COD4
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
A lot of people were worried when they first heard that the Call of Duty series was moving away from its original WW2 theme. But in all honesty there is no need to. There are a lot of WW2 games out there, it is time for a change, and that is exactly what Activision have done. Modern Warfare has given the series a fresh new start while at the same time keeping the excellent game play that the series is known for.
The story is based around the plans of a Russian named Imran Zakhaev, who is determined to return him homeland back to the times of the Soviet Union. Zakhaev knows that the United States will never allow him to do this, so he gets his ally, Khaled Al-Asad to distract them. But the British and U.S governments discover what Zakhaev is up to and quickly spring to action by sending soldiers to both countries. This is where you come in, the single player campaign takes place in three different locations. Russia, where you take control of a British 22 SAS Regiment operative Sgt. John MacTravish, the Middle East where you play as an American Marine Corps operative named Sgt. Paul and finally in Ukraine where you play as Captain Price.
Although the campaign is short, it is extremely dense and addictive. The dialogue is well written and as you play through the story you find yourself getting emotionally attached to your character. Like in the previous titles the atmosphere of war has been captured extraordinarily well and at times you will find yourself standing back just to take it all in. The graphics are what you would expect from any recent game released on the next generation consoles. The game play is fluid, there are no frame rate issues even when the action becomes overwhelming, and it is well paced. At times your screen will be jammed full of enemies, but thanks to well thought out checkpoints your hair will be staying on your head, instead of all over the floor. Enemy AI, as well as your allies, seems to have been improved dramatically. Now you can hold back and let your allies do most of the dirty work, as now they can actually kill enemies. As for your enemies, they will run away to seek cover as well as blind firing as they hide behind objects. Once you have completed the story mode you will unlock the Arcade mode where you play through earning points as you kill enemies, blow up cars an so on It is very addictive as you play through trying to beat your high score or your friends.
The multiplayer mode is where Call of Duty 4 really shines. With the freedom to choose from either five set classes, with locked weapons and perks, or to create your own five custom classes, the possibilities are endless. When you first start to play your choices are limited as most options will be locked, but unlocking items is simple enough. You have to go online and earn Experience Points by simply killing opponents or completing certain objectives, such as securing the laptop in Headquarters. As you gain more Experience Points you start to go up in ranks, this unlocks new weapons for you to use and new challenges. Challenges range from blowing up a certain amount of cars, killing a set amount of people with a certain gun, to jumping 9 meters and dying. Completing these objectives unlocked weapon add-ons, such as silences, scopes and also different camouflages.
You have a total of 12 modes to chose from, most of which are pretty straight forwards, including: Free-for-All, Team Deathmatch, Ground War, Team Objective, Team Tactical, Search and Destroy, Headquarters, Domination, Sabotage, Team Hardcore, Old School and Oldcore. Most of which should be familiar and offer a nice variation. I wont go into to much detail as most of the fun is discovering each mode for yourself. The maps are varied and offer a good playground for both players who enjoy hiding amongst the bushes and sniping and those who like it up close and personal. There are a total of 16 maps for you to chose from, some large and other small. Needless to say, you will find yourself playing this game for months to come.
Review written by: Eckies
Summary:
Graphics: 9/10 Just what you would expect to see, yet stunnin at the same time.
Gameplay:9/10 Fluid, addictive and very dense. It will keep you coming back for more.
Sound: 9/10 Sounds have been captured extremely well,
Replay: 8/10 Even though the campaign is very short the harder difficulty settings and arcade mode will have you coming back for more.