I realized something while playing through Activision's newest first-person shooter, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. You see, for months I have been hearing about how different this brand new Call of Duty game will be now that it's taking place in a post-World War II world. With its new weapons, advanced technology, new levels and a new impending threat (that could wipe out millions of innocent victims), Call of Duty 4 sounded like just the kind of game everybody could get behind. But then I realized that no matter when or where the game takes place, war has a funny way of always looking and feeling the same.
Perhaps this is done on purpose, but whatever the case this brand new Call of Duty game (the first to take us out of World War II) feels a lot like the other games in the series. Oh sure, the weapons may be new, the buildings are taller, and the way you communicate with your team has changed a bit over the years, but when it comes right down to it this brand new war is a lot like the old one. People die, you are constantly searching for cover, you are forced to rely on your squad mates and there's action happening all around you. War is war, and the Call of Duty series knows how to turn it into a compelling video game.
Call of Duty 4 also proves that nobody can build a video game about a war quite like Infinity Ward. From beginning to end, Call of Duty 4 is an action-packed rollercoaster ride that will have you on the edge of your seat the entire way. No other war-based first-person shooter has been able to match the level of urgency and excitement that Infinity Ward puts into their games. While last year's Call of Duty 3 was generally regarded as a solid action game, it just wasn't the same when Treyarch took over. But now Infinity Ward are back to show everybody how it's done, and what they've managed to come up with is easily one of the best first-person shooter games currently on the market ... which is no easy feat now that it's competing with Halo 3, The Orange Box, Crysis, BioShock and a whole host of other triple-A shooters.
Despite its brand new weapons and modern motif, Call of Duty 4 has a surprising amount in common with the Call of Duty games that came before it. Fans of the series will definitely notice the similarities when it comes to the game's pacing and narrative. Not that this is a bad thing, if Call of Duty did anything right it was the sense of chaos that surrounded you and the strong story that accompanied each scenario. Call of Duty 4 manages to be just as exciting and engrossing as the previous games, only this time with a more compelling environment and a story that feels like it was ripped from today's headlines.
True to the past Call of Duty games, Modern Warfare tells a story about one large-scale war that is told from multiple points of view. In this case, you play as a British SAS operative who is fighting ultranationalist forces in Russia and a U.S. Marine caught in the aftermath of a bloody military coup in an unnamed Middle Eastern state. We play the game switching from one person to another, constantly changing the scenery, squad mates and goals. While these two playable characters are basically the same, it's interesting to see the same war from different points of view; it gives the whole conflict more depth and allows us to see a lot more of the action.
And oh is there action; Call of Duty 4 may just be the most explosive entry in this series yet. No matter which character you're playing as, Modern Warfare does an excellent job of throwing tons of enemies at you and making you use whatever weapon you can get your hands on. In almost every level you'll have to put up with planes and helicopters buzzing overhead, explosions going off all around you and enemies hiding in every hallway and crawlspace imaginable. The pace of the game never lets up; it's just one firefight after another, only giving you time to catch your breath when it's loading the next action-packed level.
But don't get the wrong impression; Call of Duty 4 is about more than just taking on hundreds of blood thirsty terrorists, there's a surprising amount of variety in the types of missions you'll undertake in Modern Warfare. For example, in one early level you'll be going from building to building making sure that you have rooted out all of the enemies. In yet another level you (and your heavily camouflaged leader) will be sneaking through the grass doing everything to not be noticed. There are missions where you will be in a helicopter flying overhead protecting your squad as they try to infiltrate an enemy stronghold. And that's just the beginning of the game, by the time you've finished Call of Duty 4 you will have been on land, on sea and even in the air.
I don't know if it's the modern aspect of the game or what, but there's something about the game's story that hits closer to home than previous Call of Duty entries. In its simplest form, your basic goal in the game is to find the terrorists responsible for a number of recent strikes and then take them out in whatever way possible. While this doesn't sound very compelling, Call of Duty 4 takes you on a rollercoaster ride that you will never forget. This game is definitely more graphic and disturbing than what we saw in previous Call of Duty games, including a sequence in the first few levels that will haunt your nightmares for the next ten years. I'm not the squeamish type, but even I cringed a little when I witnessed the things these two soldiers went through in this game.
Unfortunately the story is over far too quickly. It took me just over five hours to complete Call of Duty 4, which seemed a lot shorter than other recent first-person shooters. Thankfully the story was compelling enough to make me want to go back through it again numerous times. While the quantity leaves something to be desired, the campaign's amazing quality is enough to keep me from being too disappointed at the short story. After the game has concluded you will actually feel like you've accomplished something ... even if you aren't sure whether you actually "won" the war or not.
That's the one thing that I kept coming back to while playing Call of Duty 4. While there are clearly distinctions between the good and evil, this present day conflict seems to fit in that gray area, while World War II was a little more black and white. It's true that these terrorists need to be stopped; this is something that few gamers will disagree with (especially when their full plan is revealed late in the game). But at the same time the "good guys" do some decidedly unethical things in order to track down the man responsible for all of this. How unethical? There are at least one or two moments in the game where I started to wonder if the concept of the Geneva Convention had been thrown out the window entirely. Of course, that doesn't ruin the experience of the game, but it does make it harder to feel as proud of these soldiers as I did in Call of Duty 2.
Then again, perhaps it's best you don't look too deep into the meaning of the game. After all, this game is really nothing more than escapist fun. This is a rollercoaster ride that throws reality right out the window in order to give us an action-packed game full of over-the-top moments that will have you standing up and cheering. The game itself plays a lot like the previous Call of Duty games, you basically run from one checkpoint to another shooting up bad guys, completing objectives and making sure not to get shot too many times. Don't worry about taking a bullet or two, just as long as you can find some cover (and not get shot again) your health will regenerate and you'll be good as new.
One thing that struck me while playing Modern Warfare was how similar this whole situation felt. While this game is clearly not set in the World War II era, there's no getting around how similar the two wars feel. Both wars feature you sneaking around small villages in the middle of the night. Both wars feature bombed out cities full of destroyed buildings you can hide in. And yes, both wars give you the opportunity to hold down captured land while dozens (if not hundreds) of enemies try and steal it from you. As much as things change it's true that wars stay the same. War is still Hell, and this game definitely goes out of its way to prove that fighting terrorism is not all fun and games.
Believe it or not there actually is a lot of incentive for you to go back through the game a second (or even third) time. Once you've completed the game you will have unlocked a brand new mode called the Arcade Mode. In the arcade mode you will be able to go into each level and play for points. Better yet, once you've completed a level or received a score you can compare it to your friends (as well as see how you rank against the entire world). On top of the arcade mode, you will also have the ability to go back through the game on a harder difficulty. Believe it or not, I actually had more fun going through the game a second time on the second highest difficulty, Hardened. This difficulty made the entire process a lot more grueling, which also made me plan out my attacks more and pay closer attention to my surroundings. There's also the Veteran difficulty, but the description says it all: "You will not survive." I can certainly attest to that.
Once you've grown tired of shooting up virtual terrorists and playing through the fun (albeit short) campaign, you still have an entire online multiplayer mode to explore. My experience playing Call of Duty games online is somewhat mixed. After playing through Call of Duty 2 at the Xbox 360's launch I couldn't wait to go online and see what that was all about. Unfortunately what it was about was game-breaking lag and uninspired level designs. On the other hand, Call of Duty 3 featured a more impressive online mode, but the addition of vehicles just made everything more chaotic than it needed to be. So I was guardedly optimistic when it came to playing online with Call of Duty 4. I don't know why I was so skeptical, because Modern Warfare's multiplayer mode is as good (if not better) than the actual story. I would argue that one should buy this game on the strength of the multiplayer modes alone, it's that good.
Instead of just giving us your run of the mill online first-person shooter, Infinity Ward has decided to do something new with Call of Duty 4. Much like Halo 3 and other recent online shooters, Call of Duty 4 starts you off at level 1 and tells you to keep playing to improve your levels. What sets this game apart from those other shooters is that these levels are actually tied to weapons, game types and accessories that you can use in the game. In other words, the longer you play (and the higher your level goes) the more stuff you will be able to do. Better yet, if you lose a bunch of matches you don't have to worry about dropping levels, instead you will gain experience for each person you killed (or objective you complete) and your level will continue to improve ... even if you run into a slump and can't win any matches.
At first you don't really understand how much of an impact these different levels have, but once you've gone up a few levels you'll start to see the entire online experience open up to you in ways you would never have imagined. One of the first things you will be able to do is set up a custom class, which allows you to set your primary and secondary weapons, as well as your character perks and grenades. Play a few more games and increase another level or two and suddenly you'll find new weapons available to you, as well as important accessories that you can attach to your gun (such as a grenade launcher and a laser sight). Improving your level is easy and fun, and best of all Infinity Ward has given gamers a real incentive to continue playing.
Even more interesting is the fact that only two of the online game types are initially open to a level 1 player. Call of Duty 4 starts you off with the basic online modes, including Team Deathmatch and a Free-For-All deathmatch. But it won't be long before you're able to jump into Domination rooms (where you try to capture the three flags) or even games featuring Sabotage (where you fight to destroy the enemy's objective) and Headquarters (where you fight over capturing a base). In all there are thirteen different game types, including something for just about every type of first-person shooter fan.
And if that wasn't enough, if you play long enough you will unlock a number of challenges that will net you a few extra experience points. These challenges range from very simple tasks to think about when you're shooting up bad guys, to more complicated objectives that will require you to plan out what you want to do and be patient. In some ways these challenges work like a second set of achievement points, only this time they unlock different weapons and accessories.
Regardless of who you are or what type of online shooters you like to play, there's something in Call of Duty 4 that will keep you coming back day after day. The environments are all large and full of great hiding spots, there are a lot of unique weapons to use and it's such a great feeling when you increase your level and know that you have something new to fiddle around with. For a lot of people it's easy to get bored of one shooter and just move on to the next big thing, but I have a hunch that Call of Duty 4 will be one of those games that people stick with long after the game has dropped in price and new games have come out.
Not only is Call of Duty 4 one of the best playing (and most exciting) first-person shooters of the year, it also has some of the best graphics I've seen on the Xbox 360. I remember being floored by the stunning visuals when I first saw the game in action at E3 earlier this year, and I am even more impressed now that I am able to play on my own TV and console. Over the last two years we've seen a lot of great looking Xbox 360 games, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that Call of Duty 4 is yet another game with stunning visuals. But it's not just that the characters are detailed and the backgrounds are diverse, it's how well Infinity Ward has put everything together to make a convincing world that looks different from one location to the next. Even more impressive are all the small details that litter the environments, you'll find yourself just looking around at the architecture and debris lying around the level.
And it's not just the visuals that stand out, you will also notice the absolutely stunning audio effects used throughout the game. All of the sounds (from the explosions going off in the distance to the gun shots to the people yelling in the midst of combat) are superbly done, convincing in every possible way. What's more, the music in Call of Duty 4 is second to none. At times it feels like you're watching a movie play out in front of you ... only you have the ability to affect its outcome. The entire presentation puts you right in the middle of the action, which can be an extremely scary place sometimes.
With all the amazing shooters coming out you might think that Call of Duty 4 would have a hard time breaking away from the already crowded field, but thanks to its quality story, presentation and multiplayer modes, that is just not the case. Along the way you will discover that this year's Call of Duty is not all that different from past entries, which given the pedigree of Infinity Ward's previous work isn't a bad thing at all. I'm excited to see what these developers can do now that they aren't tied to World War II, I wouldn't mind seeing a possible future warfare or a sequel that directly follows the aftermath of this exciting game. Regardless of whether you were a fan of the Call of Duty games in the past, this brand new era and emphasis on exciting gameplay should not be missed. Call of Duty 4 is easily one of the best games of the year, a game that nobody should miss.
