by Infinity Ward
What I paid: $15 (Steam)
My Score 9.5/10
-Things that make me smile: Amazing campaign. Intense action. Diverse gameplay. Good control. Good acting/voice acting. Total game immersion.
-Things that put a frown on my face: Guns sound weak. Short campaign (+/-). Multiplayer grenade spamming.
I know that I don't need to say too much about how great this game is since everyone knows that it is indeed great and it's sequel is the second greatest selling game of all time (1st is Wii Play). After seeing it on Steam for only $15, I knew it was my time to find out what all the hype was about, and I discovered, not surprisingly, that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is worth all the praise that it received.
There are a lot of first person shooters out there. This one stands apart from them in many ways. First off, the story is entirely involving, something that not many FPS's can pull off. You feel like you're taking part in something great and something that could be secretly happening right now. You alternate between two main characters, Sergeant John "SOAP" McTavish from the British S.A.S., and Sergeant Paul Jackson of the Marines 1st Force Recon. You also take part in other aspects of the action like being the gunner of a C-130 Spectre Gunship or the second man in a sniper duo on a mission that occurred 15 years ago. You truly feel like you are in the action.
Raining death from above. Now this is how you mix things up in a FPS!
One way that you feel like you are there is with the great visuals and sound. When a bomb goes off nearby, you "feel" it through the sound and the camera shake. It is convincing. Something that was not so convincing to me was the weak sounding shots from your weapons. More than once I checked to make sure I had my sound options correct after being underwhelmed by the blast of my weapon. I wanted the guns to be louder. This is a minor complaint though. By and large, I haven't played a game where I have felt more drawn into.
Intense!
Another way that the game draws you in is through your interaction with the NPC's. The voice acting was great. The character's animations were smooth and realistic. The NPC AI was well done. Your squad mates always seem to be in the action, but are never doing all the fighting. You must shoot things or you will die.
You do more than just pull the trigger in COD 4 (don't get me wrong though, there is a lot of trigger pulling). The diversity in the game is one thing that really keeps things compelling and interesting. For example, there is a mission where you are the second man on a 2 man sniper team on an assassination mission. The majority of the mission is entirely stealth (and the stealth was well done). There were times on this mission when I literally started to sweat because I was so tense. Another example of diversity in the game comes from this same mission. Your lead sniper ends up getting injured and you have to carry him to the extraction point. Whenever enemies come around, you have to put him on the ground in order to shoot. This different game play dynamic, and many others throughout the game, add a lot to the diversity and maintain your interest. It's more than just getting from point A to point B by shooting everything in your path.
This is how one of the missions starts. These kind of intros really get you into the feel of the level even before you put your boots on the ground.
The single player campaign is short. This is both a plus and a minus to me. I was surprised when the credits started to roll that I had actually finished the game. I could have kept playing. But, there is something to be said about being able to finish a game in a timely manner. I have played some games that are simply too long to finish on my personal timeline, and I feel unfulfilled with them. I appreciate that this game is finish-able for casual gamers like me.
Fighting along side your squad mates. After watching this clip, perhaps the guns aren't as quiet as I initially thought they were.
This review is for the single player campaign, but I have to whine a bit about the multiplayer. The grenade spamming is insane and definitely lessens the gameplay experience. There are a couple of maps with a few choke points that are constantly grenade spammed. You can't do any fighting without getting through these choke points, but you can't get through them because of the grenades. Very annoying. I'll hopefully get used to it though as the multiplayer is fun overall and I want to like it.
Tanks... but no tanks.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a great game. It's been awhile since I've played a single player FPS campaign as involving and intense as this one. I'm glad that I saw the game on sale on Steam and that I decided to buy it. I'll have to see if I have enough patience to wait 2 years or so for Modern Warfare 2 to go on sale on Steam. I may not be able to.
