VIDEO GAMES: Modern Warfare 3...changing your game

So a few weeks ago we all inserted Modern Warfare 3 into our gaming systems. A fair number of us dove straight into the campaign to wrap up the story we've been following for three games while others went charging online to play the much anticipated multiplayer. The campaign was lots of fun, although not much different from previous entries, and the multiplayer had relatively great reviews in the short run. The maps were interesting and compact, there was a deeper level of customization, and Call of Duty Elite (although not working properly at launch) promised to offer a more in depth experience than ever before. But something was going wrong...our kill/death ratios were in the garbage! For whatever reason those of us who had dominated in Modern Warfare 2 found ourselves struggling with this game that looks and feels exactly the same! It was entirely frustrating and started to have me worried that I wouldn't lose myself in the MW3 multiplayer like I had with MW2.

Enter Matt McKnight. A dude with some filthy facial hair and a passion for gaming, particularly first person shooters. His website, Lethalfrag.com serves one purpose. To share his love for gaming and use it to make us all better players. I've followed on Twitter for awhile and finally decided I needed some help to get my MW3 numbers up and finally start enjoying the game. After watching two videos on the site I fired up the game and something incredible happened. I went five games in a row with a positive K/D. Something that was unheard of up until that point! So what changed? What could Matt have possibly said that resulted in such a noticeable difference in my game? It was two simple things.

1. Modern Warfare 3 is a very different game and you need to adjust your gameplay accordingly. Modern Warfare 2 was a very methodical game and I played it that way. Moving from point to point on the maps, favoring the precise weapons like the M16 or a sniper rifle. I would often finish games with a score of about 12 kills and 5 deaths. That won't fly anymore. Taking Matt's advice to heart I switched over to the speedy UMP45 and created a class based on speed and stealth. It worked. Gone are the days of slowly patrolling a map looking for tight corners and lookout points. Now is the time to lock and load and charge the frick into combat! MW3 favors the fast paced gameplay. You need to think quickly and react! And let me tell you, it's a ton of fun!

2. Stop worrying about things like your K/D ratio. In one of Matt's videos he talks about not letting K/D ratio determine whether or not you're having fun...duh! I had spent so much time focusing on getting a great ratio that would impress everyone I had forgotten how to enjoy myself. Games where I finished with 12 kills and 20 deaths left me fuming and hating everyone involved in developing the bowel movement that was MW3! But I finally set that aside and focused on enjoying myself, trying new weapons, and taking the time to learn the game. It's amazing how my K/D has steadily started to creep back up now that I don't worry about it.

So what's the point of this article? To encourage anyone that's less than excited with MW3 to give it a chance. Realize that this is a very different game and some patience is required to get a feel for it. Hopefully you guys haven't written it off yet because I know I was extremely close to doing so. So check out Lethalfrag and get back out there!