Call of Duty 4 is easily one of the most competitive, hardcore, and ultimately fun games to ever grace next-gen gaming
Though extremely popular for its multiplayer, it wouldn't be fair to say that it had no single-player. In fact, it had a superb single-player. The game starts as you step in the shoes of Soap McTavish, a new recruit for the British S.A.S. At boot camp, you are instructed by a fellow soldier to pick up your weapon and take to the shooting range. Here, you'll be learning the basic controls such as shooting, jumping, tossing grenades, and using your melee attacks. You will immidiately notice that the controls are very intuitive, using typical mouse-n-keyboard shooter controls that are easy to use together for satisfying first-person play. The way the controls and interface are structured make the game easy to pick up and learn, even for gamers who are new to the genre.
The game presents itself quickly yet with impact, as you are thrust into the action immediately after boot camp to carry out you missions with the S.A.S. These are comprised of running to checkpoints or objectives and mowing down hordes of spawning enemies, trying to kill them before they kill you. There are some missions that provide different tools for your trade, but the premises are usually quite similar. The game plays generally in the same way as you switch over to a Middle Eastern theatre of war as Sgt. Paul Jackson, part of the U.S. Marine Corps in the Middle East. You'll alternate playing as both Soap and Paul as the story fleshes itself out in both conflicts.
The game doesn't really leave much room from anything other than running and gunning, because everything is almost completely linear. It's sometimes frustrating to have enemies just flow in seemingly infinite waves. Though there are times when you feel that you are given lots of room to move around, Call of Duty 4 is not an open world. Despite this linearity, the game will keep you satisfied because you'll be clearing wave upon wave of bad guys in top-notch (yet mid range PC-friendly) graphics,superb background and atmospheric sounds coupled with realistic voiceovers and dialogue that all play together to form an experience that will still leave you with many gasping grins and bad-ass moments.
What the gameplay lacks in depth is more than compensated by the game's story/setting and presentation. The story goes that the world is on the brink of what could be the next World War as incited by a communist, West-hating Russian and a Middle Eastern opposition force. The way this story is told, however, spares no one a fairy-tale experience. It's a brutally real depiction of warfare and politics in the world we know today; a situation that seems all too plausible considering the actual tensions that have been developing over the years. Despite the daunting task of using such a serious theme, the game has a brilliant knack for introducing this kind of darkness and complexity without ever becoming too depressing. Instead, it has you feeling like a vital part of the story as a soldier, like the Call of Duty series has never failed to do. Being a soldier will never be depicted as an easy or fun job, but like all the other Calls of Duty, there is a tasteful glorification of the army that gives the player a feeling of pride and patriotism by just playing the game.
The campaign ends after a cool five to six hours, but the game is really just beginning. Once you've finished the single-player story, you have the option to replay all the single-player levels in arcade mode, which is basically a scored play mode. Finishing the single player campaign also gives you the time to explore Call of Duty 4's most defining asset: its multiplayer. Modern Warfare has the kind of multiplayer that you won't be able to put down easily. In fact, most gamers I know have not been able to put it down since its release. It's a deep, competitive multiplayer that keeps you hooked.
Call of Duty 4's multiplayer involves you joining up to 31 other players in objective and point-based games that will test your skill at killing proficiently, capturing and holding positions, covertly planting bombs, defending objectives, etc. in separate game types and different maps to play them in. Your tools will include your primary gun, your side-arm, grenades, special abilities (perks), your radar map, and your knife. This experience is complemented by a levelling system that will have you accumulating points and completing challenges to unlock more guns and perks that you can use to customize your soldier. This load-out customization allows for many play styles and strategies that add infinitely to the game's longevity, considering that there are more than 20 guns and 20 perks to mix and match, not to mention 4 types of grenades and 5 pistols.
Your choice of guns and perks will affect your play style, but will never define your game completely. That way, it's a balanced playfield for all levels. Whether or not you've unlocked the gun he's using, you can kill him just as much as he can kill you; it will all boil down to skill and strategy. The game is further balanced by the rewarding kill-streak system, such that anyone who gets 3 kills in a row gets a radar scan to reveal opponents' locations for 30 seconds. Anyone who gets 5 in a row gets an airstrike to bomb an area on the map, and anyone who gets 7 in a row gets an unmanned helicopter to automatically shoot down enemies on the map with you. As a result of this meticulous balancing and constant rewarding, you will never feel underhanded or incompetent, even as a new player.
The kind of game you play can also freely be customized, because setting up a game will allow you several options. You can choose the game type (which essentially defines the kind of objectives to achieve), the maps (that heavily affect play styles and strategies), time limits, and score limits. There's also Hardcore Mode, which removes your HUD and makes weapons even more deadly. There's the friendly fire option for those who like it realistic and edgy. Then there's Old School Mode, which removes the whole customization system and scatters weapons and perks across the map for players to race to. This level of freedom also adds to the game's replayability, since you will constantly be mastering each map, game type, and game mode. As a host, you will feel very in-control of how your game is structured, allowing you to change the experience every time.
Call of Duty 4's addictive nature comes from the growing trend of competitiveness among gamers. Since you will progressively get better at the game, its competitive nature will beg you to get even better. There will always be a challenge you can't complete or an amazing kill that you'd like to be able to do. For example, there's something so ultimately satisfying about sniping a headshot on a running enemy at a far distance. It's an acquired skill that you would want to hone to perfection. There's also the gratification of killing foe after foe with quick bursts from you assault rifle or quick melees with your knife. Virtually every weapon can give you a great feeling that will keep you wanting more. That's where the game's longevity is rooted on – the sheer fun of playing the game with others and the primal gratification of owning them in constantly varying ways.
In its entirety, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is best described as an experience that no shooter fan or competitive gamer should miss out on. It has a single-player campaign that revitalizes all that's great with the franchise into the present generation. Over that, it boasts one of the best multiplayer experiences to ever grace next-gen gaming with the competitiveness and social interaction that liken the video game to an actual sport. It brings the universal satisfaction of playing with others to a new level with its dynamic systems of customization and balanced gameplay. Its reputation speaks for itself, as it topped Xbox Live charts for long periods of time, competing only with the likes of Halo 3. Put simply, Call of Duty 4 is easily one of the most competitive, hardcore, and ultimately fun games in the market today, and will undoubtedly continue to define the standards for multiplayer experience.