Infinity Ward has decided to leave its roots in World War II and take on a new time period, but CoD4 is not lacking.
Overview:
Infinity Ward, the original developer of Call of Duty, is responsible for CoD4. The publisher is Activision. Infinity Ward decided to leave its roots in WWII and have decided to set this next game in modern times. There are lots of great improvements from Call of Duty 2. These show and make the game a whole lot better. There are changes in game play, multiplayer, single player, graphics, and more. Story (9/10):
I’m sure many people were sad when they saw they were not gunning down Nazi’s anymore. The main villain in CoD4 is Zakhaev, a nefarious Russian warlord with links to the mob and old oil money. He plans to consolidate his powers in Russia in the hopes of taking over the Russian government and gaining control of the country’s nuclear arsenal. However, he knows the Western countries will respond if he attempts anything in Russia. Therefore, he gets his friend Al-Asad and his army to attempt a coup in an unnamed Middle-Eastern country (it is unnamed to avoid any political issues). This action works, and the U.S.A. sends its Marine Force Recon to help this “unnamed Middle-Eastern country’s” government fight the coup. However, the British SAS aren’t fooled as easy. They had been keeping their eye on Zakhaev and know what he is doing. You will play as two main characters throughout the game (you will play as another character for a mission). As ‘Soap’ MacTavish, a recruit in the 22nd SAS Regiment, you will fight in Russia attempting to stop Zakhaev. As Paul Jackson, a sergeant in the 1st Marine Force Recon, you will fight in the Middle-Eastern country. Later in the game, Zakhaev gains control of some nukes and fires them. Unlike the other Call of Duty games, not all the characters you play as will survive. I don’t want to ruin it for you, but one of the characters will die. This is a huge turning point in the story. After this turning point, the Marines and SAS join forces to attempt to stop Zakhaev once and for all. Single-Player (9/10):
The single-player, unlike the other CoD games, now has “Acts”. There are three (or five, if you count the prologue and epilogue) acts, rightfully named “Act 1”, “Act 2”, and “Act 3”. The first act has 7 missions in it, with the turning point at the end. Act 2 contains 5 missions, and Act 3 has 4 missions. If you add the missions in the prologue (2 of them) and epilogue (1 of them), you will end up with the total of 19 missions. You will never find yourself doing the same thing long enough so you get bored. You will always be doing different things in each mission. Each mission is amazing and intense. That leads us into the game play element of the game.
Game play (7.5/10):
“The most photo-realistic video game we have ever seen!” – Game Informer
“One of the deepest online shooters of all time.” – IGN.com
“The most intense first-person shooter we have ever seen.” – Game Informer
These three quotes pretty much sum up what people thing of this game; intense, realistic, and deep. They are correct. This game is extremely intense. I can’t think of a way to describe it in words. You will feel it when you are in game, with 5.1 Surround Sound blasting; with gunfire zipping everywhere you look; with endless amounts of enemies pouring at you, all seemingly trying to shoot your brains out; with explosions going off all around you; with squad leaders yelling commands. I don’t want to type too much, but the intensity in this game is amazing. When I was typing that out, my fingers were about to spas out with excitement. Yea...I’m serious. Yes, I know that is weird. Hold on...*flaps arms around crazily*...OK, I’m fine now. Pretty much, if you have ever played a single Call of Duty game, multiply the intensity of that by 10. That is Call of Duty 4.
The only problem I have found with the game play is the same issue that was in the other Call of Duty games. It is too linear. Messages are continuously coming up on your screen saying “FIND THE JAVELIN”. You look on your compass and find the direction the Javelin is in. And woe and behold, there is a flashing, yellow, hologram over there. Hmm...I wonder if that is what I need to go to. So, you take the only way over there. Through the alley way, shoot a few guys and you pick it up. Then you die. You respawn at where you get your objective. You go to the Javelin again. The enemies are in the exact same place, expecting you. You have only one path to take. Once you get past this, however, it is very fun.
Multiplayer (9/10):
There are huge changes to the multiplayer in Call of Duty 4. The main differences are the ranks, unlocks, challenges, and class creation. Before we get to describing that, let me overview the multiplayer a bit. The max amount of players on consoles is 16, and the max on the PC is 32. However, the setting can be changes to anything. Don’t be surprised to see servers with 64. Now, that is intense! There are also many of the basic Call of Duty game modes, as well as some additional ones. The most basic one, Free-for-All, aka Deathmatch, is what the name says; every man for himself. Team Deathmatch is basically the same thing, except there are two teams. Of course, you try to kill the players on the other team. Then there is Search and Destroy, where two teams fight to either plant a bomb or to defend. CoD vets should now about this. Also returning is headquarters, where the two teams battle to control the radio. Missing in CoD2 was domination, but it is back. The two teams fight to control different positions around the map. Think Battlefield conquest. Those are the only games returning from previous games. Oh...what did you say? Yes, there is no CTF at the time of this writing. IW has said that it is not ready yet. Hopefully it will be about for *free* download later. One of the new game modes is sabotage. A neutral bomb is at the center of the map, and each team fights to destroy the other team’s objective. There are also some ‘rules’ that you can apply to the game modes. Hardcore makes the game realistic; removing the HUD, increasing bullet damage, etc. Old School makes you have to pick-up weapons and perks. Also, health is increased and jumps are higher. Oldcore combines Hardcore and Old School modes. All of these game modes, as well as variations of them you can play, will be sure to keep you busy. Like I have said before, there are ranks, unlocks, challenges, and class creations. You will earn ranks as you play. To rank-up, you must gain experience (XP). You can get XP by doing most things in the game, including killing or planting the bomb in S&D. When you reach level 4, you unlock the ability to create-a-class. You can change things such as your primary weapon, side arm, perks, special grenades, camouflage patterns and attachments. You unlock attachments/camouflage patterns for your primary weapon by completing challenges, which basically are challenges that you have to complete. You gain XP from these too. Your side arm would be your pistol. I mentioned you can choose ‘perks’. Perks are special abilities you can add to your character. For example, Stopping Power adds bullet damage. The special grenade would be a flash bang, smoke grenade, etc. You can then name your class and use it in game. As you rank up, you will unlock new weapons. Once you reach the level cap of 55, you will also get the option to go through prestige mode. You will get your stats reset, but you will get a symbol next to your name that says, “Hey, I’m awesome!” You can do this 10 times. This will be sure to keep you going. There are also 16 multiplayer maps, each with a different play style. Each play style will cause you to want to change your perks for each class to suit the game. Perks are the key to being successful. The popular party system from Halo 2 has been implemented in Call of Duty 4. You will be able to join the same lobby as your friends and will be put on the same team as them. This will help you coordinate your tactics and play successfully. Just one note: there are no drivable vehicles in MP. If you are one of those people who enjoy speeding around the map in a jeep doing hit and runs with your friends, then this is not the game for you.
Graphics (9/10): The graphic engine is AMAZING. The shadows are amazing. The effects are stunning. There isn’t really much I can say about graphics. If you have seen any clips of the game, you can see that it is stunning visually. You will be blown away.
Sound (8/10): The sound is just as stunning as the graphics. If you have surround sound, you will be impressed. The sound definitely adds to the intensity of the game. You have explosions going off over him, machine gun fire the other direction, a tank rolling in behind you, helicopters flying overhead with rockets shooting, and enemies/allies yelling. All these things will blow you away while playing. The sound will immerse you into the game so much, you will feel you like you are actually there fighting the war.
Overall Rating: I have rated each section I have talked about. The ratings are as follows... Story (9.5/10), Single-Player (9/10), Game play (8/10), Multiplayer (9/10), Graphics (9/10), Sound (8/10). Averaging that up...and I get a...8.75/10...rounding up to a 9.0. That is my final rating for Call of Duty 4. I recommend you get this game!