Publisher: Activision Developer: Infinity Ward Release date: Nov 5 2007 Category: First Person Shooter Players: 1-18 Platform: Xbox360, PS3, PC,Mac, DS Heres my first review on a game that I spend a good part of my week playing. We all know of the Call of Duty series, and this one is the best yet. Set in todays modern warfare instead of COD's usual WWII, this game packs a huge range of great modern techniques, effects and tactics, as well as being able to run around rambo style, guns blazing. It also hosts a massive online community and some of the best online play of any live game. Career mode plays through 2 main characters in two different scenarios which flick back and forward as you play though the game, ending in an eventual combined effort by both parties. There is also a flashback mission to give a little background on the main 'villain'. The beginning of the game starts with a training mission, a small mock up scenario of the first actual mission. After playing through the training the time you get on the course is used to determain the difficulty of career mode, however you can choose whichever difficulty you wish to play. All of the missions usually have a main objective, however the path you take through the map can make a huge difference to being able to make it or dying in a blood pool. Play is also broken up to keep things interesting. Dont expect to spend every mission running in guns blaring. There are a number of missions which require a good deal of tactics to make it through. The flashback mission is completely sniper based, in the middle of the mission you even get to blow some guys arm off with a .50cal Barret sniper rifle, taking into account distance, wind speed and a range of other factors to make the shot. The second half involves carrying your partner to the evac. point through an onslaught of soldiers, no one gets left behind! There are a few beginnings of missions which see you behind a minigun in a chopper, and even a mission which puts you behind the long range cannons on a circling bomber, Bring the rain!. The sound is this game is also very realistic. You can hear footsteps of people upstairs or beside you on wooden floors, rustling of people moving near you and directional gunfire. With the magic of surround sound using not only your eyes and radar to detect people but your ears also adds a depth to the game that puts you right behind the rifle, inside the game itself. The weapons are amazing, huge variety including a range of sniper rifles, sub machine guns, light machine guns, assault rifles, shotguns and pistols as well as special weapons such as RPGs, grenade launcher gun attachments and heat seeking missiles. 4 kinds of grenades will also keep your throwing arm tuned, you classic fragmentation grenades, flashbangs, stun grenades and smoke grenades. Placement explosives also play a huge part in both career and online play, trip activated claymores and self detonated C4 can often be amusing as well as useful. Calling in helicopter and air support also play a large part in a few missions. Bloodshed created by all these weapons is pretty realistic, theres nothing quite like taking off someones head and leaving a large splatter on the wall behind. Another great aspect is the ability to fire through certain surfaces. Objects like wood, tin and plaster wall can all be fired through to hiding enemies with reduced damage. Some weapons will even fire through concrete. hiding behind unrealistic bulletproof walls isn't a problem in this game. We all know how frustrating it gets when someone sits behind a tiny object and takes a clip without taking any damage. Objects such as cars and petrol barrels also can be fired upon, cars can often sit either smoking or on fire before exploding into a twisted mess of metal, adding further realism to an already realistic game. Online play adds almost infinite replay value. Players start at rank 1, and slowly work their way up to rank 55 by earning experience points. Each new rank brings new weapons and new challenges. Each weapon can also be 'leveled up' unlocking different scopes, attachments and camouflage. The current range of maps get a little old after a while, however with the new map pack now available a few more months of gameplay will be easy to achieve. Several different modes of play also keep players interested. Team deathmatch, headquarters, search and destroy, sabotage and free for all are just a few of the modes offered, as well as hardcore modes for some which give a more realistic play. Online play also supports calling in UAV recon, airstrikes and helicopters when enough consecutive kills are made. Online also has an interesting 'prestige mode' feature which adds replay value. Once players eventually reach level 55 they can choose to 'prestige' sending them back to rank 1, leaving all weapons and challenges behind and starting again. This can be done up to 10 times. there is no real advantage to doing this however future updates are rumored to make prestige mode advantageous. Presentation- 10/10 - Weapons and levels are extremely detailed and realistic, very little glitching and all in all very well put together. Graphics- 10/10 - Graphics are superb, especially in HD. Gameplay- 10/10 - Full on assault, tactical sniping, and a range of different weapons, mission types and little extras make the game just that bit more realistic. Sound -9/10 - All sounds are very realistic, however a larger dialog could have been applied, especially in online play. Replayability - 10/10 - If you are able to finish the game on veteran difficulty then online will keep you going for another 6months or so. Not to mention the achivements Overall Rating - 49/50 - Possibly THE best war game, all next gen gamers should have this in their collection
I'd put Gameplay 8/10,.only due to the reason so many War games ahve been made// Anyways, I agree with this review, but Infinite Replay value, that's something I'm worried about.
almost infinite replay value, i dont even have the new maps and ive been playing since Jan. Still not sick of it, up to my 6th prestige.
I had just finished preparing on mine CoD 4 review. But, you have written one and the review is awesome.
thanks I thought hell if I can photoshop im sure I can write a review I spend a lot of time playing this so i figured I may as well review it.
Very nice review. My friends have been bugging me to play this game, as the endless debate between all of us on Halo 3 vs CoD4 will apparently not die until I give my say on the fishy shooter. Though, given all of the other wartime shooters that I've played and the general sense that you don't really do anything in them has been repeated over something like six titles, I've been hesitant, but given that the resident photoshop master even gives the game an almost perfect score, I may just be forced to... play it at a friends...!
Nice review, Almo. I might get that game when i get my new PC. And you just helped me make my decision.
lol even worse when I get on a good roll all I ever hear is: 'our UAV is online' 'friendly airstrike on its way' 'friendly chopper on the way' 'our UAV is airbourne' 'friendly airstrike on its way' 'friendly chopper on the way' 'our UAV is online' 'friendly airstrike on its way' 'friendly chopper on the way' 'our UAV is airbourne' 'friendly airstrike on its way' 'friendly chopper on the way' they really could have had more than two different sayings for each lol.
