After multiple hours of gameplay, one bricked Xbox 360, a few hundred thrown grenades, and multiple airstrikes 2old2play finally gets a chance to give the community a piece of their mind about the newest installment in the Call of Duty Franchise, COD 4: Modern Warfare.
Single Player
Players begin their journey into Modern Warfare as a British SAS Soldier who is the FNG. As with other COD games players will go through a short training exercise to familiarize yourself with a few of the weapon types, the new melee, clearing and breaching a room, and throwing the different types of grenades.
Right off the bat in the training exercise players will begin to get the feel of the speed of this game, everything happens fast. If you want to stay alive you have to be able to think on your feet, and this is very evident when you go through the “Kill House.”
After the training mission you are thrown right into the action and the story in your first mission on a cargo ship filled with terrorists and a little surprise at the end. Let’s just say that you might not make it out alive, and some people are coming out of this level feeling a little queasy.
As you move through the campaign you’ll have many different challenges, such as saving an informant who is being held hostage to guarding tanks as they role through streets filled with terrorists, and you’ll also have a chance to experience all the different role types/weapons the game has to offer.
Throughout the history of the Call of Duty franchise the single player story has always been one never to disappoint. Modern Warfare won’t let you down. From start to finish players will be bombarded by RPG’s, snipers, angry terrorists, attack dogs, and random grenades that will leave you thinking, “Where in the Hell did that come from?”
Stick With Your Squad
The key is to stay alive. That’s easier said than done, and the upgraded AI won’t make it easy on you especially in veteran mode. The enemies in this game are smart. Smarter than previous COD games you ask? Yes. Infinity Ward has done an incredible job in making this game feel like you are playing with real people on your squad against a real enemy.
In each level there are points where players will feel they’ve gotten it all figured out only to have the AI out flank their position, or change up their play style depending on a player’s movement.
Squad mates are no exception to the rule as they also adapt to a players actions and movements and are in more ways than one capable, unlike previous installments, to help rather than hinder a player’s way through the hard parts of the game.
So be sure to move with your team as you traverse through the different terrains. If you do find yourself all by yourself chances are the next move you make will be your last.
The Environments
From ships at sea, farmhouses in the middle of nowhere, to the host city streets gamers will have a chance to experience the stunningly beautiful graphics that COD 4 delivers.
The rain, night vision, blowing leaves, crumbling buildings, and fully destructible cars that blow up in your enemies or your own face only add to the gameplay value of Modern Warfare’s single player.
Don’t be surprised if you have to look outside to make sure it isn’t raining at your house, especially if you’ve got your surround sound turned up. That’s how real things look in this game.
It might be hard to do, but if you get the chance take a second to stop and check out the high level of detail that can at times make players feel like they are actually taking part in a real war, do it, you won’t be disappointed.
The Cut Scenes
Every FPS has them, but with Modern Warfare they have been transformed into a high tech briefing screen that tells you what to expect on your next mission.
Now players won’t have to wait through boring load screens while they watch a red bar fill up or a game graphic spin. The loading screens are now a cinematic extravaganza to marvel at as you watch the computerized images flash upon the screen.
These screens tie in so well to the story that you won’t really feel like there is any break in the action from one level to the other. Combined with the actual videos that move the story along they’ll give players even more of a feeling of immersion into the game.
Multiplayer
The Levels
Want a big map, no problem, take on other teams on Overgrown a farm house level with lush greenery and plenty of places to hide. For close quarters check out the insanely small Shipment for a few laughs with 18 people in the room (we did and the match was over in about 40 seconds), or players might want to fight for the cause in the middle of the night on Wet Work, a large cargo ship in the middle of the ocean, so they can make use of the extremely realistic night vision goggles.
With 15 maps straight out of the box Modern Warfare gives players their monies worth and then some. Take some time to learn the terrain, find your favorite hiding/ambush/angles of fire, or just jump right in and learn it on the fly. Whatever happens don’t assume you “know” the map, because we all know what happens when we assume…you get a knife to the back of the head from someone who knows the map just a little bit better.
The Modes
Decided on which map you want to take on well now it’s time to choose a game type. There are six game types available (free for all, team death match, Search and Destroy, Sabotage, Domination, and Headquarters), and each one is its own different monster.
Free for all – Spelled like it sounds this is the good ol’fashion death match. Pick a weapon and try to kill as many enemies as possible before time runs out and oh yeah try not to die.
Team Death match – Pair up with a team of 6 in ranked play or a team of 9 in a private match as players try to outscore their opponents before time runs out. Strategize and move as a team or run and gun like a madman whichever works, just remember dying is bad and it gives the other team points so don’t…just don’t.
Search and Destroy – Like to blow stuff up? Well now it’s easy. In S & D each team takes turns defending and destroying an objective.
The defending team can set up shop, and wait for the other team to come into their ambush, or set out to destroy all hopes and dreams by X’ing out the other squad before they ever have a chance to see their objective.
The attacking team has to pick up their bomb and try to get it the objective w/o dying, plant it, and then defend the bomb until it detonates. If the defending team defusing the bomb they win, but if the bomb goes off the attacking team is the winner.
Sabotage – Think Halo - Single Bomb. There is a bomb in the center of the map which players must rush towards pick up, deliver to the opposing team’s base, and then defend until it detonates. If the bomb goes off the team that planted it gets a point and the round ends.
Domination – This game type is a lot like Call of Duty 3’s war. There are three areas on the map, (A, B, C), which players must capture and hold for points. The more areas you hold the more points you will acquire and the quicker the round will be over.
Sounds easy right? Well it’s not. Each team ideally has six players each so you have to spread yourself out in order to attack or defend each territory making it easier for the attacking team to put all their effort into capture the area you are defending.
This game type is that will take the tactical side of what has been a more of a run and gun series to a new level of strategy and teamwork. So if you like to work and as a team and develop different strategies this will be the game type for you and your friends.
Headquarters – Similar to style of play that many are familiar with from Call of Duty 2. After about 15 seconds the first headquarters will spawn on a “random” spot on the map. Each team must advance to this position; attempt to capture it by standing next to the flag and then defending it until the time cap runs out for that flag. Once the defending team is eliminated or the time cap for their flag runs out another flag spawns and you do it all over again.
This was a hectic game type before; add in the UAV, Airstrike, and Helicopter, now this is Headquarters on crack. Before a player could hunker down and hold a defensive position without much worry if they had a good spot, now it’s a constant game of shoot and move or die.
Customization
In COD 2 and most other FPS shooter you pick a class and that class has a certain weapon that gamers are stuck with, unless you are lucky enough to kill someone and steal their weapon off their lifeless body.
This isn’t exactly the case with COD 4. Before players hit the battlefield they are able to create their own class of character with whatever weapons, grenades, and perks you would like. Don’t get too excited though everything isn’t available straight out of the gate.
In order to be able to even create your own class players will have to climb the ranks a little bit through playing ranked games. The “Create a Class” feature, along with the first set of perks is available after players reach level five.
Each player has five custom slots where they can pick out a primary weapon, a secondary weapon (handgun), and the type of special grenades they want to bring into the game. Players also have three sets of perks, (we’ll get into those in a minute), that add to their deadliness on the field.
Along with the options to create a class players are now given the option to customize their private lobbies to fit their style of play. The lobby system is very reminiscent of the Halo series and easily navigable. The options are not endless when it comes to customizing a lobby, but they (IW) gave it a good try.
Players can change almost everything: the amount of time a bomb in sabotage takes to detonate, taking the kill cam off, headshots only, allowing or disallowing air support, enhanced/lowered health levels, Health regeneration, force re-spawn, friendly fire, and many more.
Also if a certain map or game type is a little frustrating, players can avoid it all together with a click of the button. The vote to skip option is new to the COD series but has been around in other games for quite some time and is a welcome addition. No more do gamers have to sit through the same map or game type five times in a row, now all they have to do is get a majority of the room to vote it down.
In an effort to further the re-playability of the game and add to the ability for everyone to personalize COD 4 to make it their own IW has added two new modes to private lobbies: Hardcore and Old School.
Hardcore is just that, hardcore. Players don’t have any radar; unless you get a UAV then the mini-map pops up for thirty seconds letting you know the location of the other team. Basically the goal is to get players to play it as true to real life as possible.
Old School mode doesn’t have any classes. Everyone starts off with the Scorpion and pistol, no perks. Perks and Weapons are scattered around the map much like they are in the Halo series. Players also have increased health and jump height. Think Halo in COD form.
Leveling up
Although necessary this can be a bit of a pain in the ass. When a player first logs in to the game they won’t be able to pick anything to customize their character. Much like the previous installments of COD players will have to choose from a couple of different classes until they reach level five and are able to create their own.
The leveling up is pretty quick, it happens at the same rate as it did in the beta. So if players are winning matches and getting a good number of kills they won’t be stuck in the standard classes for long.
This has created a bit of rift in the friendly gaming side of things as many players who strictly play private rooms have now dedicated themselves to ranking up so that they can have the biggest and baddest toys.
This is also a bit of a problem for people who refuse to play ranked matches because it creates a large disadvantage for them when they play with people who are willing to brave the wild and play ranked matches.
The only thing that can be done about this is to set up custom rooms with strict rules about player load-outs or to play Old School and Hardcore mode. If players don’t want to do this then they’ll have to play ranked matches like everyone else.
Challenges
Challenges are kind of like meta games that players can use to help them move up the ranks a little quicker. They rank from falling to your death off a 30 foot fall to getting one hundred headshots with a given weapon. Each weapon has its own challenges so dedicated players can level up each one for extra points.
There are also boot camp and operation challenges with goals such as calling in a UAV, killing 15 enemies with a knife attack, and blowing up vehicles that are on fire.
These are pretty easy to achieve and are a good way to add points to rank up quickly. Most of the challenges can be achieved through regular and normal gameplay, but some take a little extra effort (jumping off of buildings to your death).
The Weapons
Players are now given the option to pick a primary weapon, a side arm, and what type of special grenade the want bring into battle. There are 26 weapons to choose from and three types of special grenades.
As players go through the list of weapons they’ll be able to determine which fits their gameplay style by a handy graph at the bottom right hand side of the screen. The graph consists of five slots: Accuracy (how close of a grouping your bullets will have when you are ADS, Damage (how much you it hurt someone), Range (from how far away it is effective), Fire Rate (how fast it spits bullets), and Mobility (how fast you can run with the weapon). Depending on the weapon, size of the map, and team you are playing against they’ll be able to see which weapon is the right one for the job.
The weapons range from up close and personal Sub Machine Guns and Shotguns (Skorpion, Mini-Uzi, MP5, AK-74u, P90, W1200, M1014), to medium range Light Machine Guns (M249 SAW, RPD, M60E4), to medium to long range Assault Rifles (M16A4, AK-47, M4 Carbine, G3, G36C, M14, MP44), to I shot your ass from the other side of the map Sniper Rifles (M40A3, M21, Dragunov, R700, Barret .50 Cal).
With all these to choose from players shouldn’t have any problem getting their hands on one that feels like home.
Kill Streaks
In any first person shooter you want to be at the top of the list when the game ends with the most kills and the least deaths. Well Infinity Ward added some incentive to dying less when they added the UAV, Airstrike, and helicopter to online play.
By stringing together 3 kills without dying you’ll be able to find out where your enemy is located with the UAV. This is one of the best and sometimes most overlooked bonuses to staying alive because it tells you where your opponent is located and coupled with the Airstrike can be devastating.
If you want to rain fire down on your enemies you’ll need to stay alive and string together five kills. Once you have achieved this you can quickly tap right on your D-Pad to pull up the Airstrike launch screen. Then you determine where you want to place you strike, just make sure you know where you enemy located or moving towards (helps to have someone else launch a UAV at this point). If you chose correctly get ready for the carnage and your kill count to sky rocket.
Airstrike hit its mark, rack up a few kills? Well now if you’ve killed seven people in a row without dying it’s time for the helicopter. The helicopter is probably the most devastating bonus in the game since it hovers in the air above the map taking out unsuspecting opponents for 30 seconds, shot down by an RPG or a hell of a lot of gun fire.
If you die before you get a chance to launch a UAV, Airstrike, or Helicopter don’t disparage. Players carry over the bonuses they have gained after their deaths and can hold on to them as long as they like, or until they get another kill streak. The new kill streak overrides the old one, so if you are holding onto a helicopter or airstrike, until someone has a UAV you might think twice heading out in the open.
Perks
Sick and tired of getting killed by the same person over and over again in a multiplayer match? Well now is your chance to get them back. Another new feature to the series to go along with the UAV, Airstrike and Helicopter are the Perks.
With the Perks in COD 4 you’ll have a chance to either get the last shot in on an enemy (last Stand), or blow up a charging opponent (martyrdom) as they climb over your lifeless corpse.
Infinity ward has taken power ups to a whole other level and has given even the greenest players a chance at scoring some kills. Each person has five custom slots and they can choose three perks per customizable slot to go along with however they want to play the game.
The weapons and grenades are great and will be your primary tools of destruction, but the perks are the gravy to top it all off. In total there are 22 different perks each with its own advantages and disadvantages to gameplay. The perks range from being able to run for longer distances (Extreme Conditioning), higher levels of total health (Juggernaut), bullets that go through walls (Deep Impact), faster reload times (Sleight of Hand), to being able to listen in on your opponents moves (Eavesdrop).
Don’t get excited yet, because you can’t jump straight into multiplayer and pick whichever perk you want. Perks are unlocked through playing ranked games in each different game mode. Players will be stuck with the bare minimum until they reach level five and unlock their first perk. Don’t get discouraged you’ll climb the early ranks fairly quick once you get the hang of the game.
Pros
- Great visuals - The scenery is unbelievable. Some of the levels look like they could have been a picture taken at an actual place.
- Gameplay – The flow of the game is smooth. In a lot of games you see the AI walk / run across the screen in a mummy like fashion, but not this one. The AI in COD 4 won’t even let you camp one spot for too long. They find ways to get behind you, or blow up the car you are hiding behind.
- The story is interesting and easy to follow.
- The cut-scenes add a whole new level of emersion to the gameplay as they show you schematics of your upcoming mission and its objectives in between levels. They also make load times a little more bearable.
- 18 people online multiplayer, who doesn’t love that!
- 15 multiplayer maps out of the box.
- A lobby system that “tries” to be like halo’s, (finally somebody was listening to our pleas),
- Sending in an air strike and seeing your kill total shoot up by five and then immediately unleashing a helicopter to infuriate your opponent even more.
Cons
- If your party is playing ranked matches you aren’t guaranteed to play with them if you stick around for more than one match, if you’ve got an odd number of players in your party. After the first match the system makes an attempt to balance the teams and your party will most likely get shuffled between the two teams, and stick both sides with random gamers.
- Every problem that was in the beta is in the retail. I even got the downloading content error. BOOOOOOO!
- Bricking Xbox 360’s – within a day of playing this game my Xbox consistently froze up within five of gameplay. There are reports that many gamers are having the same problem but it obviously has more to do with shoddy hardware and not COD.
- The hit detection can be a bit of a mystery at times. Some players are unable to be killed in most circumstances. IW has done such a good job of disguising lag that players aren’t able to tell if the person is a better player or they just have a crappy connection.
- No invulnerability time – a spawn campers best friend.
- The ranking system is cool but it has some major flaws. The only ranked play you have available at the beginning is team death match and free for all (until you get to level five). Players have to rank up to unlock other modes. Luckily in private games everything is available.
- There was lag at the 18 person games. However, it wasn’t that bad, and that is to be expected to a certain degree with that many people in the room.
- No co-op campaign
The Rub
The newest installment in the Call of Duty Franchise will for sure be in many gamers consoles for some time and rightfully so. Infinity Ward has taken the game flipped it on its head and spit out something that any gamer can enjoy: An action packaged, fast paced, beautiful game with a compelling and immersive single player/multi-player modes.
I can honestly say that this game has renewed my love for the Call of Duty Franchise and will see many hours of gameplay in the coming months and years.
All in all Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a great game with a few issues that should be fixed with a patch in the coming months. So if you’ve got the money head on out to your local game store and give this one a spin.
