In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Infinity Ward and Activision (once again) keep the campaign short and sweet. Following the precedent set by Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2, the 10-hour single player story in Modern Warfare 3 won’t keep you away from the multiplayer or Spec Ops action for too long.

But if campaign completion and achievements are important to you, here are some campaign strategy tips to keep your efficiency at a maximum.

Play the Modern Warfare 3 Campaign on Veteran Difficulty… the First Time

When I buy video games, I like to move through them quickly. The fastest, most efficient way to complete Modern Warfare 3 — while also keeping an eye on achievements — is to play on Veteran difficulty. As the hardest of the four difficulty settings in the Call of Duty games, the Veteran gameplay will be more of a challenge than the easier settings, but it will allow you to unlock more achievements.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Achievements requiring Veteran Difficulty:

• The Big Apple – 25G: Complete “Black Tuesday” and “Hunter Killer” on Veteran difficulty.
• Out of the Frying Pan… – 25G: Complete “Persona Non Grata”, “Turbulence”, and “Back on the Grid” on Veteran difficulty.
• Payback – 25G: Complete “Mind the Gap”, “Goalpost”, and “Return to Sender” on Veteran difficulty.
• City of Lights – 25G: Complete “Bag and Drag” and “Iron Lady” on Veteran difficulty.
• The Darkest Hour – 25G: Complete “Eye of the Storm”, “Blood Brothers”, and “Stronghold” on Veteran difficulty.
• This is the End – 25G: Complete “Scorched Earth”, “Down the Rabbit Hole”, and “Dust to Dust” on Veteran difficulty.
• The Best of the Best – 100G: Complete the campaign on Hardened or Veteran difficulty.

While completing the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 campaign on Veteran difficulty, you will unlock all of the non-difficulty-specific achievements as well. This means that you can complete the entire campaign one time instead of completing the game once on an easier setting and then coming back to play through the entire campaign again.

Pick Up the Smaller Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Achievements on an Easier Difficulty

When you play through MW3 the first time, your objective is to complete the campaign. Some of the achievements in Modern Warfare 3 require attention of their own. Rather than trying to get all of the achievements at once, it can be more effective to come back for the smaller achievements on an easier difficulty. Unlike other console games — like Halo 3, where you have to play at least on Regular difficulty to unlock the achievements — you can get the smaller achievements in Modern Warfare 3 single player even on the Recruit difficulty.

Modern Warfare 3 — smaller achievements for your second play through:

• Jack the Ripper – 20G: Melee 5 enemies in a row in Single Player or Special Ops.
• Informant – 20G: Collect 22 Intel Items.
• Scout Leader – 35G: Collect 46 Intel Items.
• This Is My Boomstick – 20G: Kill 30 enemies with the XM25 in “Black Tuesday.”
• What Goes Up… – 20G: Destroy all the choppers with only the UGV’s grenade launcher in “Persona Non Grata.”
• For Whom the Shell Tolls – 20G: Destroy all targets during the mortar sequence with only 4 shells in “Back on the Grid.”
• Kill Box – 20G: Kill 20 enemies with the Chopper Gunner in a single run in “Return to Sender.”
• Danger Close – 20G: Take down a chopper with an AC-130 smoke grenade in “Bag and Drag.”
• Ménage à Trois – 20G: Destroy 3 tanks with a single 105mm shot in “Iron Lady.”)
• Nein – 20G: Kill 9 enemies with A-10 strafing runs in “Scorched Earth.”
• Flight Attendant (secret achievement) – 20G: Kill all 5 enemies during the zero-g sequence in “Turbulence.”

Breaking the Modern Warfare 3 Xbox 360 achievements (or PlayStation 3 trophies) into two groups like this will give you a huge boost in single player efficiency. With only one complete play through and a little cleaning up afterwards, you’ll be back to your Spec Ops and multiplayer gaming pownage in no time, and with more gamer points to brag about.