Wasdie

Call of Duty 4 is the latest installment in the Call of Duty series. The setting for games one through three with three separate titles on the PS2, Xbox, and PSP, has been World War Two. Also out of these six games, only 2 of them have actually appeared on the PC.

Infinity Ward has finally brought back the CoD series to the PC. Instead of fighting on the frontlines of WWII, CoD 4 takes place in modern times, hence the title Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat.

This review only is a review of the single player mode since I am unable to play online thanks to my local college network.

I can sum up the entire review in a few simple words. Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat is one hell of a great game. Everything that was great in the previous Call of Duty games is all present and accounted along side many additions to the gameplay.

As with previous CoD games the gameplay is very linear and heavily scripted. With games like Crysis and Stalker on the market now, this seems very old fashioned. Don't worry, there is enough action and variety here to more than make up the loss of freedom that these more sandbox oriented games provide.

The game is set in a fictional war between the Russian government and Russian extremists (called Ultranationalists). I was slightly confused on the story at the beginning of the game, but what I have gathered is the Ultranationalist movement has started actually in a Middle Eastern country and spills into Russia itself. The Ultranationalists kill the president of some Middle Eastern country and America goes to restore order and stop the Ultranationalists from attacking more than just the Russian government.

You switch between a British S.A.S. commando nicknamed "Soap" and an American Marine named Jackson. I will not give any more details about the story because it is actually a major strength of the game. Details of the story are given in cutscenes during the loading times between each level. This is a cool feature because it makes the loading times much more interesting and they don't feel all that long.

To make up for the lack of sandbox gameplay, CoD 4 dishes out a wide of variety of gameplay. Along side of the signature "big battle" levels that the series is well known for, there are many smaller, more personal skirmishes that are each intense and unique in their own way.

For example one of the missions has you taking part in a massive marine invasion of a Middle Eastern city. The level opens up with you on a Blackhawk helicopter flying towards the city. You look out to see dozens more helicopters transporting soldiers over water from the naval fleet to the city. As you pass over the city RPGs and gunners from the roofs of the building open up on all of the helicopters. As the helicopters reach their destination and start unloading over the city, you can see all of the marines rappelling from the helicopters to the ground. From there you proceed to wage all out war with the rebel army in the city streets.

Another mission has you stealthy para-dropped into the countryside of Russia. Here you sneak from place to place in stealth, trying not to get detected and overwhelmed by enemies. It is a really nice contrast to the large battle missions. Other missions offer different kind of gameplay as well. For example you take the gunner position on a C-130 gunship circling a battlefield. Here you rain death from above on the enemy as you escort a S.A.S. commando unit. This is a very unique and amazingly fun mission. It is a good break from the typical protect-your-bomber-as-the-enemy-fighters-try-to-shoot-you-down missions that we have seen 100 times before.

The actual gameplay is fairly familiar. If you have played a CoD game before you kind of know where this one is going, linear with lots of guys to shoot. You get squad mates but in later difficulties these guys are more of an annoyance to the enemy because they don't seem to kill anything. On the easier difficulties your allies really help to mow through the ranks of the enemies.

The game throws a few new elements to the mix. In later missions you can call air support to carve a path through the hoards of enemies. On top of smoke grenades you get flash bang grenades. All of the guns are equipment are modern so you get to use silencers and grenade launchers.

The enemy A.I. is fairly smart. Even on the easy difficulties the enemy does its best to get on your flank and keep suppressive fire down. Though I have found that they are not always the best at finding cover, but usually it is alright because there is so much enemy fire one you at once that you are pretty much forced to take cover. On top of suppressive fire, the enemy A.I. loves grenades. You will often find yourself ducking from enemy grenades and having to reposition yourself.

The whole campaign will take you about five to six hours on the lower difficulties and 8-10 on the higher. Luckily Infinity Ward has added a ton of extras to unlock. Throughout the levels there are pieces of enemy intelligence that you can collect. The more you collect, the more special cheats you unlock to use during the game. Also at the end of the game you unlock arcade mode which allows you to play through any level trying to score the most points and finish the level in the quickest time. The cheats plus the arcade mode add a ton of replayablitiy to the game.

The single-player campaign may not last long but its one you won't easily forget. Each level is short but is pack with tons of action that will have you coming back at least once.

The quality of the single-player campaign is only enhanced by the amazing graphics that Call of Duty 4 offers. The game looks damn near photorealistic at times. This is mostly due to high resolution textures and amazing lighting. The character models are very detailed and extremely well animated.

I played the game on the PC. With my computer specs (Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, 8800gts 640mb, 2gb DDR 800 RAM) I could max the game out with full AA and AF and still keep a solid framerate throughout the game. The game is optimized beautifully. Never once was there a slowdown. I have seen the PS3 and 360 versions of the game and they both look amazing and never experience slowdown either.

The sound is also a treat. The CoD series has always had some of the best sound effects in video games and CoD 4 is no exception. On my first play through of the game I was limited to only headphones. Even with my cheap headphones the game still sounded amazing. The sound really brings the battle to life. When I was able to hook up my 5.1 surround sound speakers, I swear I was in the middle of a real battle. To top it all off, it features a very good orchestral score that is just as good as most action movies today.

This whole review I have been showering CoD 4 with praise but there are a few cons with CoD 4. For starters the game is short. I mean super short. You can easily finish this game within 6 hours. Again I was not able to play the online mode but I am sure that adds hundreds of hours to the gameplay. Second, in the post Crysis world, linear FPSs are starting to feel old and dated. A more open-ended feel to the game would have been a really nice addition.

Overall Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat is a great game worthy of any FPS fans money. If you have a PS3, Xbox 360, or PC (even a older system) it is worth your time and money to check this game out. Its production values are top notch, the story is captivating, and the whole game is a blast from beginning to end.