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Is Gun Game in CoD MW3? Answered

Gun Game is a classic game mode that's added dozens of hours of fun to many different FPS games. But is it in Modern Warfare 3?

Gun Game is an absolute classic party game mode that dates back more than 20 years and has been a part of almost every AAA multiplayer shooter franchise in some form or another. It came to Call of Duty back in the first Black Ops game, but is it in Modern Warfare 3?

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Is Gun Game in Call of Duty: MW3?

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As of November 22, 2023, Gun Game is playable in Modern Warfare 3. You can launch it from the main multiplayer lobby menu, and, at least when I was playing, it had a pretty long queue time. While it still plays how you’d expect Gun Game to play, it suffers from both the modes intrinsic problems and those introduced by MW3 itself. There aren’t really enough bad or janky weapons to put any spice at the end of the weapon list, and the melee in the game is janky enough that when someone does reach it, the weird hit detection on the knife can either guarantee their win or prevent it entirely

One thing to remember: Gun Game isn’t always liable to remain a permanent game mode. Call of Duty really enjoys its limited-time event playlists these days. Any mode outside the main loop has been relegated to private matches once its time in the sun is up. That’s not always the case, though. MW (2019) kept it around for much longer, and maybe MW3 will go a route of its own, adding a party game rotation playlist. I wouldn’t hold my breath on this last wish, but a man can dream.

Related: All Multiplayer Game Modes Listed & Explained in CoD MW3

What is Gun Game in MW3?

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For those unfamiliar, Gun Game is a mode where everyone starts with the same weapon, and after getting one kill with that weapon, you immediately swap to the next weapon in a list of them. You usually need to get kills with 15-20 weapons to finish the list, and whoever finishes first wins. Here’s the thing, though: the higher on the gun list you go, the tougher getting kills becomes…

…is what I would say, but like I mentioned above, there are no crazy weapons or setups in MW3‘s version of Gun Game to act as a barrier and allow the rest of the lobby to catch up. There’s no explosive crossbow or like three trash launchers to stop the leader’s progress for a minute or two. All of the weapons are just…good. Save the pistol. Screw that thing. The final weapon you need to get a kill with, without exception, is the knife.

Gun Game is a party game, meant to be chaotic, crazy fun. However, between the game’s inconsistent hit detection, a lack of meaningfully wacky late-match weapons, and a generally increased sweat level in the Call of Duty community, I can’t really recommend playing it matchmade. I think it will be enjoyable when played as it was originally intended whenever the mode was first conceived: with a group of friends who go around doing stupid things rather than trying to practice for the next MLG tryouts. Does that date me? I hope that doesn’t date me.

In short, then, the answer to the question: “Is Gun Game in CoD MW3?” is yes. For more on Modern Warfare 3, check out our guides on how to fix the packet burst error, beat the Deep Cover mission, and more in our MW3 guides hub.

Liked this article? Check out our MW3 How to Get Uncommon Aether Tool Plans guide and dominate Uzbekistan by upgrading one weapon to Uncommon rarity.


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John Schutt
John Schutt has been playing games for almost 25 years, starting with Super Mario 64 and progressing to every genre under the sun. He spent almost 4 years writing for strategy and satire site TopTierTactics under the moniker Xiant, and somehow managed to find time to get an MFA in Creative Writing in between all the gaming. His specialty is action games, but his first love will always be the RPG. Oh, and his avatar is, was, and will always be a squirrel, a trend he's carried as long as he's had a Steam account, and for some time before that.