It would be easy to dismiss “Modern Warfare 3” as just another iterative update to the massively successful shooter series. After attending a preview event this summer, I left with concerns that the Infinity Ward/Sledgehammer Games collaboration shelved the multiplayer innovation Treyarch introduced with “Black Ops” in favor of more minor, underwhelming updates. After playing through the finished product, some of my early concerns proved valid, but many of the incremental tweaks are smart additions to the multiplayer experience. “Modern Warfare 3” does little to fundamentally change the well-known franchise formula, but it offers enough enhancements to recommend it to any fan.

On the surface, this “Call of Duty” experience is similar to the other “Modern Warfare” games. If a casual fan sat down for a few rounds of team deathmatch or domination, it would be easy to forgive them for mistaking this for a map pack. Its visuals look familiar, most of the weapons are recycled from previous games, the tight gunplay feels similar, maps are still fairly cramped affairs for the most part, assembling a party operates the same, and many of the killstreak rewards return. The most noteworthy tweaks may be smaller changes, but they add up to contribute in a big way.

Custom classes are as crucial to online play as always, and players can choose between three new strike packages for their loadouts. Assault is for offensive-minded players, the Support package killstreaks are defensive in nature, and the final package, Specialist, is for tacticians who strategize formulas for specific game types.

Other new multiplayer features contribute to overall mode improvement as well. Completing objectives like flag captures adds to your killstreak count, and players can cycle through killstreak rewards with the d-pad and select them in the order they wish. Prestige mode counts for something now, as players earn coins to spend on new custom classes, double XP time, or special callsigns. Leveling individual weapons unlocks proficiency abilities like reduced kick or faster fire rate. Customizable private matches allow for absurd and entertaining variations of Juggernaut, Infected and Gun Game.

“Call of Duty’s” bread and butter has always been its deep multiplayer, but the campaigns deliver their fair share of memorable moments as well. “Modern Warfare 3” doesn’t stray from the oft-emulated “Call of Duty 4” formula. This large-scale, linear, global and sometimes controversial campaign can be finished in less than six hours.

For the first two or three hours, the game hurries from country to country with a jarring narrative that doesn’t succeed in getting much information across. All you know is this Makarov fellow is a bit unsavory, and he wants to kill a lot of people. In one scripted sequence that’s awesome, terrible, and hilarious at the same time, I was even forced to shoot a cheetah multiple times in the head while I was in a church.

My concerns with the early portions of the campaign have as much to do with gameplay as narrative. It’s a constant “run here, trigger the enemies, now click between the trigger buttons until everyone is dead” experience. As much as the first few hours disappointed me, it gets its act together around the halfway mark. You learn some more about your primary character and his motivations, and the latter half of the campaign isn’t filled with the convoluted double-crosses of “Modern Warfare 2.” Set-piece moments become more intriguing from a gameplay perspective, with one mission involving an imminently-approaching sandstorm and an air assault mission that switches perspective back-and-forth from the ground to the air. By the time the credits roll, the globetrotting ordeal meets a satisfying conclusion.

If you’ve wrapped up the campaign and want a break from the standard multiplayer, Spec Ops serves as a great third pillar. This mode is broken into two distinct sections now, with one dedicated to co-op missions like those seen in “Modern Warfare 2,” and another that’s essentially a Horde mode variant. This survival mode is a blast to play because the soldiers, dogs, and vehicles are far more engaging than the slow zombies seen in Treyarch’s entries.

When it comes down to it, “Modern Warfare 3” meets expectations. The core elements of multiplayer and the campaign remain fundamentally unchanged, but the game serves as a great example of how many subtle tweaks can add up to an improved overall product. It’s a worthy sequel to one of the most successful franchises of all time.

‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’

9 (out of 10)

PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Activision, Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games

ESRB rating: M for Mature

TOP 10

HANDHELD

The editors of Game Informer Magazine rank the top 10 handheld games for November:

1. “Super Mario 3D Land” (3DS)

2. “Professor Layton and the Last Specter” (DS)

3. “Kirby Mass Attack” (DS)

4. “Aliens: Infestation” (DS)

5. “The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Ed.” (DS)

6. “Star Fox 64 3D” (3DS)

7. “Tetris Axis” (3DS)

8. “Bit.Trip.Saga” (3DS)

9. “Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2” (DS)

10. “Solatorobo: Red the Hunter” (DS)

— McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Weekly download

‘Payday: The Heist’

Reviewed for: PlayStation 3 (via PlayStation Network)

Also available for: Windows PC

From: Overkill Software/Sony Online Entertainment

ESRB Rating: M for Mature

Price: $20

“Payday: The Heist” is an interactive robbery playset, and like all playsets, it’s only as good as the imaginations of those playing with it. The six missions re-create classic heist scenarios — some glamorous (bank robbery, penthouse diamond heist), others not so much (a slaughterhouse full of gold, a panic room inside a meth lab). Staying alive is the primary objective, and standard first-person shooter controls and mechanics apply, but every situation throws out secondary objectives that either help the heist along or keep bloodshed to a minimum. If that sounds a little like “Left 4 Dead,” only with riches instead of mere survival at stake, you’ve got the right idea. And just as with that game, “Payday” is an exponentially better experience when shared with others online (four players). While “Payday” teams you up with three serviceable A.I. partners in crime, the inability to coordinate and strategize takes away the game’s best feature.

— Billy O’Keefe, McClatchy-Tribune News Service