Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is playable in some regions around the world (and if you’re willing to mess with some settings to “travel” to New Zealand), and the game’s patch notes are now available, too.
The launch day patch notes delivered by Sledgehammer Games are hefty, featuring everything from tweaks to maps, spawn point changes, new features, bug fixes, and a whole lot of weapon tuning.
New features for launch that weren’t in the beta include additions to the HUD like on-screen displays for your current kill streak, a new spot for the Tac Stance toggle, detailed match stats, and calling card pop-ups whenever a player accomplishes a cool feat.
One of the main complaints from the beta, player visibility, has also been improved upon. Sledgehammer says it “added a stroke to player nameplates to improve visibility,” and those who can’t currently play can watch streams to see what it now looks like.
For weapon changes, the highlights include buffs to several assault rifles and some big nerfs to the hugely popular Striker SMG, which was a favorite gun in the beta. The Striker (UMP 45) has had decreases to its maximum damage, near-medium damage range, near-medium damage, and minimum damage.
There’s also been a change to aim down sight times across multiple optic types, including dots and holographics, 2.5x scopes, 4x and Hybrid scopes, and sniper scopes. They all now have faster ADS times.
MW3 is available right now in some regions but will become available worldwide by tonight in a rolling release in all regions’ local time at midnight on console, and 11pm CT on PC.
There are a whole lot more changes in the launch patch today, and you can read the full list of patch notes on the Call of Duty website while you wait for the game to become available for you.
