I don't think Call of Duty is particularly fun for an FPS. It's well polished, but not a good user experience in the end. I'll explain. I enjoy playing with a team, laying out a plan, having assigned roles. But you jump into a CoD match, it's just a chaotic mess of maniacs running around shooting people in the face, yelling racial and sexual slurs over the microphone. I wouldn't wish that experience on my worst enemy. There's nothing that validates a $59.99 price tag with the meager updates they provide the multiplayer side of the game with. Resorting the perks? A handful of new maps? What a joke. Oh yeah and $15 for 3 maps? Get the fuck out... Activision has turned the franchise into a cash grab, and people should start voting with their wallets.
But beyond that, I have a problem with how Activision treated the original team at Infinity Ward, and how they acted after it. They denied them pay, essentially forced them out of the company, and after nearly everyone on the original team leaves, Activision scrambles together a ramshackle team and spit out a by-the-numbers game, keeping the Infinity Ward title to boot.
Is it somewhat recycled? In some ways.
How is any element of Modern Warfare 3 NOT recycled? Maybe some of the textures? Pretty sure they imported the assets of Soap and Price, the main characters, over from the existing games. And do we even need to get into the backwash of the game design?
What other game can 8 or more friends play together at once? No sports game I'm aware of.
Any other first-person shooter, for one.