Awesome game that packs a punch and will leave you smiling and drained. If length was a bit better, it would get 10/10.
GRAPHICS
Superb. Very realistic looking character models, vechiles and buildings. Great feel to the weapons and grenades. You will see details such as cans rolling towards you after explosions.
SOUND
Excellent. Great, sometimes humorous voice acting that gives real personality to your team mates. I didn't notice the music as I was too busy trying to avoid getting shot to pieces, but it was good. Sound effects and eveything are well done.
GAMEPLAY
The game consists of a series of short missions strung together. They are each prefaced by an introductory screen showing a satellite image of your position, that will zoom in and smoothly switch to the mission. You are accompanied on each mission with your squad, either Americans or British soldiers depending on which mission you're playing. The missions are very intense and well-scripted. You will feel surges of adrenaline in real-life as your character crawls under a Russian bridge, avoiding a patrol. Or as your character takes cover behind a car, trying to shoot the terrorists in the nearby buildings. You follow your squad around, they are all hardcore soldiers in personality and they have great AI. You occasionally have to wait for them, and occassionally you lead.
Everything about the gameplay is excellent, and that is not something I would say easily as someone who has reviewed a lot of games. I am not even a FPS fan, it is a genre I occasionally play. There are different kinds of guns, all with a great feel and with unique uses. Enemies (and yourself) will perish with a few well-placed shots, apart from the healing over time mechanic, this game is much more realistic than other shooters. It is possible to crouch or lie prone and army crawl, and you will need to use these a lot. There are flashbang grenades and regular grenades, just remember the enemy can throw them to (and you can throw them back). The action and strategy is thrilling and complex, you really need to think ahead and save your butt while you're kicking the enemy's. You get the opportunity to use plenty of military hardware including controlling a stealth bomber, riding shotgun on a helicopter etc. There are plenty of jaw-dropping surprises in the campaign.
The one major drawback with the campaign is length. It will take you 8 hours to finish on moderate difficulty. Those hours will be extremely intense and enjoyable.
Multiplayer is great, offering split-screen and LIVE components. There are a good selection of different maps and modes. I don't have LIVE so I've only tried split-screen. It is great to play with friends (the game WILL make you smack-talk, even if you don't usually!). Playing Online with 20 or so people on a large map would be EPIC, trust me and the people who play it online regularly.
COD4 does not hold your hand, it thrusts you into the Hell of war and lets you control soldiers who can kick some ass and take names. The question is, do you have the guts to survive the destruction?