Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360)
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Not so long ago, the gaming community was too busy with aliens, Soviets, and Pokemon to appreciate a game based on contemporary warfare. But then, as the world grew scarier and less stable, as America became embroiled in a pair of conflicts, game developers tried something new—they began exposing gamers to large-scale hostilities that paralleled real world events.
Most of these games were inconsequential, but a few good titles, like Battlefield: Modern Combat and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter emerged boasting storylines that could have been ripped from actual news headlines. Call of Duty 4 continues this legacy, but with one key difference—developer Infinity Ward was able to transpose the intensely fun polyphony of its previous World War II installments into a modern context and the results are mesmerizing. CoD 4 is the first shooter set in the present to provide gamers with a complete package of fun.
Fictional Storyline? No comment.
Call of Duty 4 puts the gamer in the boots of two individuals: Paul Jackson, a member of the United States Marine Corps 1st Force Recon and John “Soap” MacTavish, a soldier in the British 22 SAS Regiment. The gameplay switches between the two from mission to mission as each has his own orders to carry out and, thankfully, the objectives rarely get repetitive, keeping the game fresh throughout.
Unlike any previous Call of Duty title, which relied heavily on historical events of the Second World War, CoD 4 is ‘made up.’ But it is hard to call a game centered around a fundamentalist coup d’étatin a fictitious nation of the Cradle of Civilization downright ‘made up.’ Add to that an unstable group of Russian separatists with grand nuclear ambitions, and CoD 4 has evolved from potent imagination to potential reality.
As Sergeant Paul Jackson, whose storyline follows the American intervention of the Middle Eastern coup, the player gets control over many of the most deadly weapons and technologies of a modern military superpower. Gone is the M1 Garand rifle and the Browning Automatic (BAR), replaced by the M16, with alternate modes of firing (grenades, much?), and the FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile launcher (essentially, a vertically launched bazooka).
Jackson and his squad mates find themselves engrossed in a massive warzone comprising wide desert environments and tricky urban settings. One mission has Jackson’s squad protecting a damaged M1A1 Abrams tank, and then, after its repair, the tank accompanies and provides domineering support for the squad on its next mission.
Sgt. “Soap” MacTavish, on the other hand, is busy dealing with a vicious group of Russian ultranationalists aspiring on capturing an atomic arsenal. While Johnson slugs away in the desert, MacTavish weaves his way through the thick forests of the Caucasus. Just when the question emerges of how these two storylines are connected, the fundamentalists detonate a nuclear device in their besieged capital city. The nuke was a gift and probably came with a card that quite possibly read like this:
Dear Fundamentalist Regime,
Try not to stand close to the device when it goes off and by close we mean anywhere within 20 square miles. Toodles!
From,
Your buddies, the Russian Rebels
After the explosion, as is a new, prevailing trend in big titles, the screen displays a slightly interactive, cinematic panorama of the scene. The view of nuclear devastation is awesome—hollowed out buildings with rubble everywhere, as the radiation burns the air. Then, all Hell breaks loose for real.
There are several other memorable levels, such as Captain Price’s sniper hunt and the AC-130 Spectre gunship simulation. In a flashback mission as Captain Price, MacTavish’s commanding officer, you control one of the most white-knuckle missions in the recent history of gaming. Price, according to the memory, infiltrated the vicinity of Chernobyl, avoiding patrols of soldiers, in order to get one very long-range sniper shot (the wind affects the bullet’s trajectory) at a wanted terrorist, Imran Zakhaev. He then escapes the region while chased by hoards of angry Russians.
But, this chapter of the game also highlights one of Call of Duty 4’s few negatives, the seemingly impossible sections of gameplay that cannot be anticipated. While waiting for extraction from an inbound helicopter, Price faces an onslaught of enemies that just won’t stop coming. On hardened difficulty (the second most difficult setting), I played this moment at least 25 times without success; each time I was forced to start again, with no recourse. These choke points show up on a few occasions throughout the game and you will have no choice but slog through them (please remember that your controller is an expensive gadget before you decide to throw it into a wall).
The superb AC-130 Spectre mission hands over the weapon controls of one of most powerful planes ever to you, the gamer. Using a night vision video screen situated in the AC-130’s fuselage high above the ground, you are able to rain three types of fire (a minigun, a midsize artillery cannon, and a heavy duty 105mm howitzer) down upon unsuspecting enemies patrolling a village. It’s ironic to get play a game with this sophisticated weapon system because its real life users often describe it as being similar to a videogame.
The campaign, hectic as it may be, is short. Play through on normal should only take about six hours. On hardened or veteran difficulties, the game will play upwards of ten hours, but most of that extra time is concentrated on replaying the few choke points over and over again.
Call of Duty 4: Online Warfare
Unlike some of its predecessors, CoD 4 features a deep multiplayer that does not feel as though it was tacked on at the last minute. Halo 3 fans will be very comfortable in Call of Duty 4’s hands, as the interface and several of the options are almost identical, like the possibility to veto the map. Players have a choice of several different game types, only a few of which (team deathmatch, free-for-all) are available right away. The same goes for weapon load outs; gamers must earn better guns and options by leveling up via experience points—encouraging an extensive and ever-expanding multiplayer.
Online gameplay is deliberately more tactical than most games. Teams must stick together and fight, not like a group of Rambo’s, but rather as cohesive strike force. CoD 4 gives you the option to switch between different classes of soldiers while you await respawn. Noticed a hidden crow’s nest? Change into a sniper. Need to help protect the flag? Choose the defensive class. Feeling particularly incendiary? Try demolition. Going on kill streaks gives you options to call in helicopter support or air strikes.
Adding to the RPG-like disposition of the multiplayer experience are the “perks” associated with different classes of soldiers. These are meant to enhance certain abilities and add a few more dimensions to your multiplayer considerations. A few examples are better stopping power, longer sprint time, and extra grenades. Moreover, you can create your very own class with customized weapons and perks. The maps provide a nice mixture of the same environments seen in the campaign, each one ripe with alleys for flanking and places for ambushes. The result of all of these options is a vast and unconquerable online adventure that is as heavy on tension as it is on fun.
My only gripe with multiplayer concerns the controls. In order to shoot accurately, it is essential to pull the ‘left trigger’ to bring the gun sight up. But there is a delay, slight as it may be, between pulling the trigger and the moment the gun sights center on your screen. This delay may be realistic, but it is deadly during close, point blank encounters as it hampers your ability to shoot quickly. The only solace lies with the fact that the other players have to deal with the same issue.
Over and Out
Before signing off, it would be wise to mention some of the miscellaneous ingredients not yet discussed. The graphics, for one, are glorious. Every setting, every building, every soldier is dripping with detail. But the sense that Call of Duty 4 most dutifully obliges is not sight, but hearing. Thanks to a fitting soundtrack and surreal sound effects you could have a blast just listening to the game.
Call of Duty 4 is one of the few games of 2007 that unquestioningly delivers—on all fronts—despite huge expectations. With only a few minor negative issues, the game does little to frustrate. Starting with a believable campaign, Call of Duty 4 brings together a solid multiplayer experience, proven gameplay style, and all the intangibles into a beautifully rounded game that we will be playing for a long time.
Primotech Rating: 
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[...] recently released Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (pictured) was not only a brutally sublime romp through modern Russia and the Middle East, but also a much needed shot of adrenaline for a [...]
[...] Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for the Xbox 360 was the month’s top selling game, with 1.56 million copies now in customer’s hands. Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii was next, with 1.12 million copies, followed by Assassin’s Creed for the Xbox 360 with 980,000 units sold. [...]
[...] Read Our Review [...]
It’s not a fault of a game that you, the reviewer, can’t make it through a section. That’s why it’s called “hardened”. You have to have played the game a lot. If you are complaining about the sighting mechanism, you obviously haven’t learned enough for the gameplay to be second nature.
The complaint about the L Trigger sighting mechanism is unnecessary because you don’t have to look down the sights to shoot someone. Watch their Kill Cam and see if they’re hip firing. There is a perk to increase accuracy and it’s probably the reason you’re dying. It’s a balanced system.
[...] this, the studio thanks best-selling titles of 2007 like Call of Duty 4, BioShock, and of course, The Orange [...]
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