What are the Modern Warfare 3 missions? As you embark on the MW3 campaign, it can help to know exactly how many missions you have to complete, and what they entail. In the Modern Warfare 3 reboot, we also know that levels take on a brand-new form in open combat missions, giving you more player autonomy than ever before.
We got our first glimpse of Modern Warfare 3 during Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023, which introduced us to these open combat missions with nine minutes of gameplay from Operation 627, the first level of the MW3 story. But where does the FPS game take us after the Russian prison, and what can we expect from the rest of the story? Let us answer that with the MW3 missions list, and everything we know about open combat missions.
Call of Duty MW3 missions list
So far, the only confirmed mission is Operation 627, the first mission to take place in Modern Warfare 3. In Operation 627, you infiltrate a Russian prison to exfil a prisoner who will be crucial to the rest of the campaign. There’s also the return of No Russian, the controversial MW2 2009 mission.
Fans of the Modern Warfare series will know that Captain Price was known as Prisoner 627 when we rescued him from the Gulag in the original Modern Warfare 3. That said, we have reason to believe the mission name is just an easter egg, and that Price may not be the prisoner we’re here to get. Instead, we know that Vladamir Makarov is the main antagonist in MW3, and the Makarov reveal trailer shows him being escorted through a Russian prison. As such, he could also be the prisoner we’re trying to get our hands on in Operation 627.
Thanks to a number of hints, not least in the trailer above and the MW2 post-credits scene, we also know about the return of No Russian. In the original mission, if the player didn’t choose to skip the level, you would take on the role of Joseph Allen as he tries to infiltrate the Russian organization led by Makarov. As such, you have to participate in a mass shooting in Zakhaev International Airport in Moscow. Given how this mission was met at the time, and still is today, we can only assume there may be some changes in how this mission goes ahead.
Finally, we have also seen a glimpse of a later mission in which you start by looking over the entire level and must plan your way through. This is the perfect example of new open combat missions, in which you decide how to proceed. Suss out the layout of the level and the location of enemies, prepare your best MW3 loadout, and go in how you want.
Modern Warfare 3 open combat missions
MW3 missions allow more player autonomy than ever before as you decide how to play through each one. In previous Call of Duty campaigns, missions are mostly linear, maneuvering you into specific positions and forcing you to proceed either stealthily or otherwise, with some missions ending if you are spotted.
In Modern Warfare 3, you can choose whether to equip suppressed weapons – or even just a combat knife – and stay under the radar or go in all guns blazing and blow the place to bits. Some levels allow for the use of vehicles if you desire, and presumably more options will reveal themselves as we progress.
In the Open Combat Missions Intel video above, Sledgehammer Games’ associate director of level design Robert Pitts tells us that replayability is a huge aspect of these new open combat missions. This choice allows you to learn as you progress, establishing your own gameplay style each time you replay a level. He even recommends that you can inflict your own challenges as you play, such as speedruns or melee-only playthroughs.
That’s everything you need to know about the Modern Warfare 3 missions list and what it means for your gameplay experience when the MW3 release date arrives. As you prepare for the release of what could be one of the best PC games of 2023, make sure you know all about the MW3 carry forward scheme, and how your MW2 multiplayer weapons can be used in Modern Warfare 3, as well as those MW3 system requirements, so you can rest assured lag won’t get in the way of those perfect kills.
