*NB This is a repost. I have added details about multiplayer on X - Box live.*
I am a massive fan of first person shooters but for some reason I haven't really had much to do with the Call of Duty series. I own Call of Duty 2 for X - Box but wasn't really that impressed to be honest with you. Compared to Brothers in Arms and Medal of Honour I found Call of Duty 2 to be far to easy and although the concept of following the 1st Division through the war was interesting I found there was far to little story line. Additionally the levels were basic and over to quickly.
So when a friend offered to trade Call of Duty 4 for Halo 3 (which I had played to death by that point) I was a bit apprehensive. But I went for it anyway and I was pleasantly surprised.
In COD 4 you take on the roles of Soap Mctavish, newly selected SAS trooper and Sgt Paul Johnson of the US Marines. Missions revolve around arms dealers in Russia and revolution in the Middle East and they are split pretty evenly between the two characters.
The first thing is the graphics which are amazing. Each environment and character are rendered with skill and detail. The very first mission (after the prelude) takes place
on a Cargo ship on the Bering straight. The cut scene of the helicopter ride busting through the storm is brilliant and things just get better and better from then on.
The cut scenes look amazing and really could be part of an animated feature film, so much work has gone into the graphics that alone is worth the money. After all that praise I must point out that I played COD 4 on a dodgy old TV which is at least ten years old and about as far from HDTV as humanly possible. I can only imagine how spectacular the graphics much be on HDTV.
The game play is also a massive plus for this game. I have been boring my friends to death going on about how great the levels are on Halo3 and how smart the AI is but I was totally blown away by COD 4. The Enemies are smart and I don't just mean they use cover and stuff. They are so smart its scary. The easies way to die in COD is to just stay put. After about 5 seconds they enemy will put grenades in your position but if you get up and run you will be gunned down by the enemies waiting in ambush. This is not a game for the Gung Ho. Many times stealth wins over speed. Instead of running into areas and killing anything that moves the best option is taking your time. Picking your kills and moving from cover to cover. Suppressive fire and flash bang grenades are the order of the day for most levels.
While there are a number of weapons available during the game, the most useful generally turn out to be the starting weapons, although the odd RPG or sniper rifle tends to help. Most of the missions take place on foot with sections as the gunner hanging from the side of a Helicopter. One of the best missions though invoves covering an SAS team as the gunner on a gunship circling above.
One mission in particular that I found quite cool was the sniper mission. During the mission you and your partner infiltrate the area around Chernobyl sneaking past or silently killing enemies to avoid detection. During the middle of the mission you get one shot to take out your target before legging it to the extraction point.
The main issue that I have with COD 4 and something that I have found to be a common issue amongst others I have spoken to is the length of the game. There are about 16 mission which are generally quite short. I finished the game in about a week of playing one or two hours at a time. When you finish the game an extra level is unlocked along with a couple of different game modes (such as arcade mode which awards points for completing levels and puts you on an x - box live leader board.) but these do little to increase the life of the game.
Apart from this issue, I found COD 4 to be an excellent first person shooter with some good levels and innovative game play. I would recommend it to any other FPS fans although it does get a bit bloody.
I just got my X - Box live set up so I thought I would add a bit about the online aspect of the game. The X - Box live game adds a massive amount of playability. Just like all the other multiplayer shooters there are a number of different games such as deathmatch, team deathmatch capture the flag/base. These games use maps from the singleplayer levels.
The main thing that sets COD 4 multiplayer apart from the likes of Halo3 is the ranking systems. As you play the game you earn experience and progress through the ranks. As you progress you unlock better weapons and attachements (eg red dot sights), better perks (eg increaced health, better accuracy, last stand) and more game modes. Additonally there are also challenges to meet. For example if you achieve 25 kills with the AK 47 you achieve extra bonuses.
The only problem with COD 4 on X - Box live is that, unlike Halo3 players are not matched on skill or experience. Therefore a brand new player is put into games with experienced players who have already unlocked extra weapons and perks. Needless to say there is a very steep learning curve. During the first few games I found myself dead more often than alive. But if you can deal with this inital frustration then there is no problem.
This review is also posted on Dooyoo
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Best online gaming ever, loads of online unlockables, realism at highest level ever! Disadvantages: Story mode short and no online achievements - only single player ones.
Advantages: Stunning graphics, Great gameplay, Online play never gets boring Disadvantages: No co-op mode (offline & online), Regenerating health may annoy some
Advantages: Good storyline, fast-paced, great graphics and sound, multiplayer... pretty much everything Disadvantages: Veteran difficulty takes some work
Feb 11th, 2008
(Feb 20th, 2008)
exceptional by (4%):
very helpful by (96%):
