After some consideration...
and thinking back over all the games I have ever played, there is one that stands out as be-all and end-all. And that is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.While the intro section which saw you getting executed was impressive and certainly tone-setting, it was the opening to Crew Expendable that made my jaw drop. As the lightning flashes across the Blackhawk's interior, the cigar Price is smoking illuminates his face and then the moment you pull your gas mask over your face and decent via rope onto the ship... you know it's on. The way the SAS then proceed to clear out the ship, killing sleeping enemies, flashing and clearing rooms with brilliant animation just had me on the edge of my seat. Then there were the bad guys themselves, each point and set piece carefully constructed to the fullest effect.
And then of course the ship is hit by missiles and you have to haul it out of there while the ship is sinking before diving for the chopper and making the most awesome escape in a game I have ever seen.
That was just one event and here are a few others I'll care to mention -
-You get nuked in first person
-You take targets out from a gunship hundreds of feet in the air while hapless enemies get blown to bits below
-You sneak past enemies that are a foot from you in a guille suit
-You snipe so far you need to take into account the curvature of the Earth
-You absail out of a building as it blows up
-You hold a position against a battalion single handedly using explosives and a sniper rifle
-You break dogs necks
And then there was the Mile High Club.
Yes that was me in the vid, a chance for me to blow my Call of Duty trumpet and for anyone still trying to do it, this is the way. Tried and tested.
While the single player was short it was the sweetest gaming experience ever, the characters were great, the voice acting spot on, the graphics were very good and the lighting impressive all the while maintaining an eye-bleeding 60fps. Somehow the game managed to make you feel like you were there, the camera movement when you reloaded, the AI that would move so convincingly. So on and so forth.
I don't have a particular desire to play through the single player again, I felt it was more like a one-time deal. But I'm fine with that thanks to the multiplayer.
Quite simply the most finely crafted online shooter this side of Counter Strike. Impeccable. The perk system was something new and served to create situations that never happened before. The idea of sneaking into an enemy area using a UAV jammer and causing all sorts of trouble is one example. Setting up a sniping position and covering it with claymores is another. The weapons are well balanced, the modes offer up enough variation and the kill-streak actions including an air-strike and helicopter are strokes of genius. The speed at which you can load up a game and start matchmaking allows you to easily jump into a game and get shooting, and the matchmaking system itself is pretty damn good taking after Halo 3. For a gamer like myself, I want instant gratification - I don't want to grind for the sake of grinding, I don't want to wait days on end to TRAIN A SKILL (tried the EVE Online trial) and yet MW introduces RPG elements with gun upgrades and levelling in a way that doesn't make you feel inadequate early on. It's a level playing field pretty much all the way.
Modern Warfare 2
It's coming out toward the end of the year and there are a number of things I would like to see improved.
- More multiplayer maps out of the box. I don't mind the single player being as short so long as there are more maps for the multiplayer.
- REPLAY FEATURE, just like Halo 3. This is something I felt was sorely missed from 4.
- When matchmaking, give a warning before auto-joining a round in progress. I'd like to see what map is going to be played before I play it.
- Coop mode?
- Hardcore Free-for-all. And get rid of Old-School, Quake Live Beta is open now.
- Another "Mile High Club" style mission at the end of the game.
- I would like to say silenced sniper rifles, but that might pose a serious balancing issue
- Increased weapon customisation
- An actual reward for maxing out on prestige like a new gun (even a joke gun) rather than just some stupid emblem.
- A snow map might be an idea. Also a night map.
- More than just one map pack after release, and no lazy rehashes of old classics.
- In Hardcore Mode a longer waiting period for team killing. Like a whole minute so you really are going to watch who you're shooting.
- In 4, while Hardcore has no Killcam the camera still turns in the direction of the kill shot. That shouldn't happen.
-It should be even faster to get into a game. Have the option to turn off the intro screens so I don't even have to skip them after the single player has been completed or something.
I could go on about more things that only people quite into the game would appreciate but I'll leave it there. Needless to say I'm very excited about the true Call of Duty sequel. World at War feels mediocre and a step backward next to CoD4.
Keeping with CoD4
It's a Double XP weekend starting Friday until Monday. Hardcore HQ mode and Map Pack Only playlists will be available.And by the by, I still play a lot of this game so if there are people out there in the same boat and can do UK times, feel free to add me:
Track of the Week #4
I was never a big Ramones fan, I just hadn't given them the time of day (not for any particular reason). But since getting hold of their first album there is one track I've been enjoying this week among others and that is I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
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