





Modern Warfare 3, Activision's latest first-person shooter, hit store shelves like a runaway train. The game, part of the Call of Duty franchise, was predicted to be the top-selling video game despite healthy competition from EA's Battlefield 3 released in October.

Those predictions are not just coming true, they're being demolished. Several sources have claimed that Modern Warfare 3 is on par to break first week sales records — a title it would claim from its own predecessor, Call of Duty: Black Ops released by Activision in 2010. This, after MW3 already broke records for pre-ordered copies, according Activision.

On opening night, Activision says that approximately 1.5 million gamers lined up outside 13,000 stores to buy a copy at midnight, reported Extreme Tech. We're not entirely sure how Activision got that number, and those gamers didn't all necessary translate into sales. However, analysts have prediction sales that trump even those numbers. One analyst told Extreme Tech that 18 million copies will be sold by the start of the calendar year.

The site even did some quick math and found the amount of electricity used by online players was equal to or more than enough energy to power a nuclear power station.

Black Ops holds the current record for the entertainment industry's five-day opening sales revenue record at $650 million worldwide, the Guardian reported. While hard numbers haven't yet come in for MW3, Amazon said it generated 32% more pre-orders than Black Ops.

Celebrated games analyst Michael Pachter predicted the game will not only beat the old record but continue selling through the holiday season: "I see compression of sales for virtually every game, would bet that they are 10% higher over the same time frame, so $1.1 billion in the first six weeks," Pachter told IndustryGamers.

Hands-On







All the hype and financial predictions are warranted, according to critics. The game has an average score of 89% on Metacritic at time of writing. We can verify that the game is a bucket of fun.

The team at Mashable had some time to play with a review copy sent by Activision, and the game feels as great as ever. The single player campaign is littered with set-piece moments like sabotaging a submarine and fighting through New York's financial district. While visually impressive, these moments frequently make the single player campaign feel like the user is simply watching the action instead of participating in it. Rather than focus on the shooting mechanics, MW3 pushes the user to reach the next cut-scene or vista.

We haven't spent a ton of time on multiplayer — the real meat of the MW3 experience — but so far it plays great with a ton of perks, weapons and motivations to continue leveling up and improving your abilities. The Elite social layer helps hardcore gamers gain even more insight into how to up their game while connecting them to other users in a central hub.

MW3 is a monster of a game. It's a blast to traipse around the world both in campaign and multiplayer, even if the surprisingly brief single-player experience can feel a little like derivative cliches on autopilot. First-person shooter fans will get far more enjoyment out of the multiplayer and co-op options. The sales are sure to follow.

Is Modern Warfare 3 on your wishlist? Do you think it can reclaim the first-person shooter crown from Battlefield 3? Sound off in the comments.