Call of Duty: Black Ops II vs Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)
Call of Duty: Black Ops II is an FPS horror game from Treyarch (2012) while Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) is an FPS survival game from Infinity Ward (2011).
What each one is
Call of Duty: Black Ops II is filed under FPS and Horror. In contrast, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) under FPS and Survival.
Pushing the boundaries of what fans have come to expect from the record-setting entertainment franchise, Call of Duty®: Black Ops II propels players into a near future Cold War
The best-selling first-person action series of all-time returns with an epic sequel to the multiple GOTY award winner Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 2
Story, characters and reception
Plot
Campaign In July 1986, retired CIA operative Alex Mason ( Sam Worthington ) lives an obscure life in Alaska with his son David. One day, his former handler Jason Hudson ( Michael Keaton ) shows up with an assignment: Mason's friend and fellow operative Frank Woods (James C. Burns) disappeared in Angola investigating an arms smuggling ring. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Critical reception Call of Duty: Black Ops II received "generally positive" reviews for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U versions, but "mixed or average" reviews for the PC version, according to review aggregator Metacritic . IGN editor Anthony Gallegos describes the game as "a good example of how to evolve an annualized franchise". Gallegos praised the game for telling a story was genuinely interesting and creating a villain that he… (Wikipedia)
No Wikipedia detail on file.
At a glance
| Call of Duty: Black Ops II | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.6/10 | 7.8/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (86%, 49,344) | Very Positive (89%, 39,710) |
| Critic aggregate | 74/100 | No aggregate |
| Price | $39.99 | $39.99 |
| Install size | — | 16 GB |
| Steam Deck | unsupported | unsupported |
| Released | 2012 | 2011 |
| Developer | Treyarch | Infinity Ward |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II vs Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011), point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Call of Duty: Black Ops IIFPS horror gameCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)FPS survival gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Call of Duty: Black Ops IIAction, FPS, ShooterCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)Action, FPS, ShooterThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Call of Duty: Black Ops IIScore 7.6 · 86% on Steam · 74 criticCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) ✓Score 7.8 · 89% on SteamThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Call of Duty: Black Ops II49,344 reviews · 5 add-onsCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)39,710 reviews · 16 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Call of Duty: Black Ops II$39.99Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)$39.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Call of Duty: Black Ops IIUnsupportedCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)UnsupportedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) takes 1 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueCall of Duty: Black Ops II and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Multi-platform
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) (GamingPickz Score 7.8)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
MultiplayerActionFPSShooterSingleplayerFirst-PersonCo-opWar
Where they differ
Team-BasedFuturisticTacticalGreat SoundtrackHorrorSci-fi
MilitaryCasualStory RichLinearPoint & ClickMasterpiece
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Call of Duty: Black Ops II is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) is relaxed, easy to pick up.
System requirements, side by side
| Call of Duty: Black Ops II | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | Nvidia GeForce 8800GT 512 MB | Shader 3.0 |
| Minimum CPU | Intel Core2 Duo E8200 2.66 GHz | Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6600 |
| Minimum RAM | 2 GB | 2 GB |
| Install size | — | 16 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Call of Duty: Black Ops II · Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011).
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 1 accessibility feature for Call of Duty: Black Ops II and 0 for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011). A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) in scope?
Call of Duty: Black Ops II has drawn 49,344 Steam reviews and ships 5 add-ons. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) has drawn 39,710 Steam reviews and installs in 16 GB.
Is Call of Duty: Black Ops II or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) rates higher (7.8 to 7.6). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Call of Duty: Black Ops II or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)?
Call of Duty: Black Ops II is cheaper right now at $39.99, against $39.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.