reviews

Game: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Genre: Military First Person Shooter
Platform: Xbox360, PlayStation 3, PC (Reviewed on Xbox360)

2007 has been quite possibly the best year ever for first person shooters.  Halo 3, Orange Box, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Medal of Honor: Airborne and The Darkness are all top-flight action games that have received much deserved critical and consumer praise.  As good as these games have been, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare might just be the best of the bunch.

Developer Infinity Ward, creators of the first two CoD games, has finally left behind the well-tread locales of Normandy, Stalingrad and Northern Africa for a more contemporary setting.  Modern Warfare takes advantage of real-world political tensions by setting its central conflict in the war-torn Middle East.  This is a welcome change of pace for the series and, given today’s international political climate, makes for a more relatable and intense experience for gamers, 99% of whom weren’t born until decades after the end of  “The Big One.”  In true Call of Duty form, the single-player campaign is told from the viewpoint of both a British SAS operative and a US Marine, but still manages to tell a cohesive story that takes players to diverse locales like Russian farmhouses, missile silos and sinking cargo ships.  The only knock against the single player campaign is that it’s very short, clocking in at around 6 hours for skilled players.  The brevity of the campaign is excusable, however, because it is so intense and packed with “Holy $#!t” moments from start to finish that you’ll scarcely have a chance to breathe during those 6 hours.



As good as the campaign is, online multiplayer is where most players will spend the lion’s share of game time, and it will be time well spent.  Up to 18 players can join in on any of the 16 well-balanced maps for game types that range from free for all deathmatches to team based territory control.  In addition, the game mechanics can be tweaked to make the experience more “arcadey” with weapon pick-ups scattered around the maps, or more of a realistic simulation with one-hit kills.  Initially, players choose from a selection of pre-set character classes, each with their own weapon loadouts and “perks”, special abilities like extra health and the very cool ability to use a pistol as a last resort after you’ve been downed by your opponent.  After gaining enough experience points, though, you’ll be able to customize your own class, choosing your own primary and secondary weapons as well as your perks.  Getting those experience points is an extremely fun and satisfying experience.  You’ll get points for just about everything you do, from killing enemies to capturing control points to calling in support.  In addition, there are mini-achievements within individual games that give you special abilities.  For example, killing three straight enemies will enhance the abilities of your radar screen and killing five straight allows you to call in air strikes.  It’s a system reminiscent of the one found in Star Wars Battlefront II, but far more fleshed out and impactful.



Visually, Call of Duty 4 is simply stunning.  Character models and animations are first rate and every location in the game is rendered extremely well.  Lighting effects are subtle and effective, not an overblown bloom-fest like in so many recent games.  As is expected from a Call of Duty game, the audio is equally impressive.  Every weapon sounds exactly the way it should, thanks to the developer’s close relationship with military firearms experts.  Every bit of voice acting in the game is professionally done and convincing despite a lack of known actors.  Even ambient sounds are excellent, adding a level of immersion that makes the frantic pace of the game seem even more intense.  Controlling your soldiers is a joy as well. Tight controls have always been a hallmark of the Call of Duty series, and the fourth installment doesn’t disappoint.  Players can fire from the hip with some success, but aiming down the sights with the left trigger is encouraged and rewarded.  Likewise, while running and gunning is an option for some areas, strategic use of flanking and cover is almost a necessity in later more challenging levels.  In addition to the standard FPS gunplay, there are some well-implemented sequences that break up the pace a bit by putting you in control of guns mounted to various vehicles. The coolest of these sequences has you manning the weapons of an AC-130 gunship, providing support for ground troops.  The grainy, black and white presentation of this sequence makes it seem more like watching actual footage than playing a game, and it is perhaps the most jaw-dropping moment in a game full of jaw-dropping moments.  Character AI may be the only soft spot in the game’s otherwise bulletproof finish.  Your teammates will sometimes block doorways, stopping you from joining the action and your enemies will occasionally stand in the open, taking fire when cover options are readily available.  Its not a terrible problem, but in a game that is otherwise so polished, it is definitely a noticeable issue.



From start to finish, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a five hundred mile per hour punch in the face that shouldn’t be missed by anyone who has ever enjoyed a shooter of any kind.  It doesn’t do anything terribly innovative, except in the multiplayer arena, but everything it does, it does almost perfectly.  It’s the best game in the series so far, probably the best military shooter available, and maybe the best game this year.

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