the maps are tied to fidelity. However, a modern game means completely different standards for movement, and these maps won’t play out exactly as you remember them.

In a recent clip from the Call of Duty Blog, there was footage on Highrise showing some of the faster-paced movement we can expect in MW3. That movement also showed the possibility of jumping onto platforms that weren’t climbable in the original MW2. So what does that mean? Essentially, the maps are the same, but the way they flow is not.

Sledgehammer Games Design Director, Zach Hodson, gave some insight into the thought process behind the map design. Hodson said, “What was good about the movement of older games? What was good about the gunplay of older games?’ And the same with the newer games. So we tried to marry those things.”

This doesn’t mean that the maps themselves will change much at all. In fact, Sledgehammer seems fairly invested in remaking faithful versions of the MW2 maps that fans love. But it’s impossible to recreate the exact same way the old maps felt in a modern Call of Duty game.

Hodson further explained some of the changes in the blog post, “There are places where the metrics of the level are adjusted to fit more modern gameplay, but for the most part, it’s going to feel incredibly similar. The biggest changes are in a fidelity sense.”

We’ll have to wait until the beta and the full release of MW3 to see which adjustments were made across the board. The Open Beta begins for PlayStation on October 6, and the official MW3 release date is November 10, 2023.

In the meantime, check out how slide canceling will also change in MW3 compared to previous COD titles.