Call of Duty 4
Modern Warfare

(Out of 5 Nukes)

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is the newest release of the COD FPS series developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. This release, however and thankfully, takes us out of the old World War settings and finally moves it up to current times. Playing in an Easy-VS-West type war campaign, you will find yourself fighting through a large array of maps and territories. The game has two play modes: Single Player Campaign and Multi Player Online. Each mode has it's own uniqueness built into and can be played for hours on end. Being my first venture into the famed Call of Duty franchise, I was given the chance to look at it as a completely fresh game. So let's go ahead and jump right into see how this game looked to me.

COD4 has a wide range of gameplay options. First you must choose wether to play a single player campaign or multiplayer online. In the single player campaign, you will toggle between playing "Soap" MacTavish, of the British 22nd SAS Regiment, and Paul Jackson, of the USMC 1st Force Recon. The single player campaign will take you through a series of intermingling storylines. The storyline in COD4, unlike most FPS storylines, actually has depth in it and is very addictive to follow through. I have found myself actually wanting to play the campaign so that I may find out what happens to these two soldiers next. Most single player campaigns in an FPS don't have a strong story line so it's nice to see one come through this strongly. The multiplayer game also has a lot of options in it. First there are 13 different games modes, including: Free-for-all, Team Deathmatch, Ground War, Team Objective, Team Tactical, Search and Destroy, Headquarters, Domination, Sabotage, Team Hardcore, Old School, Oldcore, & Cage Match. A lot of these game types are similar to each other or other games, but I have really enjoyed playing through them. I find myself lucky to find a server that rotates through multiple maps as well as multiple game modes. With the nice mix of game modes this game can entertain for hours on end with out getting that repetitive feeling that comes with all too many games.

In COD4, you will be able to choose from a few different faction, depending on the game mode. Single player campaign only allows you to play in the USMC or the SAS. Multi player online allows you to also pick from & . Each faction pretty much plays the same. You also have five main classes to choose from: Assault, Special Ops, Light Machine Gunner, Demolitions, and Sniper. Demolitions and Sniper are not initially available, but can be earned very quickly through experience. My favorite aspect to the classes, however, is the Create-A-Class option. This is where you can build your own soldier. To create-a-class, you must first unlock the create-a-class slot with experience. At this point you can now create-a-class by inputting the following: Primary Weapon, Side Arm, Special Grenade, Perk 1-3, and Class Name. Now here's another curve ball, each of the previously mentioned choices only start out at a basic level. You earn extra weapons, perks, attachments, and even camo colors through additional experience and by completing various challenges, which adds yet another scope to perfecting ones character.

The game play for COD4 is very smooth. Some FPS games suffer from laggy controls and/or just poor control all together, but I am really enjoying the controls for this game. from the get out, the controls feel fluid and natural, allowing for quick start up time. Being able to toggle weapons quickly is nice, as is the ability to pick up dropped weapons. I regularly swap my side arm for a rifle as soon as possible. This is especially effective with the sniper class. You can now carry your sniper rifle and an M16, provided you find one on the ground. This allows for even more customization on the battle field, as no one class is safe as is. hip shooting has lower accuracy then scoped shooting, and, with scoped weapons, you can even hold you breath for higher accuracy. The ability to simply 'hop up' onto things is nice as you can prone yourself on a ledge for better without jumping in or out all the way. Also, the environment plays into things as well. You can shoot through thin walls, blow up vehicles, and even have rain in a game session. This game puts almost every imaginable aspect into it and allows you to seemlessly move through and fight. Another bonus is the health status. Remember the old days of being shot until you die with out any reprecussions in the mean time? those days are over, as you take damage, your character may slow down or even fall to the ground as a result of the bullet wound.

The graphics of this game are absolutley top notch. Everything has a true sense of realism to it. The characters all have a unique and believable look as does the map texture itself. I will say that one of my favorite additions to the look of this FPS, oddly enough, would be what happens on screen when you take damage. When taking damage, you enter a slightly bloody tunnel vision and slow down a little. Also, Flash and stun granade effects do more than just white out the screen in this game. They white out, blur, and add tracers to your vision for a descent period of time adding even more realism to the games visual effects. Running on my 7900gs, graphics card has allowed me to do a little tweaking to the games graphics options and push it a little further; almost makes me want to go buy an 8800 just to see how much better it can look.

To rap it up, this game rocks! I am sorry that I hesitated to make this purchase, as it's the only FPS that I have been playing since I purchased it. My recommondation is that if you want a solid FPS that will carry you over for a long time, then go out and get it. That's all for now; see you in my scopes!

	Min Syst Req	My Syst Specs
Processor	Intel Pentium 4 2.4 Ghz / AMD 64 2800+ / Intel and AMD 1.8 Ghz Dual Core Proc or better supported	AMD 64 X2 6000+ 3.0GHz
Video	VIDIA GeForce 6600 or better or ATI Radeon 9800 Pro or better	EVGA 7900GS DirectX 9
RAM	512MB w/ XP or 768MB w/ Vista	4*1GB DDR2 800
Disk Space	8GB	570 GB
OS	Windows XP / Vista	Windows Vista Ultimate

18DEC2007
KevinKMJr.eXe