If I have one major complaint about the single-player campaign it would not be the length or the difficulty, it would be the lack of co-op play. Call of Duty 4 is the perfect game to experience with another player (there is always other friendlies on screen with you) but the developers seemed to forget this. Something that Rainbow Six: Vegas, Halo 3, and Gears of War did to perfection COD4 did not attempt at all. Like I said there is so much included out of the box it is hard to penalize the game for this but it would have been nice to see. Other than completing the career on multiple difficulties (it does feel different each time) there is also an “Arcade Mode” that is playable once the game is finished one time through. In this mode gamers are given three lives and a point counting system that adds so much fun to the game I am surprised it is not used more often to add replayability to short titles. Along with the explosions and headshot points there are also a number of special power-ups that can be applied when playing arcade mode; these range from the somewhat normal to the insanely goofy (Goodyear tires flying through the air), and add some real fun to otherwise serious subject matter. Because the game is supposed to take place during a war the player is thrust headfirst into the middle of a full-scale battlefield. I cannot remember one single moment when it didn’t feel like I was actually taking part, a small part, in a huge battle. There are always bullets flying, soldiers dying, and shit blowing up during every single moment that is COD4. This game is like being in the middle of your favorite war movie and having singular impact on the way the battle ends. At the end of the day the single-player component of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is one of the best around, every second of game time reminded me of why I play video-games.
If the review stopped here COD4 would still score very high but we still have to cover the multiplayer aspect of the game. The developers decided to use the “matchmaking” system that Bungie is so fond of and it works very nicely with all the options available online. There are multiple modes of play (deathmatch, capture the flag, teams, etc.) as well as other small options that can be tweaked to create the perfect online match. Included out of the box are 16 maps, and of those 16 maps there are probably 10 that rank very highly in terms of design and fun-factor. Some are taken straight from the single player and even though they are not very innovate they play perfectly with up to 16 players on any one server. Not new to the COD franchise is the “ranking” system that is used to show your level of play to other gamers; what the developers did do was add a lot of substance to the system along with a number of power-ups. For example, each match players earn points that are used to increase their rank, as the rank increases more power-ups are unlocked. Some of the more notable unlockables are dual primary weapons, clan tags, last stand, and more powerful bullets. While this is one sweet feature it can also alienate some new players, if one were to buy the game in a month they might face some pretty difficult resistance when going online. Even so as you customize your character and move up through the ranks in multiplayer battle the game only gets better. For one it keeps the online action new and fresh, at least for a good amount of time. If lag was an issue I never noticed it whatsoever, Infinity Ward detailed down the graphics a tiny bit for the multiplayer mode and it causes the game to run smoothly no matter how many players on screen. As with the single-player mode there is no co-op play online that allows you to go through the campaign, which is a small bummer. The massive amount of maps, modes, and unlockables guarantees that Call of Duty 4 will be played over Xbox Live for some time to come.
It has been hard to live up to how Gears of War looked no matter what your game budget. Graphically Modern Warfare is one hell of a game to look at. To try and name something that doesn’t look good would be something so nitpicky I am just not willing to go there. The character models, facial expressions, textures, weather/smoke/water effects, weapons, animations, and levels all look fantastic in high-def. This is what next-generation consoles were meant to do. One of the best parts about COD4 is the lighting effects, not only night-vision, but the entire game feels ultra realistic. Some of the levels were so stunning I spent hours exploring and just checking out the environments. I don’t know if a game in this genre has ever caused me to take in so much graphically, the detail is unreal. Because there is such a variety in the environments it’s amazing how good everything flows. The graphical prowess causes gamers to feel as though they are playing through one, singular experience that is not broken up and scattered. Animations are very lifelike and bad guys will slump or fall in specific directions as you fire on them. Something else that really impressed me were the weapons, look and design as well as functionality.
There was little to zero framerate problems in COD4 which is unbelievable considering how good everything looks and at what resolution it is running. I am usually not a big fan of using other people’s game engines but in this case I cannot say anything bad about the graphics. Call of Duty 4 is easily one of the strongest graphical next-gen games ever seen and I will go as far as saying it is the best-looking current game out there. With everything being as good as it is up until this point it comes as no surprise that the audio is top notch. I play every game I review using a surround sound setup to make sure I experience it as the developers planned. COD4’s audio system takes perfect advantage of the setup; bullets are whizzing past my head and soldiers are barking out orders (or death gargles) from all sides of the room. My 4 year-old nephew was sitting on the couch with me as I played and more than once he turned around to see what that sound was coming from the back of the room. Not only is the voice acting just as good but it actually helps you feel for the computer-controlled characters. It really shows that they decided to get some top-notch talent to do the acting in the game. Everything about the graphics and audio of Modern Warfare go hand-in-hand, all seamlessly functioning together to create the best entertainment device I have ever experienced. Some of this could easily be in the next 100 million dollar Hollywood movie.
At the end of the day there is only one reason not to buy Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and that is if you’re no longer breathing. If you are reading this and own one of the three gaming systems that this stellar title is being released on then you need to at least try the game out. I know people that hated FPS games up until they played COD4, now they are awaiting the next one with baited breath. Fans of the series will be happy with the much-needed changes as well as the little nuances seen in previous games. The insane single-player campaign, arcade mode, and everlasting multiplayer options will keep any gamer busy for some time. Because the game is so customizable there is something in here for everyone. The length and difficulty may attempt to push some gamers away but there are so many things that the developers do perfect these small complaints should not even be made. There is not doubt in my mind that the guys over at Infiniti Ward have wanted to make this game for some time and it shows with the amount of detail and perfection put into the title. I have been looking forward to this game ever since the first information was announced and now that it is here the wait was worth every minute. I have never given a game a perfect 10 but anything can happen and the entire time I was playing COD4 I knew that time had come. There is no amount of hype that could get gamers ready for what Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare actually is, the perfect game. Everything about the game is not perfect but overall it deserves the score below, a perfect 10.
