Modern Warfare 3 gunplay improvements: Reduced visual recoil, reload canceling, and more

Modern Warfare 3 will see quite a few changes over its prequel MW2 when it comes to the gunplay mechanics. The recent gameplay trailer showcased at Gamescom 2023 revealed a host of intriguing insights into the game. While a major part of the presentation discussed Open Combat missions and one of the campaign missions, the gunplay changes in the trailer went unnoticed by many.

One of the major changes that fans could point out was the difference in the visual recoil of weapons. It was much lesser than what MW2 shipped with, and the weapons felt more snappy. Moreover, with the return with reload cancel and the new Tac-Stance feature, MW3 is leaving no stone unturned for improved gunplay.

That said, in this article, we will take a closer look at all the major changes to the gunplay that MW3 will feature at launch.

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Will Modern Warfare 3 have less weapon recoil?

As seen in the clips above, Modern Warfare 3 seems to turn down the visual recoil by quite a bit. Visual recoil isn't the actual recoil of the gun. It simply creates an effect of high recoil, which makes it difficult to see the targets clearly, resulting in missed shots. This simulates a sense of high recoil of the weapon when, in reality, it isn't.

In Modern Warfare 2, as developers focused on realism, the visual recoil was increased to an extent that made even the low-recoil weapons difficult to use. This hampered the fast-paced flow of gameplay and players resorted to other tactics to reduce visual recoil.

Fortunately, it seems Sledgehammer Games have listened to the community and has turned down the visual recoil on the weapons for better visibility.

In the comparison clips shown above, Twitter user @ImMeishu used a similar weapon build in both Modern Warfare (2019) and Modern Warfare 3. And right out of the park, the difference is noticeable. MW3 has much lower visual compared to its prequels.

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Modern Warfare 3 to bring back reload canceling

Although reload cancel wasn't featured in the Modern Warfare 3 gameplay reveal trailer at Gamescom 2023, Call of Duty previously confirmed that the feature will be returning. In Modern Warfare 2, reload cancellation was removed from the game to create a sense of realism. However, fans despised the move.

In Modern Warfare 2, if players start reloading a gun, they must go through the entire reload animation to use the weapon again. This reduced the gameplay pace and took away from the arcade shooter experience that Call of Duty sets out to deliver.

Fortunately, reload cancel is returning in MW3, and fans of the series are eagerly anticipating the upcoming launch.

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What is Tac Stance in Modern Warfare 3?

And finally, one of the major gunplay overhauls in Modern Warfare 3 comes in the form of Tac Stance. According to the Call of Duty blog, it is the "perfect middle-ground between hip-fire and aiming down sights", allowing players to achieve higher accuracy at close ranges without the need to completely aim down their sights.

This doesn't slow down the player as much and thus helps with both mobility and handling. Moreover, when players implement the slide feature in the game, they will be able to use Tac Stance to achieve higher accuracy without slowing down, and this can have a major impact on MW3's gameplay over MW2.

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That covers some of the most interesting changes coming to gunplay in Modern Warfare 3. Fans looking forward to the upcoming release can pre-order the title right now on their platform's respective storefront. All users who pre-order MW3 will get Early Access to the Campaign as well as the Open Beta, which is set to go live on October 6, 2023.

Fans anticipating the game's multiplayer must tune into the Call of Duty Next event, which is scheduled for October 5, 2023.