Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

"A much needed addition to a genre lacking on the DS"

Let's see... Metroid Prime: Hunters, Brothers in Arms, GoldenEye: Double Agent... I think that is all the shooters on the DS... MP:H was great, GE: DA bleh, and BiA had so much potential but fell short of what we were hoping for.

Now we have Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare:

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics in reality, are pretty impressive for the DS, but Metroid l would say looks better (which could be a stylistic thing). The character models look pretty good, probably on par with N64, but there are only 1 or 2 enemy models on each level. Your teammates vary a bit but the same holds true. The more urban (or enclosed) environments are more impressive than solid outdoor enviroments due to shoddy draw distance. Guns look good and there is a wide array from M16s to 9mm subs. A bonus in the graphics department is that there zoned blood spatter giving you that visceral satisfaction of your head shot. All in all, think much smoother BiA (better graphics and much, much better frame rate).

Sound: 10/10

Holy crap is all I gotta say. Full blown (and great sounding) voice activing that is used constantly during your missions. Also, the music is rather good and epic and incredibly clean sounding (my headphones may help in this department). In terms of sound, this game really is on par with many console titles. The only hiccup may be that the guns aren't as realistic sounding but I was too focused on the music to care.

Gameplay: 8/10

My first thing I need to say outright is that If I could change the controls slightly I would. Aiming Down Sight is activated by double tapping the touch screen. This doesn't sound bad except that it does momentarily interrupt your aim when aiming IS what you're trying to do and that it's reliability is somewhat inconsistent (sometimes it won't activate or it will, but immediately revert to normal aim. Luckily aiming normally is more reliable than in previous Call of Duties. Sprinting is not that useful (only used it when avoiding a Hind D helo) so I would of switched ADS to double tap up. Aiming in general feels like a middle ground between MP:H and BiA, it doesn't feel as fluid a MP:H but it still is consistent with your own stylus movements. Enemies are pretty dumb, they mostly stand still in the open and shoot at you and on normal you have pretty gratitous health so you won't find yourself dieing to often except for one-shot kill, pretty quick snipers and the incredibly annoying tendency for your enemies to throw LOTS of grenades. You can avoid most grenades easily, but strafing is really, really slow which can be a problem. As a note to your allies, they are balanced in the sense that they die easily, but they also drop the baddies VERY efficiently IMHO.

Value: 7/10

This games fun. For most that is enough to say. There is local multiplayer, both single and multi-cart (I have yet to play multiplayer). The story is kind of thin, but thats probably not why you are playing, but at least you'll know what you are doing and why and will care enough to continue but don't expect too much in this department.

Overall: 8/10

Want a shooter for your DS? Buy it. Its a good solid shooter, only the 2nd one in reality to come to the DS (first being MP:H) so if this style of game is your thing, seriously get it, you'll enjoy it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/07/07

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