Call Of Duty 4 is the 4th (believe it or not) installment in the Call Of Duty saga (Not including expansions and the occasional spin-off), but this time it escapes the WW2 setting that it's predecessors endured, instead opting for some present day war thrills.
Being set in present day, as opposed to WW2 (which due to the amount of games in that period has become almost cartoon-like) adds a lot to the immersion factor. The games second mission has you take control of the president of an unnamed Middle-Eastern country, you are bound by the wrists and viciously beaten by sand-monkeys before piled into the back of a sedan and driven through the streets of a war torn city, you watch as people are being chased and executed left and right as you're driven to your inevitable death by bullet to the face. Oh yes, it's all very dramatic.
The campaign is split between UNSC and SAS (Let’s just call them American and British) missions, up until the later parts of the game where they combine.
The American missions heavily consist of firefights through war torn middle-eastern cities, including an epic scene where you're in the middle of a nuclear blast while aboard a helicopter. I won't spoil the rest but it's a really great moment. It's a more twitchy, in-your-face style of game play/
While the British missions lean more towards infiltrating, clearing houses and shooting dogs. The European countryside that these missions are played out in are really stunning and look genuinely realistic, which is what this game is trying to achieve. I won’t spoil it, but the mission in
Call Of Duty 4 is packed with set-pieces, it makes up almost the entire game as you're shoved along a rollercoaster of events that make up the campaign. For most games this would seem like a bad thing, but Infinity Ward have really become masters at this style of shooter play. Infiltrating gun ships, countryside warfare, sniper missions, assassinations, rescue operations - it all feels like you're in control, even though you're not.
It took me 6-8 hours to complete the entire campaign on Regular (
As great as campaign is, Multiplayer is the carrot-on-a-stick that will keep you coming back until your right middle ringer is raw and bloody. There are a few things that you'll find in multiplayer that are commonplace in most MMORPGs, with the XP bar at the bottom of the HUD, and unlocking new weapons and 'perks' as you rank up. Perks are extra abilities that give you extra advantages during play. Stopping Power will make your bullets have more POWER, Juggernaut gives your health a boost, Last Stand permits you an extra chance at revenge to the fools who be steppin' on your ground. Other Perks include extra and different grenades and more ammo. Every weapon class (Light machine gun, sniper, shotgun etc) has challenges that can unlock a plethora of upgrades, most challenges are 'kill enough people with this gun', but some are creative, like 'shoot down an enemy helicopter with an RPG' or 'Kill 5 enemies by shooting through a thin surface'.
Wanna' know the best part about this game? It's not set in World War 2! :D
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