I was wondering what makes COD4 so great, don't get me wrong I don't hate it but what exactly does it do to stand out from the other shooters?

I agree.

I love the XP leveling system.  It's addictive and the perks add to it.  Add in the fact its a very solid shooter.  Also the single player is one of the best for FPS.  Have you played it?

The same could be said for a lot of things. Since this is the internet, I'm quite sure there is other people who agree with you.  Me being one of them.

" I was wondering what makes Halo 3 so great, don't get me wrong I don't hate it but what exactly does it do to stand out from the other shooters? "

I don't like the game either, but i understand why so many people love it.

It's an arcade shooter in a military setting.  That is what I enjoy about it.

" What really makes Halo great? Or unreal Tournament? Or Quake? Or Half Life? Or Left 4 Dead?  These are all relatively stupid questions. Don't overanalyze things, people like to shoot dudes, COD4 does killing things very well. How hard is that to understand? There also aren't alot of shooters in real world settings like that. "

"@empfeix: Yeah, and the single player is uber short and whenever I go online like 80-90% of the time when I get a kill I get blown up by the cheap-ass Martyrdom. "

I'm a fan of the speed of the game, and there wasn't anything inherently wrong with the multi-player.
Keep getting killed by "cheap-ass Martyrdom"? Don't run over dead bodies.

Ironic post. Both Halo and COD are bandwagon series.

It just does what it does very well, and keeps the singleplayer short and sweet so you can dive right into the very polished multiplayer. It's simple and elegant, with enough flourishes and realistic touches to make it feel immersive and visceral, which is what I know I want out of that sort of shooter. I even am starting to like the console controls better than the PC version, and I have a goddamn 7-button, 2000 dpi gaming mouse. I like my PC shooters, but CoD4 feels right on a console, even if you can't headshot as well. Maybe because of that, actually. The console multi is a cakewalk compared to the PC.

I really like Call of Duty 4 though I do find it slightly overrated. Not just overrated but the fact that many people I know only play that game and nothing else. A little variety maybe?
 
That being said, COD4 is an incredibly well-made and polished game that has a really jaw-dropping albeit short campaign and addictive and long-lasting multiplayer. It just a very excellent game in design.

Well if no one else is going to overanalyze it, I guess I will! 
 
Overall - Great graphics, realistic weaponry, modern setting, a nice level of lethality (when played on the harder difficulties).
Single Player - Good, plausible storyline (not overly fantastic); great setpiece battles; a nice feeling of being outgunned and outnumbered, yet still possessing the skills of an elite team with the ability to overcome the odds; not too many toys, just solid realistic weaponry that still requires you to shoot the enemies' faces faster than they can shoot yours. The feeling of being an elite soldier in an elite unit, but still a human who has to triumph through teamwork and skill, and sometimes that still might not save you from impending nuclear attacks or one-armed bad guys.
Multiplayer - Persistent leveling with Prestige for bragging rights. Perks, attachments, and weapon unlocks that still don't compromise the balance of the game. Lots of MP maps to play on, each presenting players with various strategies for success; and the same great graphics you'll find in the campaign running at an awesome framerate.
 
Granted, many of these are subjective and dependent on a player's opinions and feelings. Some people like playing as steriod-freaks, genetically engineered badasses, or unlikely heroes performing outlandishly well against highly-trained soldiers and operatives. Some people like fighting aliens, mutants, zombies, and Nazis (or even Nazi zombies!!). Some people enjoy using weapons and technology that don't exist, or only using things that existed half a century ago. Lots of people don't like video games where the laws of physics are standard as we know them. But if you enjoy shooters in general, and especially if you enjoy gritty realism in your FPSs, then CoD4 has more to offer than pretty much any game on the market. The popularity of it, and the amount of hype and exceitement for MW2, seem to suggest that many, many players still like some realism in their shooters, and CoD4 delivers that in spades.

Its very fast, frantic and arcadey... its all about the speed not just of the game but getting into a game, respawning...all of that. The pace is relentless yet still completely accessible... I think thats why so many people love it.

Great leveling system, fast paced gameplay, constant things to unlock. An all around fun game

" @L4wz said:

" I was wondering what makes Halo 3 so great, don't get me wrong I don't hate it but what exactly does it do to stand out from the other shooters? "

Idunno man, its a mystery. "

because it's got a solid game engine, and COD4 had all that progression and load out customization going on that kept a lot of people hooked.  IW knows shooters.

Time passes, naturally causing Halo players to grow into COD players. Younger "Halo age" folks tend not to have the resources to buy games and consoles for themselves, making that demographic naturally smaller. 
 
Now that COD has become so prolific, it's waiting for a 'new' series to take its place while the COD crowd gets younger and younger. But that won't execute until the MW3 era at earliest.

Red dot sight, LT/L1 to aim feels perfect, the nice visual indication that you hit somebody, utterly badass single player story, fantastic multiplayer, great visuals (the animation in particular) and overall an amazingly polished game. The problems it has like the respawning enemies are minor and often not hard to ignore.
 
It honestly made me look at shooters differently, stuff like Halo to me now just feels dated. It is by far the most prolific and influential shooter this generation.

this is a stupid question.

" I love the XP leveling system."

"Persistent leveling"

" Great leveling system"

 Pretty much what most people say here. Sweet but short single player, a fantastic fast-pace-arcadey multiplayer, a spice of realism that's not frustrating for the mainstream, the ability to shoot through literally -anything- (this doesn't get mentioned a lot), photorealistic graphics running at 60 fps, accessible gameplay for most demographics, customization and perks, killstreaks and a persistent leveling system.
 
It was amazing when it came out, but like most games they tend to lose their charm afterwards. For me Call of Duty 4 is one of the best FPS I've played, I liked it a lot more than Halo 3 for my own personal reasons.

You can like shoot dudes and then you get like experience points and then you get like super awesome weapons and stuff.

 
Not the only, but one of a few. That game is just top quality all around

The campaign was fast paced and explosive. That's what I loved about it.

It's a modern call of duty game made by infinity ward. If you disagree, it still scored very high on gamerankings. It also has good graphics and good multiplayer, that's why it's so good. Then again I can say the same thing about halo games, I think nothing stands out.
 
gamerankings
 

I like shooting dudes in the face, COD4 does shooting dudes in the face quite well. Though, the single player is complete shit.

I like the EXP, perks system and whatnot but the shooting itself isn't anything special

It's an okay game to me...  It's probably the best war game I've seen in a while.  But war games are just boring for me in general.

"One of the things that Call of Duty has over Halo is the fact that its for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC so pretty much everyone can be excited for it and enjoy it as for Halo only people who own a 360 can enjoy it. "

I never did see whats so great about this game, it's "Ok" but it's nothing amazing.

Cod 4 is great not because it is unique, it just does everything right. The only problem with it is lag online.

Cod 4 is great not because it is unique, it just does everything right. The only problem with it is lag online.

Regarding the single player, how often do you actually care about NPC squadmates in a game?  I was actually a bit sad when Gaz died!

I kindof liked CoD4 until I saw my little brother play.
 
Dear lord. Every time he died he would pray that his martyrdom hit someone. And when it did, it was a celebration.

  I'm not a huge fan of the single player in COD4, or any COD other than the first one for that matter. It just doesn't hold my interest. However, the fast pace style of the multiplayer has kept me playing for almost two years now. COD4 gives me an incentive to keep playing with the level system, something that most FPSs (I'm looking at you Halo), doesn't.

" @empfeix: Yeah, and the single player is uber short and whenever I go online like 80-90% of the time when I get a kill I get blown up by the cheap-ass Martyrdom. "

YES.

No, but seriously, my brother couldn't really get into it.  As far as the campaign, if you're not into the whole modern warfare thing, it can take a couple missions to really get into it, but I found it to be fantastic.  The multiplayer is REALLY where the game shines, as it offered something wholly unique utilizing the outstandingly solid gameplay of Call of Duty.

COD4 is as solid a game you'll ever hope to play, and its innovations alongside its familiar mechanics just really resonates with gamers.

FLAME BAIT THREAD ALERT !!!!!

People like it cause it's a pretty good game, but you're right in saying that there is not much that sets it apart from other shooters really. But the same can be said for most shooters.

The single-player campaign has some of the most intense moments in games, along with the progression in multiplayer.