Modern Warfare 3's graphics shine on Ars Technica's gaming PC.
Original image: Activision, edited by Aurich Lawson/Ars Technica

The introduction to the third game in the Modern Warfare series assumes I paid way more attention to the story in the first two games. Modern Warfare 2 may have had a story, but it was hard to follow, featured a number of characters dying for little reason, and it seemed to have been designed to get the player from one large-scale conflict to the next.

Modern Warfare 3, available now on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, is laid out in much the same way, although the game will...

The Air Force is looking to hire a gardener — preferably one with ray guns. You see, just like the rest of us, the military is embarrassed by their unkempt, weed-filled backyards. They’ve tried spraying those pesky weeds with toxic herbicides, but chemicals are expensive and — this was news to me — apparently, when you spray Round-Up on a dandelion, it doesn’t instantly turn black and swoon and shrivel up, like it does in the commercials. Manual weeding takes forever — and besides, fighter jocks aren’t paid to mow the lawn.

So when hand-to-hand combat and chemical warfare fail, what’s left to d...