If you are looking for a realistic modern day FPS, then look no further because Call of Duty 4 is your game.
THE GOOD
-Amazing online play
-Intense story
-Incredible realistic look and feel
-Large selection of weapons, equipment, and abilities (perks)
-Multiplayer works on a reward system which spices up online play
THE BAD
-Single player is a tad bit short
OVERVIEW
Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is an amazing first person shooter and probably one of the best FPS to date. Right from the beginning of the game you control a person, not yet known, that gets beat up and thrown into a car with two terrorists in the front seats. Here you are able to look around and you notice that you are somewhere in a middle eastern city. As you drive through this city you see fighting and killing all around you. Finally the car stops and you are carried to the middle of a courtyard area. The terrorists stand you up and then, as the controller vibrates in your hand, an unknown man pulls out a pistol and kills you. This is a pretty intense opening to the game. After you witness the assassination you start the game as a new recruit named Soap (British). Here you do some basic training to let the game know what difficulty setting suits you. After basic you are thrown into the campaign where you have various objectives and missions to complete. Each mission is of full of great story (but a little short) and gameplay. You also play as a guy named Jackson in the American campaign. As you play through the American and British campaigns you'll encounter lots of enemies from different terrorist countries in your quest to stopping the ring leader.
GAMEPLAY
For this review I'll break it up into the single player and multiplayer modes. First, the single player mode. The single player mode is a lot of fun. Right from the beginning you are thrown into a very realistic war game. As you go through the campaign your comrades will talk to you and give you orders while they aid in fighting. The level design is top notch in this game that will put you in outdoor and indoor situations. The controls work really well for this game. Just like most of the FPS for the Xbox 360 you use the dual analog sticks to move around. You also have buttons for shooting, throwing frag and special grenades, reloading, jumping, sprinting and melee attack. Another thing about the controls is that you use the LT button to look down the scope or iron-sights of the gun. This increases your accuracy than just firing at the hip. Along with great controls CoD4 has a huge weapon selection. There are assault rifles, sub machine guns, large machine guns, shotguns, pistols and sniper rifles. All the weapons are based on the realistic model along with their attributes like recoil and fire rate. Along with your primary and secondary weapons, this game has other equipment you can use like claymores, flash grenades, and smoke bombs.
The multiplayer mode is the "bread and butter" of this game. You have the option to play a local or Xbox live game. In the local game you and three other people can "duke it out" on the same Xbox. When you log into Xbox live only one person can play per Xbox. The online features for this game are amazing. Like most Xbox live games you can join or setup a party with friends to play together. CoD4 online works on the reward system. As you complete objectives, kill opponents, and win matches you'll earn experience points. Once you earn enough experience points your rank will increase which is the same as the real rank in the army (i.e. Private, Captain, General, etc...). Then as your rank increases you'll unlock more weapons, different challenges to complete, unlock different game types and perks, etc... Another way to earn experience points is to complete challenges in the game. Some examples of challenges are to kill two people with one bullet, survive an entire game without dieing, or kill someone with C4.
Along with equipping your character with weapons this game has come up with the "Perk" system which enables you to use special abilities in combat. You get three total perks and some examples are "Extreme Conditioning" which enables you to sprint for longer distances, "Slight of Hand" which enables you to reload quicker, and "Steady Aim" which increases your hip fire accuracy. Perks are also unlockable as your rank increases. This is a really cool option because you can customize physical attributes for your soldier. Another great feature about Call of Duty 4 are the game types that you can play. There are team deathmatches, free for alls and objective type games. So, there is something here for everyone. Another great combat add-in is that you get rewarded, in-game, for consecutive kills without dieing. Three kills in a row gives you the ability to use the UAV which allows your team to see where the enemy is on the map. Five kills in a row lets you launch an air strike on your opponent. And Seven kills in a row lets you call in for helicopter assistance. Be mindful of this because it can change the momentum of a game.
GRAPHICS & SOUND
The visuals are amazing for this game. From the terrain to the weapons used by your character, a lot of detail was put in to make it look realistic.
The sound effects are another area that this game excels at. You'll get a very real sense when an RPG flies by or when your grenade blows up a car. Again, the experience is greatly enhanced by the exceptional sound.
CONCLUSION
If you are looking for perfection in a first person shooter then you will definitely find it in Call of Duty 4. There is some replay value to the single player but more, by far, in multiplayer. This game is so realistic its incredible and I would recommend it to anyone. Hoo Rah!