The third title in the Modern Warfare series has garnered some critique in that the engine it uses has started to show its age. While I would agree that on the surface, the game doesn’t seem to look much different than the previous titles, I would argue that it is not exactly a bad thing. Modern Warfare still looks fine, even if it’s no Crysis, and considering the range of systems it would run well on, that’s impressive.
Along those lines, Glen Schofield, general manager of Modern Warfare 3 and co-developer at Sledgehammer Games affirms that the Modern Warfare engine sets itself apart in being “stream-lined, everything in it is perfectly freaking clean. You can tell it's been worked on for years. It's easy to upgrade.”
Considering the fact that it is an engine in which other major studios have come up with additions (fire mechanics in World at War, new game mechanics in Black Ops) and the consistent quality in terms of performance optimizations, it’s impressive to behold. Glen does affirm that he has “worked with engines before that are like f***ing spaghetti”.
Truth be told, it’s much easier to create a multi-title franchise when you have a good groundwork for your engine – it’s the reason that FIFA games keep coming up with improvements every year, new Assassin’s Creed titles come out every year with a story that is completely new and new Call of Duty titles that keep up the level of quality.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is slated to release on 11.8.11 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.