Sledgehammer: Modern Warfare 3 isn't camper-friendly

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer is designed to make life hard on campers, according to co-developer Sledgehammer Games.

Speaking in an interview with Official Xbox Magazine, Sledgehammer boss Michael Condrey explained that MW3 offers hasn't completely hobbled the sniper, but silent assassins should find life more difficult this time around.

"I think that the person who plays the sniper on a team can have a ton of fun, but one of the biggest criticisms you always hear is about campers, right? We don't want to emphasise that dynamic so much that the other people in that engagement aren't having fun," he said.

"We have less verticality in our maps, there are less camping points. And so the challenge for snipers is to hang back on the perimeter or the periphery and pick people off - the maps aren't set up to really capitalise on that, by intention.

"There are weapon proficiencies for snipers, like there are weapon proficiencies for every class, that can allow you to do cool things - there's Focus, for example, which gives you less sway. So there are ways to improve as a sniper, but I think it's more tuned and more balanced than it's ever been before."

Condrey then proceeded to take a pot shot at the rather more sniper-friendly Battlefield 3.

"Unlike other games, where you're going to be sniped from across the map by a guy you can't even see, and then respawn and you've got to run for five minutes to get back to the battle, right? That's not the Modern Warfare 3 method. This is about getting you in the action, you're pulling the trigger fast, you know what I mean? That's the essence of it."

The latest entry in the Call of Duty series arrived in stores this morning, picking up a solid 8/10 in Eurogamer's Modern Warfare 3 review.