You mean, you haven't played it yet?!
- Great story / cutscenes
- Great voice overs
- Superb sound effects
- Superb graphics
- Superb multiplayer
- Awesome ending
What you may not like:
- Frontal infinite respawn can hurt some maps
- A bit confusing at times to know who you are really playing as
Story
In short, the plot is about eliminating a terrorist figure. In order to do so, you will mostly play as Sergeant "Soap" MacTavish, a S.A.S. recruit. You will also get the chance to play as Sgt. Paul Jackson, a USMC soldier that will often deal with missions in the Middle East. Finally, linked to the story, you will also get to play a few missions as your Squad's Captain: Lt. Price.
It will take you around 6 to 12 hours to complete the single player campaign, depending on the level difficulty chosen and your experience with FPS'.
Endings
The story has 2 memorable endings: the official one linked to the story, and a special mission, unrelated to the story, after the credits. That special mission will ask you to rescue a hostage from a hijacked plane. This one is extremely entertaining and satisfying especially if done at Veteran level where you have so little time to do it.
Gameplay - move forward squad!
In order to progress, the game uses known and unknown objectives. Unknown objectives are invisible checkpoints you need to reach before your squad moves up (and also the enemies). In some maps, if it gets too challenging, you might have to start thinking about them.
There is a good variety of missions, you will be asked to snipe, protect civilians, rescue some injured teammates and a lot more.
Enemies - They are just as good as you
Sure you can sneak around but know that if you fail and they spot you, chances are they will manage to hit you before they go down, assuming you survive. So you will have to be extra careful or aggressive depending on the situation -- hesitation will be your downfall.
Controls
Fortunately, there is no unnecessary cover system here. The standard crouch, lean left/right, prone, run and jump are used instead. You will also be able to get over high fences through an animation. This allows you to go over most obstacles coming your way, but know that while you are making your way over an object, you cannot use your weapons.
Weapons & Online Play
The weapons behave very realistically and one its major quality is how easy they are to handle. Right clicking allows you to Aim before shooting to increase the accuracy of your shots. This is especially useful online in 'Hardcore' mode where a single bullet can instantly kill a player.
Both in the single player game and online, you can always switch your weapons with a downed opponent. This is pretty useful as it ensures you never really run out of ammo and also, allows you to temporarily use a weapon like a rocket launcher.
Weapons can be customized as well. You can equip them with a silencer, a scope or, for some of them, a grenade launcher. You also have the ability to change their skin later on once you've unlocked them.
The maximum rank your player can reach is 55. Still, even at 55, it doesn't mean you have unlocked everything considering that many challenges are based on specific achievements. For instance, the last skin of a weapon is obtained by getting a certain amount of headshots with that weapon.
It will take you a lot of time to unlock every achievements and that is one great thing about COD4. The community is very competitive and it gets very addictive to try to unlock every single one of them.
Graphics
Graphics are very detailed and for the most part, gorgeous. There are some weather effects, like hard rain and dust particles. The dynamic shadows look incredibly good and the same goes with the animations that are 'on the spot' and very realistic.
Conclusion - So much punch
If you haven't played this game already, and are remotely interested in first person shooters, you have to get your hands on it. Its rich, yet short, single-player campaign and its addictive online play makes it a Superb experience that should not be missed.
9.4/10