Review: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Almost too real

Mike Bantick
Friday, 23 November 2007 07:03

Opinion and Analysis

The successful Call of Duty franchise has made the jump from WWII to the modern day.  Was this move a wise one?

I am writing this review in bare feet, the result of having my socks continually knocked off by Call of Duty 4:Modern Warfare.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
	Developer	Infinity Ward
	Publisher	Activision
	Rating	MA15+
PS3, PSP, DS, Xbox 360, Reviewed on PC

Tension is the word during a session of CoD4, snapping the franchise out of the WWII era and into the current day gives the player an instant familiarity with the atmosphere, visually there are images that seem to come straight from the front lines of conflicts on the evening news.

Sure there are times when the game feels like the trademark shooting gallery it is renowned for.  But because the foes and settings are no longer from days of yore, the constant stream of enemies is less sideshow attraction and more gritted teeth, ball droppingly tense.

Technically, with all the talk of Crytek's Crysis and it's Direct X 10 graphically goodies arriving now, CoD4 is a triumph of what can still be done using Direct X 9c on non bank breaking hardware.  Lighting, set pieces, terrain and soldier models are top notch, many tiers up from CoD's previous outing.

Couple this with a minimal HUD, cinematic sound effects and an AI on both the enemy and friendly fronts that continues to surprise, and the immersion is complete.

Masterful level design sees urban battles where you will constantly scan the rooftops, whilst also looking for attacks from behind.  Then there are the seemingly more open battlefields where you will hunt for whatever cover is available, while enemy armour rolls over the horizon.

The story itself has the player jump into the shoes of both a U.S marine, or rookie British S.A.S soldier.  Coming to grips with weapons and equipment during full on blast-a-thon and stealth missions.  For me the sniper/sneaker mission set on the outskirts of Chernobyl is a classic, easily eclipsing any experience found in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

The missions lead to tracking down a rogue arms dealer moving nuclear weapons around the most dangerous regions of the world.  A wide array of settings, with dynamic day/night progression, tense moments or moments of simple terror as you race of cover.

Some missions are somewhat disturbing.  At the end of one, you and your squad call in a C130 gunship strike on an unsuspecting enemy column.  Death and destruction ensue, successful mission.  The next mission however has you sitting in the aforementioned gunship, targeting enemies on the ground.

In this case the enemies show up as little more than human shaped infrared signals, that, when a cannon shot from the gunship hits nearby, frantically begin running in any direction.  The feeling of helplessness that comes across, as this white blip on the warplanes radar is palpable, and cannot help but make you think of some of the images on current day news reports.

All of which points to a brilliant game design, and an example of modern day games for adults.

Then there is CoD4's multiplayer, a first class example of what today's online gamer demands.  A semi persistent online experience, where players can create their own class of player, use experience points to unlock gear and perks and utilise a feature rich matchmaking service to ensure online games are as fair and fun as can be.

Despite some stiff competition, the CoD franchise is not going away.  Purists may have wished for all this wiz-bangering to remain in the WWII time frame, but I think most will agree the leap into modern warfare has resulted in a tense, deep and fulfilling title.

Now where are those socks?