Modern Warfare 3 fans divided over controversial weapon progression changes
Activision Some community members wanted a complete teardown of the Gunsmith in Modern Warfare 3, but the devs offered a compromise instead.
Call of Duty community members have taken issue with how weapon progression and the Gunsmith worked in previous titles. Players slammed Vanguard for requiring a “ridiculous” average of six hours to unlock every attachment for a weapon.
Modern Warfare 2 attempted to resolve that issue with weapon platforms, which removed the need to re-unlock attachments for different weapons. Unfortunately, the new feature still didn’t sit well with players, as the “mind-boggling” system forced the use of unnecessary weapons. For example, players would have to level up a shotgun to unlock an SMG attachment.
Sledgehammer Games went back to the drawing board and unveiled a new plan to tackle the lingering issue in MW3.
ActivisionModern Warfare 3 Gunsmith enhancements revealed
On October 2, the MW3 devs explained how Aftermarket Parts work in an Intel Drop. But buried in the bottom of a blog post, CharlieIntel also caught wind of a Gunsmith update.
The Call of Duty insider summed up the news: “Attachments such as Grips, Barrels, Magazines, and Stocks will no longer require players to use a specific weapon after they’ve already been unlocked for another one.”
Sledgehammer Games provided an example. “The Assault Stock attachment is available for both the AMR9 SMG (at Level 8) and the Riveter Shotgun (at Level 12). If your AMR9 is already progressed to Level 8 or higher, the Stock will be available on the Riveter immediately, and vice versa.”
Modern Warfare 3 also removes the ADS speed penalty when equipping a 1x zoom optic, which annoyed MW2 players.
Despite the announcement of both positive quality-of-life changes, players still have issues with the current Gunsmith system. To start with, some players want the “overcomplicated” attachment system to revert back to the classic pick 10.
In MW2, you can equip five different attachments and tune each one to perform differently. Meanwhile, the Pick 10 system limited players to 10 choices between primary weapons, secondary weapons, weapon attachments, grenades, gadgets, and perks.
As one player argued: “Just give us the “pick 10″ system back. Why do I have to play chemist in building a d**n weapon?”
“Just make it simple again,” a second user added.
On the opposite side of the aisle, other community members praised a step in the right direction, with comments such as: “Oh sweet, they’re listening to us. About d**m time!”
Players will better understand how the new Gunsmith works when the Modern Warfare 3 beta starts on October 6.
