Modern Warfare 3 introduces an exciting gameplay element known as Open Combat Missions (OCMs) within its campaign mode. These missions differ from the more traditional single-player ones that gamers may be accustomed to.
Unlike typical COD missions, which are scripted and linear, OCMs provide a new perspective on player agency and mission design, providing users with an unparalleled degree of freedom and flexibility.
Call of Duty just published a new blog post that explains how to play the campaign in Modern Warfare 3. The post went into further detail on Open Combat Missions and how players may complete them.
In this article, we will go over how to complete these OCMs, as well as the various difficulty levels and other relevant information.
How to complete Modern Warfare 3 Open Combat Missions?
In Open Combat Missions, you will deploy as a designated member of Task Force 141: Farah, Ghost, Gaz, Soap, or Price.
To complete the mission, you must seek better gear, select your approach, and utilize the tactical map and minimap for essential environmental information.
Useful gear
Once deployed, you must first seek useful items. Fortunately, they are abundant, and you can expect to find new weapons, equipment, field upgrades, and even Killstreaks. Key items among these are the Parachute, Ascender, and Armor Plate Carrier upgrades.
Parachutes are essential for quick descents from high terrain as well as long-distance glides that increase mobility. On the other hand, Ascenders make it easier to reach the highest vantage locations, providing a strategic edge. Combining both components allows for seamless location changes and repositioning, greatly increasing tactical adaptability.
The Plate Carrier Upgrade Vest improves player survivability by increasing the number of Armor Plates you can equip at a time. Finding two Plate Carrier Upgrade Vests allows you to equip three Armor Plates simultaneously, which is invaluable when battles heat up.
Use of Tac Map and minimap
In Open Combat Missions, the Tac Map is a useful feature providing an extensive overview of goals and critical waypoints. It has a legend that indicates crucial item locations as well as a tracker that marks discovered gear and weapons in the area.
When deployed, the Tac Map is covered in fog at first, gradually revealing environmental details as you explore further.
In OCMs, the minimap acts as a real-time help, providing quick item and objective location information while eliminating the need to view the Tac Map.
Moreover, it provides critical information about enemy alert levels, with yellow areas indicating detection and red borders signifying total exposure.
Modern Warfare 3 Open Combat Missions difficulty levels
The campaign of Modern Warfare 3 has four difficulty levels. The OCMs will similarly have the following available options (in increasing order of difficulty):
- Recruit
- Regular
- Hardened
- Veteran
For a more engaging experience in Open Combat Missions, you should start with a lower difficulty. Following completion, you can replay the OCMs with increased difficulty and employ a newer approach each time.
Moreover, you will have access to weapons and items you've obtained in your earlier playthroughs. Notably, you can customize your starting loadouts, incorporating Parachutes and Ascenders right from the start, increasing tactical versatility.
Modern Warfare 3 campaign early access is set for a November 2, 2023, release and will be available to gamers who have pre-ordered the game digitally.