FPS players and multiplayer fanatics, your time has come. Next week, Battlefield 3 releases and shortly thereafter comes the biggest release of the year, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Since players are all too familiar with the Modern Warfare games by Infinity Ward and Activision, we all wonder what MW3 does different.

We're not talking about a new single-player campaign. We're talking about the mode that defines the CoD series: multiplayer. The last few games, including Treyarch's Black Ops, have included similar perks and killstreaks, but Modern Warfare adds another layer to this system and one that doesn't just benefit the match's the players with high Kill/Death ratios.

Say hello to 'Strike Packages,' a new reward system that aims to reward players for how they play and not just those who have the highest kill counts.

Strike Packages come in three different types:

  • Assault
  • Support
  • Specialist

Each works differently for different types of gamplay. Instead of just consecutive kills, these streaks are rewarded for points - capturing flags, earning assists and domination points, etc.

Assault package offers players things like assault drones and sentry guns while the Support Package brings in UAV jammers, recon drones, etc. The biggest and most important difference with support is that these streaks don't reset on death.

Last but not least is the Specialist Package where getting more kills unlock different perks every two kills, essentially allowing the player to become more powerful the better they do. At eight kills, they have all the perks and are basically, Rambo. I imagine this will be used the most by the advanced players, making them even strong so we'll have to wait and see if this actually helps balance the game, or makes it even more unbalanced.

In early September, we shared a more detailed list of the Strike Package rewards so be sure to check that out.

Watch and see Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer discuss the Modern Warfare 3 strike packages, and see some of what Sledgehammer believes is innovative for the series:

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Which one will you use? If you're a fan of the series, be sure to read our top 5 most memorable Moder Warfare moments.

Modern Warfare 3 releases November 8th, 2011 for the PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii and DS.

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