While the debate over Modern Warfare 3's suspiciously low Metacritic user score has been raging since we reported the story on Tuesday, things really got heated in the most recent edition of our Game Ranter Banter article - as readers on all sides of the argument responded with their opinions.

Now, it seems that one prominent Modern Warfare 3 proponent is attempting to actively overturn the swell of what many consider to be unfair ratings for Modern Warfare 3 - by rallying supporters of the game to converge on Metacritic and beat-back the wave of 0/10 scores.

Which prominent Modern Warfare 3 supporter are we talking about? None other than Sledgehammer Games co-founder, Glen Schofield, who recently took to the Twitterverse in the hopes of stirring up the Call of Duty fan base - in order to fight back against a vocal minority of gamers who have taken it upon themselves to give Modern Warfare 3 abysmal scores on Metacritic:

"I don’t usually do this but, if u like MW3 go 2 Metacritic.com & help our user score," he Tweeted. "It’s suspiciously low. Be honest but help if u agree."

The tweet has since, unsurprisingly, been deleted - following an outcry of angry gamers who felt like Schofield had overstepped his bounds.

The negative outcry against Modern Warfare 3 from the user community, despite mostly favorable reviews from the critic community, has surely put the game's developers in a tough spot. Modern Warfare 3 is already doing massive numbers and breaking numerous industry records along the way but, there's no doubt that, less-informed gamers will look to the Metacritic score down the road (long after the Battlefield 3 vs. Modern Warfare 3 fanboy war has subsided) as a way of making a purchase decision.

As a result, while it's hard, right now, to imagine that Modern Warfare 3 sales are being affected, it's understandable why Schofield and other developers will be concerned about the Metacritic score going forward - even if you feel as though the Sledgehammer exec may have overstepped professional boundaries.

Modern Warfare 3 Breaks Pre-Order and Shipment Records

We all support user-reviews - as well as the ability for a user to give a game an abysmal 0/10 rating. Tastes and rating scales are subjective - so it's easy to understand, on a case by case basis, why some people who have played Modern Warfare 3 might have a strong negative reaction and feel as though the title is unplayable, or at the very least, not worth all the hype.

However, the sheer number of negative reviews populating the user review stream is highly suspect - and, if most of these reviewers are simply posting reviews without having actually played the game (in the interest of supporting Battlefield 3 or, simply, expressing their frustration with Call of Duty's success), then these individuals are damaging the overall value of Metacritic as well as undermining the hard work of the individual men and women who put Modern Warfare 3 together.

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Follow me on Twitter @benkendrick.

Modern Warfare 3 is out now for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.

Source: Twitter [via Destructoid]