Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Review

I have never been a Call of Duty fan. Truth be told, I owned Call of Duty 3 for the 360 hoping to get a great shooter experience out of it, but was immediately disappointed. Maybe it was the overdone World War 2 theme and its stale weapons and unsurprising vehicles that made it a failure, I am not sure, but the game never appealed to me. No game in the venerable series did.

Until Call of Duty 4.

In fact, believe me when I say, due to my history with the series, that I did not expect this game to be good. When I saw previews, I shrugged my shoulders, because for me, it was just another Call of Duty game…


Oh, how wrong I was...

Even though I had my reservations about the series, and was doubtful that this game would change my mind, I must wholeheartedly admit to changing my stance, because, in truth, this game exceedingly well done. Fo one, its campaign, although it has certainly been called short, I found to be absolutely perfect. In fact, through the course of this game I had forgotten my usual attitude towards shooters and became engrossed in something far greater than just a shooter, or just a war game, or what have you. Call of Duty 4, for me, was an experience.

Call of Duty 4 is not just another game in my collection, but THE game. Coming from a Call of Duty ‘hater’, for me to say that it is currently the best game I have ever played, is saying something. Believe me.

The campaign, again, is tremendous. Shells going off nuke threats, the world on the brink of chaos. From Joint SAS and Marine operations with great dialogue to allied AI soldiers that actually die horrible deaths… This game is something else. Indeed, I found this game to be ridiculously exhilarating. I can’t count how many times I developed sweaty palms, and even a slightly sweaty brow -whether online or off- whilst running down a hallway to try and disarm a nuke or save a hostage before the plane blows up… When you are playing Call of duty, and shells go off beside your head, causing your character to fall to the ground, forcing your superior officer to pick you up, and come face to face with you telling you to “Man the bloody hell up!” amid mass chaos… You know you are in for something amazing.

I was engaged from mission one…It actually provides the sensation of being a soldier, and when you see those non-important men die (I.E.: private so-and-so) and die in an unscripted fashion, even I found myself saddened, and so into the engaging experience that I might have even yelled: “NO! Man down!” as their bodies became riddled with bullets from an unsuspecting window, before my AI superior officer announced their passing himself.

In CoD4, you really feel like you are knee deep in mud, hugging a bunker under a hail of enemy fire, with dust and sand in your eyes. In CoD 4, some missions have you so engrossed, that when they take a turn for the worst, you might just feel nauseous.

Of course, in spite of all this lavish praise, the game has its flaws. Friendly AI can be a bit annoying, especially when your squad-mates sometimes force you to move up before they will, which is an age old Call of Duty issue. What is more, and you never really have an interactive cover system like your squad mates who can press up against walls, and crawl over objects while you are left to do it manually, and jump over things like a fool.

Yet, despite these gripes, I generally had the feeling, for the first time in a long time, that I was truly part of an elite squad of SAS troops that had as much ability as I might, and I could generally say that I felt attached, -both in an odd state of ‘friendship’ (to the extent that I was sucked in to believe I was Soap, or Jackson) and intimidation, - to comrades like Price, Gaz, Griggs and so on.

On that note then, the game becomes emotional. Over the course of 8 hours of play time, you and your AI squad goes through hell and back, and I honestly felt the whole range of human emotions throughout the course of the campaign. Call me crazy, but what an experience it was.

All in all, as far as the campaign goes, I have never (read: NEVER) played a better single player experience than Call of Duty 4, if only for what the great characters, storytelling, and effects offered. Truth be told, if you let yourself really get into it, I am sure you will say the same. Hats off to the developers for their sheer artwork in creating such a brilliant and moving experience as it was.

As far as the multiplayer, I also sure you have heard how great it is… And indeed, it is. They have a great ‘prestige’ system which makes it extremely competitive and fun, as well as a whole whack of game modes which put a decidedly different spin on the experience. For me though, where multiplayer REALLY shines, is in the ability to team up with friends and get tactical. It rarely gets better for me than to be able to take cover with my buddies, and yell “Got one! Sniper, top roof, Take cover!” while providing suppressing fire.

Honestly, you might realize by now…I get into my games. And for someone like me, there is no better experience than Call of Duty 4; both online and off.

A Truly wondrous experience deserves a wonderful score.

10/10. To date, one of the best game I have ever played.

The Bottom Line: An exhilarating, emotional and engaging campaign coupled with a deep and intense multiplayer experience makes Call of Duty 4 the best game I have ever played.

-Des (Alex Jackson)

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