To put it simply, anybody who enjoys gaming needs to own Call of Duty 4.
Since it's really one of the only flaws in the game, the campaign's length is disappointing, only coming in at about 5 or 6 hours of playtime at the most. By rule of thumb though, quality trumps quantity, and boy does it here. You'll play as 2 different perspectives in the campaign, one a fresh recruit in the British SAS, and another a US Marine. The campaign is exciting to play, due to unexpected moments thrown out after every turn and thrilling sequences like aborting nukes, storming house after house looking for a terrorist leader, and even crawling in the grass through an enemy patrol. It's these moments that make the game as thrilling as it is; it's just disappointing that they don't last too long.
It's a fairly simple concept most of the time too: you bear a compass that helps you find your way to the objective, which usually means getting from point A to B. This isn't a cakewalk though, dozens of hostiles begging to be shot in the face stand between you and your destination. This calls for some spraying and praying, although for non-Rambo fanatics, precision shooting works as another approach.
Since the fantastic single player campaign is rather short, you'll probably be spending most of your time in the outstanding multiplayer, which is probably one of the best, and most addicting multiplayer in recent history. There are 16 maps to be played on and a wide variety of game types, ranging from strait up Team Deathmatch, Free for All, Domination (basically controls points) as well as objective based modes like Search and Destroy or Headquarters.
Call of Duty 4 digs a bit deeper than just shoot to kill, take out three enemies without dying and you'll receive UAV radar, which will expose members of the enemy team for 30 seconds as red dots on your map. Boost it up to a five-kill streak and you'll be able to call in an air strike for you to place anywhere on the map. If you're able to reach seven kills without dying, you and your team receive an AI controlled helicopter that will shoot any enemy in the line of fire. This adds more variety to the game and manages to keep things fresh and fun.
By doing all this, you'll receive XP, which is what multiplayer revolves around. Earning XP keeps adding to your rank, and achieving higher ranks will unlock weapons, attachments for them, perks, and challenges (more on these later), and most importantly, keeps you addicted.
What all those are used for is the Create-A-CIass feature. This allows you to customize your way of play. First, pick a weapon and a side arm, as well as attachments for them. You may want a silencer to hide you from enemy radars, or a red dot sight to replace the iron sights. Special grenades are also available, like flash bangs, which temporarily blinds a foe, and smoke grenades to provide cover in heavy fire situations. You have the opportunity to use 3 different perks from each category of perks. Perks in the Perk 1 group are mostly extra explosives to carry around like pressure activated claymores, or a RPG's that are great for taking out those pesky choppers. Perks from 2 and 3 seem to be a little more varied. These include Sleight of Hand will give you a faster reload; UAV Jammer will make you undetectable by enemy radars, and Martyrdom will drop a live grenade when you are killed.
Challenges basically give rewards of XP, and are earned by getting a certain number of kills or headshots with a weapon, or harder tasks like killing everyone on the enemy team without dying. These are a lot of fun to obtain and coax you into exploring more weapons and cIasses.
If there was a status quo for audiovisual presentation, Infinity Ward pulled their weight plus 500 sumo wrestlers. Graphics are breathtakingly realistic – from wide open pastures, to burning buildings, to insanely detailed interiors, everything looks great. The lighting is terrific and the game runs smoothly with no hiccups whatsoever – no matter how hectic things get. Everything sounds as it should also. Gunfire off in the distance is appropriately muffled, while up close and personal shooting has a lethal crack to it. Voice work is excellent and although music sounds like a typical action game, it's well done.
So overall, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is an astoundingly good game that you need to play, regardless of what platform it's on. Whether you're looking for an incredibly well designed campaign, or a deep multiplayer experience that's more addicting than crack, you'll definitely find something to enjoy. Odds are though; you'll love everything about it.