Call Of Duty 4 Review (9 out of 10)
March 3 , 2008 ... Review by Eric
On its surface Call of Duty resembles many of the other modern warfare games that are released these days. One thing that I learned quickly while playing this game is that it is anything but ordinary. The production value of this game rivals many mainstream movies. From the prologue where you have to secure nuclear cargo on the high seas during a storm to the opening credits that place you directly in the middle of a Middle Eastern coup, the single player game gets you hooked fast. I’ll also be glad to let you know that the game rarely lets up its exciting pace right up through the finale. And yes, to all of those Halo 3 fans out there … this shooter actually has a story you can follow!
The graphics are top notch, even for those of us with standard definition televisions. Most of the scenery in this game is beautiful, including the desert portions, and give you the feel of being in the actual real world locations. I will have to say that I rather enjoyed fighting a ship in a middle of a storm, or even experiencing the aftermath of a nuclear explosion.
Even the A.I. in this game was done about as well as I have seen in a game to date. They would often group up on you, and if they knew your location in a building they would come in guns a blazing, and not just as cannon fodder for your waiting machine gun. This doesn’t even account for the fact that I played through the game on hardened. The veteran mode is damn near impossible for any gamer that isn’t a huge shooter fan.
Not only did this game act like any normal shooter, but it mixed in many different types of gameplay experiences. Most of them were refreshing … such as sniping a Russian leader from VERY far away and having to take into account wind speed and the Coriolis effect, whatever the hell that is. A few I could done without … having to carry out a fellow sniper while fighting off legions of troops or fighting a dog off of you before it rips out your neck. These moments were few
and far between and stood out as the few blemishes of the single player. The other big single player issue would only be due to the fact that the game was short, only a few more hours would of probably done the trick.
Now on to the multiplayer … I will be short on this part since I have still only scratched the surface. This just may be the Halo 3 junkie in me, but after playing CoD4 online, it made me really miss having motion radar all of the time. I can see where the various game modes add many more layers to the multiplayer that Halo 3 could never dream of, but it still didn’t feel right. It is much more of a strategic shooter than I am used to and could become my favorite in the future, but for now stays markedly behind the twitch multiplayer of Halo 3. To finish on the multiplayer I will say that the leveling up system works well and does not make it impossible for those lower ranked to score points and gain access to better weapons, even when facing much higher ranked opponents.
Overall, the gameplay and experience of this game is fantastic and it is a breath of fresh air in the Call of Duty series. The short single player and with a multiplayer that still don’t feel natural to me thus denying it my first perfect score. The movie-like feel of the single player game is just too much to pass up and I recommend it to anyone who owns a 360 or PS3. Just keep it in mind that for any future game in this series, to only purchase the ones made by Infinity Ward. Call of Duty 4 gets a 9 out of 10.
Call of Duty 4 At A Glance |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
9 |
The Good |
Atmosphere is one of the most immersive ever. Controls are tight. Excellent enemy A.I. Offers an experience not found in any other game, period. |
The Bad |
Enemy spawning could have been better. Veteran difficulty is made frustratingly tough because of it. Sometimes you have to pop a cap in ol’ Lassie L |
||
Amazing |
The Verdict |
One of the best video game experiences on the 360 ... buy it. |
|