It'd be nice to say Modern Warfare 3, the latest entry in the multimillion-selling Call of Duty franchise, has seen better days. But it really hasn't. Developer Infinity Ward has been fixing online problems since the title's November release with no end in sight. The latest round of drama comes at the hands of an unscrupulous few who are using some nasty tricks to gain an unfair advantage over innocent players.
Hackers have introduced a few crazy twists to the Xbox 360 version of MW3, essentially breaking the game for legit players. Several YouTube uploaders have posted videos featuring flying opponents who've traded in their AK-47s and sub-machine guns for a portable, rapid fire version of an AC-130's 105mm cannon. The weapon, normally available only when controlling the flying gunship after scoring 12 uninterrupted kills, boasts an impressive blast radius that can take out multiple opponents in a single shot. In the hands of a cheater, the mod can easily eradicate entire teams.
But a bigger problem facing players is a complete stat reset, which erases every single thing unlocked up until that point, including titles and emblems. Thankfully, this deranking only occurs when a player watches one specific video -- a Search and Destroy gameplay on the map Dome -- through the game's file-sharing Theater Mode.
Former Infinity Ward Creative Strategist Robert Bowling told Twitter followers over the weekend not to accept game or Private match invites from unknown players, saying only that there are "dirtbags up to dirtbag things." Meanwhile, "server issues" also plagued some MW3 gamers attempting to power-level thanks to a double XP weekend.
On Monday, Bowling announced that he was resigning from his position at Infinity Ward and would no longer work for publisher Activision. The public face for the Modern Warfare trilogy since its 2007 debut, Bowling fielded feedback and criticism from online players in an effort to address problems that plagued the titles' popular multiplayer components.
Whomever takes over the reigns certainly has their work cut out for them.
