The recently released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III achieved a score of 86 on Metacritic. Based on this, Tech4Gamers has labeled it the highest-rated mainline entry in the Call of Duty series over the past 15 years.
The outlet stated that the last series title to receive a higher score was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, released in 2011. For comparison, they listed some recent titles, including Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War with 65 points and another Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 with 56 points, while another recent release scored 82.
The author believes that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III addressed several issues in the campaign and DMZ modes, indicating a certain degree of recovery for the series. However, skill-based matchmaking problems in multiplayer mode persist, and the game is not without controversy.
The game currently holds a "Mostly Positive" rating on Steam. It is worth noting that the claim of being the "highest-rated mainline entry in the last 15 years" is a comparative conclusion drawn by Tech4Gamers based on Metacritic scores and their defined scope for the series. The specific platform scores, statistical timeframe, and criteria for including mainline entries still need to be verified against complete data.