Call of Duty 4 modernizes itself to become one of the the best first-person shooters ever made.
Call of Duty would be one of those franchises. After making 3 games focused around WWII, developer Infinity Ward, who took a break from the series after it's 2nd installment, returns with a fresh new outlook on their incredibly popular franchise. Subtitled Modern Warfare, this new entry in the series, as you would have guessed it, takes place in modern times, with modern equipment and modern subject matter. Also, the game moves away from the traditional three-country campaign style to a more action-oriented movie style.
In CoD 4's single player campaign, you'll take on the role of Soap MacTavish, a member of the British 22 SAS Regiment and Paul Jackson, a member of the United States Marine Corps 1st Force Recon, as they try to stop Russian ultranationalist Imran Zakhaev and his ally Khaled Al-Asad from getting their hands on illegal nuclear devices in an attempt to hold the world hostage until they meet their demands. The story is filled with twists and turns with memorable moments that will leave you sitting there, mouth wide open, wondering what the hell just happened.
Some levels in the game are simply mesmerizing and will take you to a great deal of locales and situations. At one point, you'll be escaping from a sinking ship during a thunderstorm while, at another time, you'll be deep in the Zone of Alienation in Chernobyl, trying to stay hidden from a tremendous number of Russian extremists, with only your companion and a sniper rifle at your disposal. Most of the missions you'll be sent on are incredibly intense and heart-pounding, as you'll hear your teammates shout orders or call out the location of an enemy while your foes yell at each other in many languages. This adds to the overall atmosphere of the game and makes it an unforgettable experience.
It's a shame that this experience doesn't last very long, as the campaign clocks in at around 6-7 hours tops. Also, there's no real reason to go back to it as there is no co-op for the campaign. Contrary to other shooters of the genre, you do not have the ability to give orders to your squad. You can take this as a good or a bad thing, depending on your point of view on this gameplay mechanic. Thankfully, your squad's AI is pretty solid as they'll lay down cover fire and take out most of the enemies without a problem. The enemy AI is also very acute, as they'll take cover and try to flank you as soon as they get the opportunity.
Aside from the excellent single player campaign, there is also multiplayer action going on within Call of Duty 4. There are 12 different modes to choose from, including the traditionnal Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch, Domination, Objective, and a mix of those for other modes. The game's multiplayer works with classes. There are 5 of them available, including Assault, Special Ops, Light Machine Gunner, Demolitions & Sniper. Once you gain enough experience points and reach level 5, you'll be able to create your own classes, as 5 slots will be unlocked to do so. The more experience points you earn, the more you'll rank and level up, unlocking new weapons, perks and challenges along the way.
Perks are a very interesting and sometimes vicious addition to the CoD series. What do they do exactly? Quite simple. Some of them will allow you to use more grenades, steady your aim while sniping or run for longer periods of time, while others, like Martyrdom, will let you drop a grenade when you get killed or, like Last Stand, which allows you to use your pistol when you're not killed instantly. As you can imagine, these perks add an exciting dimension to the multiplayer and makes for quite a battle. Getting caught by a Martyrdom sucks, but catching others with it is quite satisfying. Challenges are pretty straightforward. Some of them will require you to kill a certain amount of enemies with a shotgun, pistol and so on, while others will require you to shoot down enemy helicopters or fall down a hole(!!). This is an interesting and challenging addon which will permit you to utilize weapons you don't normally use.
The graphics and visual design are absolutely amazing. The details in the characters are close to lifelike and you'll see them react like soldiers would. The environments, from the sinking ship to the deserted ghost-town of Chernobyl, are incredibly well rendered and make you feel like you're actually there. The voice acting isn't anything special, but it does the job very well. The sounds add to this game as much as the graphics do, as all of the weapons sound exactly like they should. The soundtrack rivals those of big budget war movies, as the beautiful score will kick in with precise timing. The controls should come natural for any shooter aficionado and are easy to grasp and understand for novices as well.
If Call of Duty 4 had a co-op campaign mode, it would have been perfect. There isn't much to reproach to this game, as it does everything extremely well. The polished, gripping, exciting campaign and the challenging, fast-paced brutal fun of the multiplayer mesh well to create one of the best first-person shooters to come out in years. This game is a heart-pounding, cinematic experience that should not be missed.