The game brings "open combat, " offering players more choices in approaching the single-player missions. Makarov returns as the chief villain of the new campaign. The newly introduced Carry Forward system will let players keep their progression and inventory from Modern Warfare II. Multiplayer fans can expect 16 maps at the launch and at least 12 coming later. Zombies mode will also return and should offer the largest zombie map to date.

The third entry in the rebooted Modern Warfare saga picks up in 2023, as the world edges toward another global conflict. Vladimir Makarov, a fanatical Russian ultranationalist and terrorist, has spent years imprisoned in a Kastovian penal complex after being captured following a devastating attack in Verdansk. When operatives of the shadowy Konni Group storm the prison and break him free, Makarov immediately resumes his campaign of terror, scheming to ignite a third World War and reshape the global order through calculated atrocities. Alerted to his escape by CIA station chief Kate Laswell, Captain John Price rallies the elite special forces of Task Force 141, including Soap, Ghost, and Gaz, to hunt the terrorist down before his plans can unfold. As Makarov sets a chain of attacks in motion across the globe, 141 must forge uneasy alliances and race across continents to stop him and avert catastrophe.