Infinity Ward have finally abandoned the World War II setting that the
series is known for, and gone into the 21st century with Call of Duty
4: Modern Warfare. While the campaign is criminally short, the quality
of that campaign combined with an addictive multiplayer plus some
really slick visuals make Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare the best
first-person-shooter of 2007.
Even though the campaign is short, the game covers a lot of ground in
the 5-7 hours it will take you to complete the game, depending on the
difficulty level you're playing on. The game tells a story of two
soldiers: a British SAS that goes by the name of 'Soap' McTavish and a
US colonel called Paul Jackson. You start the game out in the eyes of
'Soap' McTavish by following a basic tutorial that explains the
controls.
Once you have completed the tutorial, you embark on your first mission
that's set in the Bering Strait where you have to infiltrate a ship
that's supposed to be carrying nuclear warheads, and it's up to you and
your squad to save the world. This first mission alone features plenty
of breathtaking moments which, for story purposes, won't be explained
here since it's a sight you have to see with your own eyes to truly
appreciate. Call of Duty 4 manages to keep one-upping itself with these
breathtaking scenarios, and it never, brings down the pace, save for a
mission where you have to go on a sniping mission, that, as slow as it
is, manages to be a huge compliment to the action in the other
missions.
Don't let the name "Modern Warfare" fool you, Call of Duty 4 plays
almost exactly like its World War II counterparts. You have a compass
at the bottom of the screen that tells you where you have to go, but
getting to that position is easier said than done, as enemies will do a
pretty good job of making you look like Swiss cheese, even on the lower
difficulties, if you don't keep your head down. You still have the
aiming mode, where you have to look down the sights for increased
accuracy and by still having that, Call of Duty 4 manages to be more
tactical than it might look. Especially on the harder difficulties.
Once you complete the singleplayer campaign, there's a great
multiplayer component to sink your teeth in. Up to 18 players can play
online on the 360 and PS3 versions on 16 different maps. All of the
maps are wonderfully balanced, and they are a real joy to play on. A
lot of the maps are taken directly from the singleplayer campaign, with
a few alterations to make it equally enjoyable for all types of
players, of course. There are six modes to choose from, ranging from
the standard Team Deathmatch to a Counter-Strike like mode called
Search and Destroy, where one of the players on your team has to plant
a bomb somewhere on the map, and the other team has to locate and
disarm it. There are also "Hardcore" versions of the modes where there
isn't a map, and you take more damage from gunfire. All weapons and
perks are also stuff you have to pick up in the "Hardcore" versions of
the modes.
The thing that makes the multiplayer so addicting, is the inclusion of
experience points. You get experience points for killing a guy, calling
in a UAV, which is a radar that shows your enemies positions on the
map, calling in an airstrike, calling in a helicopter or completing
weapon challenges. The way you can call in a UAV is by killing three
guys. You can call in an airstrike by killing five guys, which is
especially deadly if it's combined with a UAV. If you manage to kill
seven guys in a row, you get to call in a helicopter which is really
handy if your team is behind on points. The other team can shoot the
chopper down though, if one of the players has a rocket launcher. It's
also possible to take it down with conventional gunfire, but that takes
a long time and you will most likely be dead before you shoot them
down. These advantages keep the multiplayer fresh and exciting. The
experience points you gather by doing these actions level up your
character, which gives you better weapons and new weapon challenges,
which are all pretty basic "kill a set number of dudes" challenges, but
they give you an incentive to try out new weapons, instead of relying
on the same weapon all the time.
Perks are also a new addition to the Call of Duty franchise. The perks
are upgrades, if you can call them that, to your character. Some of
them make you sprint longer and some can make you reload faster. One of
the perks is particularly interesting: It's called "Last Stand" and
what it does is that if you get killed, you get to pull out your pistol
and try to kill the guy who shot you. If you manage to kill him before
you die, you get double the experience points you would normally get.
It's a neat little perk that can bite your opponent in the ass if he's
not careful.
Once you get to level 4 in the online mode, which is pretty easy, you
get to create your own cIass. This is where the fun of gaining perks
begins: When you level up, you'll be treated with some new perks
although it's not every time you increase your level you get new perks.
You can customize up to six cIasses, and it really comes down to you
how you want to play. There's a big selection of weapons and perks you
can use, and the fact that you want to keep unlocking them, is one of
the major plusses with the online.
Once you get to level 55 in the online mode, you have a choice: Keep
playing? Or unlock Prestige Mode? Prestige mode resets you back to
level 1 again, but every time you level up, you get a different badge
than the others to gloat. You can play through Prestige Mode four times
before you have to stop at level 55.
Visually, Call of Duty 4 is outstanding. It features sharp textures, amazingly life-like animations and just sucks you into these war-torn villages by
really portraying some life-like graphics. The lighting is a great
contributor to this. It looks very
realistic and is really the icing on the cake to an already great-looking
game.
Audio-wise, Call of Duty 4 doesn't really bring anything new to the
table: It features the traditional movie-like soundtrack when the
action picks up, and is appropriately moody when you're sneaking
around. The game does feature a rap over the end credits that's
hilarious if you pay attention to the lyrics.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare might look like your average
first-person-shooter, but a thought-provoking story, a short, but sweet
single-player and a fantastic multiplayer suite all add up to make it
the best first-person-shooter of 2007.
