Modern Warfare 3 - Collection 4: Final Assault Review

Following the great Chaos map pack, which brought with it an enhanced (and much-improved) survival mode that made a strong challenge to Treyarch's Zombies equivilant, Infinity Ward has closed out Modern Warfare 3's content season with a solid map pack. While the maps all share the same tight, closed-in design, dictating quick-burst gameplay, they add an overall variety to the game's map collection that may very well keep players in lobbies long after its successors are released.

Gulch

This is one of the more visually pleasing and attractive maps in Modern Warfare 3. Prestine natural landscapes compliment a dominating brown color platte that does a wonderful job of giving this abandoned mining town plenty of personality. Similar to "Afghan" in Modern Warfaren 2, this map is dominated by tight corners, long stretches of open but narrow land, and a central corridor prime for intense firefights.

Recommended Loadout: Pack some heat with a Type 95 and Focus perk, along with the ACOG Scope attachment with precision targeting on Gulch's long-range pathways. As high killstreaks are frequent, hit the map with a lock-on Javelin, while an aggressive Assault strike package topped off with a Reaper will work wonders. Be sure to use both Hardline, for faster killstreak rewards, and Recon, for detailed marking of enemies after confrontations with teammates.

Decommission

This interesting map takes place among rotting ocean linears in a deserted shoreline setting. This is a perfect map for the run-and-gun type player, and its design is quite varied in that it has plenty of tight corners with heaps of action, as well as enough space between objectives and spawn points, making sniping and long-range assault rifle kills effective. That said, this map is perfect for hardcore supressed fire, so be sure you're packing the right heat.

Recommended Loadout: Lock and load with the L86 LSW. Precision is compromised with this weapon, but it'll keep enemies at bay. Impact will give you deeper bullet penetration, while Slight Of Hand will have you reloading the beast like a master. Stalker is a necessity considering the amount of mobility lost with use of the weapon.

Offshore

Offshore is yet another sea-based map, putting you on an oil rig in the middle of the ocean. This map is especially easy to navigate, so don't be put off but its initially seemingly confusion layout: it's not as bad as it seems. You'll recognise areas as being prone to snipers or the run-and-gun shotgun wielder, which makes this map varied in the type of player and game style you'll come across.

Recommended Loadout: Head out to sea with the P90, 2 Attachments perk with the silencer and rapid fire, and bundle this with Assassin to keep you silent but deadly in the thick of the action. The Specialist perk here will work wonders, as will Steady Aim and Extreme Conditioning to give you the speed to flank enemies.

Boardwalk

This map, set on the Jersey Coast in Eastern USA (no Jersey Shore cast sighting yet...), takes place on a boardwalk carnival setting. It's certainly one of the more intense, action-packed maps in the game, with countless shops, doorways and alleys to come in and out of. The only real place of space and length, the beach in the south, houses the B flag, and is a must-own considering the difficulty in capturing the other maps, especially C flag.

Recommended Loadout: Enter the battle with the hard-hitting M16 and MP9, both of which are ideal for the map's close and frequent engagements. Impact and Rapid Fire for the M16 will do the trick for effective close-quarters combat.

Parish

This map is small, dominated by plenty of tight corners, a few central locations with multiple entrance points, and a central but tiny battle point that makes for the most important capture point in objective-based modes. The spawn logic on this map seems a little off, although that might be a wider game issue rather than something confined to this map, but it seems especially evident on this one: spawning after a death seems to happen quite frequently right in the line of opposing players.

Recommended Loadout: You need speed and high damage on this map. Pack the USAS 12 with Grip for quick bursts of fire and precise aiming. You'll die frequently on this map, so an Assault strike package with early killstreak (an UAV is important) will give you and your team an edge.

The Final Verdict

While this latest and final map pack might lack fot eh variety of game modes we've seen earlier in the Content Season, it packs plenty of punch with small and varied map designs that should appease the run-and-gun type player. Sniper players seem to have been disadvantaged with this latest roundup of maps, but they still make some for great gameplay if you enter them with the right game style.

By Gaetano Prestia