MW3’s smaller maps are where the game truly gets to shine

Despite the spawn system and constant danger present, the smallest maps of MW3 are where the game’s movement, mechanics, and feel excel.

The smallest maps in MW3 are where the game really shines, bringing its fast-paced movement, gunplay, and more to the forefront which far outweighs the negative.

Many players seem to feel like these battlefields are too small to be enjoyable, where enemies can spawn on top of each other and it feels like there isn’t time to breathe.

However, while these issues can lead to frustrating moments, the feeling of playing these maps is much more in line with how MW3, and the CoD series, should feel.

Much of what makes the game so appealing to many fans is the ability to drop in, blast through some enemies, collect XP, and then move on to the next match, which is exactly what the small maps do.

As one user explains on the MW3 subreddit: “Learning to become agile in chaos and adapt to player impulses in close range, consistently intense battle… Camo, challenge, and weapon grinding is great.”

The XP is a huge part of what makes these MW3 maps special, as the grinding to unlock camos and challenges can be a headache. But spend some time on a map like Shipment, and these issues become so much easier to manage.

For some, that’s more than enough to make it worth it, as one person says: “Only appeal to me is getting challenges done faster and XP for weapon leveling.”

Further, these maps offer something that the bigger maps don’t: pure chaos. When going around any corner could lead to your death, or tossing a grenade in the air could net you a triple kill out of nowhere, there is a thrill that comes with that.

“It’s good fun in an adrenaline ‘wtf is going on?’ type of way, and sometimes the chaos is quite something. Holding a hard point with grenades going off, team members dying around you, and you’re just spraying bullets in the hope to hang on a few more seconds can be exhilarating.”

There is room for a larger playground in MW3, and these maps deserve their time as well, but there’s just something special about a smaller environment where the best parts of the game get to shine.