WWII? No, Call of Duty is done with that. Take a look at this new fantastic shooter by Infinity Ward/Activision
With a slew of WWII shooters still coming out, it was finally time for one of the kingpins of the genre to step out of 1944 and move away from the overused forests of France. Infinity Ward's Call of Duty franchise was the first to catch on to this, and in doing so they came out with one of the best shooters of all time.
First off, the graphics are phenomenal. About 99% of Call of Duty 4 is so beautifully rendered you will get lost just looking at random things throughout the levels. The character modeling is still a little drab, but the environments and weapons look amazing. Explosions have never looked so sweet. The lighting in the game is just awesome; everything is lit (or darkened) to just the right amount. When it's time to use your night vision, the game just looks that much better (it seriously looks like real NVG). Some of the more entertaining graphical effects are actually harmful to yourself. If you happen to die by a near-by grenade it will shift to the third person view and show your character falling to the ground, which I think is pretty cool. Also, when you lose health (it has been this way for a while now) you start to have a red glow appear around your screen; when you're actually about to die it engulfs most of the screen which can add to the tension and feel of the game.
The sound in the game is brilliantly orchestrated as well. When you are near a firefight the guns are blazing loud and very clear. If you hear a firefight in the distance then the shots will sound more like cracks and it will be hard to distinguish where it's coming from and who is firing what. The voice-over in the game is very well done, in both single and multiplayer. During the single player game your team will have full on conversations with each other and keep you entertained and informed. It also brings a more tactical sense to the overall game. In multiplayer your teammates will tell you when they are re-loading, planting a claymore, and throwing grenades; which is a nice touch that another game ::cough cough::Halo 3::cough cough:: should have implemented. Even the vehicles in the game are well recorded and sound very much like their real-life fathers.
The controls in the game are well constructed as well; although I'm not sure if it the best scheme in the world. All of the commands are very well adjusted and placed in a well balanced fashion; although some purists would say otherwise. Firing the weapons throughout CoD4 felt very intuitive and natural; there were very few guns that I had to actually take time and work with. Grenades did feel a little awkward compared to older Call of Duty games, but after you get the hang of it it's really quite simple. Moving around your maps was nicely done, although when you aren't sprinting you feel like you're moving at .02 mph. Sprinting is a nice gimmick but the deal with it is that you click the left stick down and you just keep running until you run out of energy or you pull back. It would have been a better move to have you hold the stick down; which would have also added to the point of not using your weapons while sprinting.
The single player game is one of the best in the Call of Duty series, but it's also one of the shortest. Although there are technically many missions, they are about 10-15 minutes long at the longest. Vets of the series should be able to blow through the single player in about 4-5 hours. The story of the campaign is very well constructed, leading off with a president being assassinated and your informant being held hostage. Going through different parts of Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Saudi Arabia was a very fun experience. The level design was very well done and very few parts felt linear (although they technically were), which left me in awe. Your squad-mates aren't the brightest crayons in the box, but they are smarted than your typical ally AI; they move around enough to dodge fire and do provide very good suppressing fire. The objectives throughout the game are fairly cliché; go find him, man this gun, kill this guy, plant this explosive, etc. It lies more in the execution of this objectives that really catches the attention. The campaign in Call of Duty 4 is probably the best single-player FPS that I've ever played.
The multiplayer, this is a very sensitive subject. Everyone relates every other Xbox Live interface with Halo 3; however....I find that CoD4's online multiplayer is not only more rewarding, but significantly more in depth as well. Halo 3 has better matchmaking, sure, but CoD4 actually gives you things besides meaningless ranks when you level up. You start at level 1 with only the basic classes and weapons that you can work with, once you reach level 4 you can create your own class. Choose whatever weapons, "perks" (which are pretty much just abilities) and attachments to your guns. The catch is though, you have to continue to level up to earn more guns, attachments, and perks. Thus even though you have the ability to use create-a-class, that doesn't meant that's it. With almost every level something new is unlocked, and leveling up doesn't take all that long either. You also have challenges with each gun that you get which helps you unlock attachments (scopes and silencers) and new forms of camouflage for the gun.
The actual online matches in CoD4 are far more intense than that of Halo 3; the reason being...it doesn't take 24 shots to kill someone. You can typically take someone down on CoD4 with about 2-3 bursts from an M16A2; and around 10 shots with some of the faster firing weapons. You respawn quicker and you can change your class at any time in the match; which means you aren't limited to just one starting weapon. A big thing for people as well is that you do get credit for assists in CoD4; unlike most other online shooters. A normal kill gets you 10 exp, while an assist gets you 2 exp; it's not much but it can help add up. The game variants are also well constructed and balanced as well; not one game feels like the other team has the total advantage. During matches you also have the ability to call in recon helicopters to provide radar (yea, it doesn't just stay there the whole time), air-strikes on held-up buildings, and helicopters to roam the levels and take down your enemies.
The maps in the game are very well constructed, although some of them could have definately been left out (Wet Work). There are levels that cater to every different kind of person; as in snipers, LMG lovers, and full out assault maps. Although, not having the ability to change anything on the map is a little lame going from Halo 3 where you have almost 100% customization.
The thing that is noticabely absent from CoD4's online play is any form of match where you are paired only with people that are within your rank range; which means that several times you will be placed in matches where you can get completely annhilated. This is going to make it difficult to get into at first for some new players, although after you get the hang of it you do get better at the game. Another thing that would have been nice is if Infinity Ward had taken the nod from Halo 3 and added a Theatre kind of deal in there. Being able to watch some of the better snipes, or look back on some of the more mysterious deaths would have been nice.
There are very few flaws with Call of Duty 4; some minor graphical issues (I swear that some of the foliage looks like poorly rendered foil) and other minor control issues, but nothing to really debunk the overall game experience. If you aren't a huge modern shooter fan or an online junkie then this game probably isn't for you, but if you're looking for a longer-lasting and more intense remedy to Halo 3 then this is perfect. Both games are amazing in their style, but Call of Duty 4 just happened to do a few things a little bit better. So if you have a 360 and you have money lying around, then you should go pick this game up as soon as possible.