Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

"A shooter that feels like an Arcade game"

Introduction -

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare arms gamers with an arsenal of advanced and powerful modern day firepower and transports them to the most treacherous hotspots around the globe to take on a rogue enemy group threatening the world. (description from gamefaqs)


Graphics - 8.5

I give this score in comparison to other next gen games like Heavenly Sword, whose overall graphics are much cleaner than COD4's. But, I am playing it pretty late in the next gen stage, I mean the next Call of Duty is already out. It may not have the textures and particle effects that some next gen games have, but the graphics are in no way bad. Where they really shine though is in the immense amount of things there are to take in during any given situation. There's no shortage of explosions, dust clouds, and crumbling buildings here. At nearly any point in the game there are myriad things happening around you. You're just a small part of it all. They keep the screen pretty clean with lack of excess clutter. For instance there is no life bar. Instead your view will begin to redden from the corners as you lose life. This game really has a lot of style for a war game. The loading scenes are filled with cool, hi-tech looking mission debriefs and flow seamlessly into the gameplay. There are also very cool scenes you are privileged to witness from the first person view. Such as one scene in the early part of the game where a man is executed and you watch him get shot in the face from his point of view. The first half of the game was very stunning and felt much like a trip to Universal Studios. But, unfortunately some levels seemed to lose this level of production later in the game and make them feel very stale compared to the others. Another thing to note would be that I don't remember noticing any real graphical flaws or glitches. Although, some of the water was pretty terrible. Overall it has a very arcade-like feel to it with glowing objectives, small damage direction and grenade indicators, a small compass with an icon for your goal so you don't waste time, and a constant sense of being a part of something that's very active and always changing.


Sound - 9

I love the dialogue. I don't really know crap about military lingo, but it definitely seemed accurate to me. It was always great to hear, "...Tango down." Voice acting was picture perfect, I don't remember disliking a single person. People are typically all around you shouting different things all the time. Both enemies and friends have a lot to say. Not that you'll really pick up any of it though, with everything that's usually happening around you. The game is great at giving you a sense of depth with the sound. Its actually pretty easy to judge something's distance from you based on what you hear. My best example would be the "dink-dink" of a well placed grenade landing slightly off to the right about to kill you. The music is very well done and usually flows right with the beat of combat. My only real major gripe here is that there is none in multiplayer. Atleast, not online. No music at all. Instead you can listen to someone spout nonsense in languages you may or may not understand... even if they're the ones you speak.

Gameplay - 8.5

This is a very solid game. It's fast paced and it does a good job of making you feel like you're there. You're almost always a part of a team. Giving you both some extra guns from different angles, and also some gunfire distraction as well. As with such, they managed to make it feel extremely rewarding to bum rush someone and knife them. All it takes is one hit. With these teammates you become much safer in a danger zone and are able to stay in the action most of the time. Though there are those moments when you're just hiding behind a crumbled wall of rubble watching endless bullets fly by from what seems like every direction and all you can do is hope your two comrades over there don't die. Although, they probably won't. Which brings up a real big killer to ones sense of disbelief. They won't usually survive because the game is programmed with such good AI, (which it is, for the most part) but instead, just because they don't wanna die yet. A big problem for me with this game was what I call "magical grenades." Impeccably thrown grenades by soldiers on the same level as the kid chicken from the Foghorn Leghorn cartoons will frequently land just inside killing range of you. Since they aren't right next to you the "throw back" feature isn't really an option, because they'll blow up in the air 10 ft. in front of you and kill you. So, that leaves you struggling to escape as fast as possible. I can honestly say that any 29/30 times I died in the second half of the game were by "magic grenades." I was able to adapt to this for the most part... until I watched 2 frag grenades explode under the homie's foot and he just kept shooting like "its all good." This is what I meant by, they don't die cause they don't wanna. In a game that's main appeal is the sense of "being there" events like these really kill the moment. Fortunately, there are very few of these. There is hardly any option to change controls, but thankfully they aren't very hard to get used to. Another note is that grenades are not equipped and are thrown with a trigger button. Personally, I like not having to do so much work to toss a grenade, it makes them fun to use. I read that there were 70 different weapons to use in the game. But, I can tell you right now... not in my single player game. I may have used 15-20 guns, maybe. Anyway, there is also a quick target function that'll point a head shot at someone you're already aiming near. This is a great feature and makes shooting escaping bad guys a breeze. Another thing to remember is that people are people in this game. No super heroes here. I like this quite a bit. There are never times when some guy takes thousands of bullets. Everyone dies, fast, even you. So stay sharp. Oh, and the RPG is BOGUS, don't get your hopes up.


Story - 8

The story follows the events of a war blossoming across our modern day world. You're told about current events through extremely stylish debriefs or the soldiers standing around you in the field. Most of the time the game is great at making you "live the moment" using the first person view to their advantage. It may not be the story that keeps you on the edge of your seat for what happens next, but it does feel real. And the way it plays through is epic.

Bonuses:
+0.1 - For some reason knifing someone is awesome.
+0.5 - Extremely forgivable checkpoint system that keeps you playing.
+0.3 - No glitches at all. Very well made game.
+0.2 - For not making me equip grenades.
+0.2 - For keeping the display clean. No big life bar or map blocking your view.

Negatives:
-0.5 - Magic Grenades. Games have come so far so that there is no reason to have computer-controlled-humans throw grenades like Robocop. Atleast not THIS consistently. Let them have random bad aim amidst those Magic Grenades.
-0.3 - No Co-op campaign mode. This can only help add to the game. Some people's score would be crippled by the lack of it.
-0.2 - No music during online play. Listening to that random guy say random crap isn't cool, let me replace him with some random in-game music.
-0.5 - Apparent "lack of love" for certain levels. Most of the game is great, but some levels seem to lack that polish and epic feel that the others have. Ironically these levels are the only ones you'll find yourself repeating to the point of irritation.
-0.1 - The RPG sucks... terribly

Extra: -0.3



Final Recommendation - 8.2 - Definite play. Possible purchase.

Let me say that I did not give the game any extra points for the ability to play online because that was one of the main features expected before its release, so it was not something beyond expectation. Plus, while it is fine, it wasn't all that appealing to me. And it probably won't be to you for too long, unless you intend to gain rank and be the best Call of Duty 4 player on the boards. After beating the game, and spending 5-6 hours online I'm pretty much ready to send it back to gamefly. But, overall, it was a great game. I'm glad I played it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/02/08

Game Release: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (US, 11/05/07)