Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - 10/10

Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare is the second instalment in the explosive Call of Duty series for the Playstation 3. For the first time in the series, COD takes you away from the World War 2 battlefield and thrusts you into a modern battlefield. You play as a British S.A.S soldier as well as a U.S Marine fighting in a forgotten war no one seems to care about. Armed with an enormous arsenal of modern weapons and high tech supports including a Cobra AH-1 attack helicopter, and even a Spectre C-130 Gunship you must fight a cunning and relentless force of Terrorists with a seemingly endless supply of troops. This epic title delivers intense fast action combat that will keep you wondering what behind the next corner. Not only is Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare a very intense game, it also plays more like a movie with an in depth storyline that will totally immerse you in the dangerous life of a combat soldier. With an immensely large battlefield, high tech weapons, a very smart and cunning enemy and also a very addictive multiplayer mode, Call of Duty 4 is a must have for any FPS fan. If you’ve ever heard the saying “war is hell”, heres the proof.



I have to admit, when I heard Infinity Ward were moving away from the WW2 battlefield, I was a little sceptical if they could really deliver a modern war fighting experience. But as soon as you put the disc in you feel the rush almost straight away. That’s right, Infinity Ward have not only hit a home run with this title, they’ve smashed the competition out of the ball park and sent them home crying. The game delivers a very intense experience in all the right places. The first thing you will notice when playing COD 4 is that the graphics are so amazing, you could almost swear you were watching a movie. Everything looks extremely clean and crisp with beautiful effects around every corner. This is about as close to real life combat most gamers will ever get, and consider yourself lucky. I wouldn’t want to fight in this war. This instalment of the COD series has had many things improved and added to give you an amazing wartime experience. You have the ability to throw grenades back at the enemy as well as a very graphic melee attack, which sees you actually thrust a knife through an enemy’s body.



The biggest improvement by far is the combat element. This game is extremely intense and is not for the faint hearted. The main reason it is so intense is because of the sheer amount of enemies in the game. Their AI have also been massively improved, although there are rare instances where you’ll wonder why you were able to walk up to a terrorist and stab him without him ever noticing you. Luckily these occurrences are extremely rare and overall the terrorists prove themselves to be resourceful and cunning enemy that kill without mercy. The game follows a linear storyline but alternate side paths are available to allow you to flank the enemy, which was nice to see. Although if you decide not to flank them, no doubt they will flank you. Also being a highly trained terrorist force, your enemies are smart enough not to fight in the open. They will take cover, fire RPG’s at you and through a seemingly endless supply of grenades at you to try and flush you out from the safety of a cover position, as since many cars and barrels in the game can explode, you’d better be quick to reposition to a safer position. COD 4 also borrows a concept from the original Medal of Honour on the PS1. Dogs. That’s right there are killer dogs in the game that want nothing more than to rip out your jugulare and eat in front of you while you slowly bleed to death. It’s a nice image isn’t it. If a dog does manage to pounce on you only have around 2 seconds to kill it before you become its dinner.



But fear not, the game does offer you support in the form of your squad mates. There are no squad commands in COD4. That means your buddies with fire, take cover and reposition without you having to lift a finger. They will actually kill all the enemies by themselves, although you might have to wait for them to put 3000 rounds downrange before they actually hit something. They act like a real well trained fighting force. Infinity Ward has also removed a very important safety element for the enemies. If you ever hated waiting for an enemy to pop his head up so you can pop his head off, your dilemma has now been fixed. Depending of the gun you have, you can spray the enemy with lead even if they’re behind a obstruction with an obvious reduction in stopping power of course.



The single payer campaign has you follow an unfortunately short string of linear missions. But the intense fighting and cinematic brilliance will have you wanting more. The missions can take from 10 minutes or even up to around 40 minutes depending on your style of fighting. The game allows you to play it safe or run rampant through the levels with your machine gun popping heads as you go. Although that style is not always recommended. There are 2 very unique missions in the game. One mission sees you take control of the gunner’s position in a Spectre C130 gunship. You have 3 airborne weapons to choose from, which range from the small 25mm cannon, to an enormous 105mm artillery piece. The mission sees you supporting a team of ground troops as they make their way through a group of small towns. Obviously when your troops are within a few meters of the enemies you should use the 25mm gun, but when they’re in the open it’s 105mm blasting time!!! The immense explosion that follows will literally send the bodies of the terrorist flying through the air, and when you’re looking through a thermal imaging TV, it can look quite comical. The second mission that will become a classic is called “All Ghillied up”, and it has to be the most intense sniper mission I have ever played. You have to sneak through Chernobyl to complete a assassination. Now this is a very memorable moment, you slide across to take control of a .50 calibre anti material sniper rifle. You then zoom your rifle in, spotting your target you take aim. Keeping wind variations in mind you watch the little flag on the jeep. Slowly you wait for the right moment then….BOOM! It’s a fantastic moment in the game and will remain a classic for years to come. The gun is so powerful it will literally tear a limb of your target. It’s quite a beautiful thing in a kind of sick and twisted way. My only complaint with the single player mode is that it doesn’t support a co-op mode that would have defiantly made the already amazing experience even better. The single player campaign takes around 5-8 hours to complete, and yes that is short but this game is so amazing that you’ll come back time and time again.



Now we move on to multiplayer. Probably one of the best things about COD4. There are the usual game modes such as death match, team death match and a heap of other modes. COD4’s multiplayer supports up to 18 players, and although that’s considerably less than RFOM it is actually a better experience. New players will like it because the less players means a longer lifespan and the ability to actually win a few games. The online lobby leaves something to be desired. The lobby is extremely slow and unless you are invited to a game it’s almost impossible to get a game started. That being said the online play is so fun you’ll be enticed to come back for a taste again and again. Also keep in mind that Infinity Ward is fixing the online problems so in time I’m sure the online problems will be completely removed. You also earn rank upgrades, which allow you to unlock scopes and other weapons and “perks” such as more health, or more stopping power for your weapon.



So basically to summarise, COD4 is the best FPS I have ever played in my entire life. With amazing game play, graphics and multiplayer you’ll keep coming back for a piece of hardcore fast paced action. Even people who are not fans of FPS should be amazed at the level of detail and intense action Infinity Ward have delivered. This is defiantly the best COD game in the series so far, and the only real threat to COD4 is COD5.

My Score:

Presentation: 9.8- Looks very clean and is easy to navigate
Graphics: 10- So good you could swear it was real
Sound: 10- Sure sounds like a war
Gameplay: 10- Intense fast paced FPS fun. Need i say more?
Lasting Appeal: 9.5- While single player isnt that long, multiplayer is the real gem here


Kikizo Games: 9.0
USA Today: 9.5
Game Almighty: 9.8
G4 / Tech TV: 10.0
PS3 Advanced: 9.5
GamePro: 10.0
Total Video Games: 9.0
RipTen: 9.8
GameSpy.com: 10.0
GameSpot: 9.0


So why are you still sitting there, go and by COD4 right now. You wont regret it.

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