Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

I generally don't like war games, or even first-person shooters very much. But something about this title gripped me from the beginning. I think it must have been the way it made my heart pound as I worked through the campaign, sweating every time I threw an enemy grenade back and wondering if I had enough time on the fuse. Or being severely outnumbered with just myself and a wounded sniper, feeling doomed yet somehow making it through. This is one of the few games which takes me out of myself (the way a really great movie does) and throws me into the shoes of an SAS soldier or Marine, and has me wondering if I'll make it to the end.

I'm not a game reviewer, but these are some things that have earned Infinity Ward high marks in my book with this title: Graphics - As of today (December '07), these are the best visuals a game has to offer, and sometimes I find myself just walking around an area admiring the detail that went into it. The frame rate (at least on the 360) remains pretty consistent, and the fluidity of movement is silky smooth from start to finish.

Pacing - Not once was I bored during the campaign. It's fast paced, but not in an unrealistic way - you're on the edge of your seat because there's "hostiles" all around you, and you can't afford the luxury of being bored.

Difficulty - I'm glad to see that a higher difficulty here does NOT mean an enemy who takes more shots, but rather one with faster reflexes, sturdier aim, and more strategic grenade-lobbing.

Sound effects - I don't know how many people look for good sound effects in a game, but for me, they tend to be a major factor, and I appreciate the satisfyingly diverse sounds of each weapon, or the "ping" grenades make as they bounce towards you, and yes, even the "thup" of hitting your target.

Story - About the highest compliment I could give this game is that it plays like a superbly made war drama. It's one part story driven, and one part simulator. The overall story and character involvement make it feel like something much more epic than just a first-person shooter, though if all you happen to care about is shooting, the story doesn't get in the way of that, either. The campaign ends with a dramatic conclusion, and I frankly hope there are never talks of making this franchise into a movie, because Call of Duty 4 goes beyond the limits of what films are capable of.

(also, the music is commendable, simply because I generally don't think I'd want much of a soundtrack for realism's sake, but Stephen Barton's work here is beautifully sublime, and sets the mood well)

Finally after much anticipation i finally got a copy of call of duty 4 and have now finished the game.

The main story is how a Russian ultranationalist party wants to bring Russia back to it's soviet days. The leader of the ultranationalists is Imran Zackaev and he uses a middle eastern terrorist, Kahled Al Asad to draw attention away from the russians.

Playable characters jump between several characters. You play S.A.S sergent Soap Mactavish, Sergent Paul Jackson of the U.S.M.C and also a very fun one off mission were you go flashback 15 years and play as captain price.

The graphics are incredibly detailed and every tiny detail is catered for.

The story was a fantastic idea considering how call of duty has jumped from world war 2 to the modern day.

Online is where the fun really lies. There are hundreds of different online games but my favourite is ground war which is basically your team deathmatch but with LOTS more players and it actually feels like a warzone with grenades,explosions and bullets happening all around you.

A very deep experience and certainly worth your money, definitely my game of the year.

As soon as I started this game on Christmas night, I knew I would love it. The graphics stun and make you think it's real. The guns reload as should and even shoot through walls and other flimsy material. The modern military tech is very impressive. The game will seriously make your heart pound. The game doesn't glorify war, it shows how messed up it can be with many things like, friends dying, see death through the eyes of others, rescue missions, and even an amazing assassination with a .50 caliber Barrett. From infiltrating a boat to sniping men while wearing Ghillie, you'll be amazed. The stealth missions are tense and full of suspense while firefights are full of action and violence. Infinity ward really took the gold with this game. The only down side is that the game is short. I beat it in one night but it did take all night so the game takes maybe 6 hours on normal but up the difficulty and you've got a couple days to play. Also, play the multi-player. It has a 1-50 rank, customizable weapons and it's full of action. I loved it. If you don't buy this game, you'll be missing a classic without a doubt.

What an incredible piece of game-making.

By far, the best graphics yet seen on any platform.

Action, action, action. No more wandering around, going, "er...where do I go now?" Nothing but action. The bad guys crawl out from anywhere, like six-foot roaches with machine guns.

A level of realism previously unachieved in any field of entertainment.

The graphics look silky and photo-realistic. I refer not solely to the facial features and the movement and stances of the characters, but also to the incredible backgrounds that da Vinci would have been proud of.

You get the feeling you're in a war - not a computer game. You feel attached to the game, and lose concentration in the real world, to such an extent that you'll lose track of time, and maybe even be late for work/school/auditions/AA meetings.

Without doubt, this game is the one that will change everything. Halo? HALO? Nothing compared to this. Honestly, buy this game. You have no reason to dislike anything about it, apart from maybe the price.

This game has raised the bar so high, that I'm certain some developers who were a couple of months away from releasing their own FPS will have to delay their games' releases to have a major overhaul to catch up.

Call of Duty 4 is streets ahead of anything else out there. Get it. Play it. Love it. Live it.

Lots of love, Thomas Hardcastle

I have played just about every Call of Duty game out there and this is by far the best one. First off the visuals are excellent the visuals are truly some of the best.The look of explosions and battle worn areas in the middle east is intense.It's great to just look around(when your not getting shot at) and realize the scope of how much work was put into the game to make it look so good.

The sound is great its like they went onto an actual battlefield and recorded everything.Explosions and gunshots sound just so great its probably as best there gonna get for the moment.Voice acting was great the actors did a stand up job sounding like the characters they were.It's always great when a voice actor does a great job and makes the character more believable.

Game play is the best Call of Duty game play ever.Nothing was wrong with it unlike Call of Duty 3 which seemed to have physics to have problems as often id get stuck on a tire.Coming off that note the physics and frame rate are excellent and hardly ever falter.The controls in this game were tight and easy to learn.This COD game perfected the throw back grenade function which was first introduced in COD3.The use of a knife as a melee attack was also entertaining and to me was more believable then beating a man to death with a rifle butt.Guns seemed to be as strong as they should be and fired like they should.For once a storyline was attempted that didn't all but just make you want to skip the cut scenes as it was interesting and could draw you in.The one thing i wished there was more of was guns. There are a lot of guns there but there all kind of obvious that they would be there for example there were just about 2 million times i could of used an AK-47 i know its one of the most mass produced guns in the world but add more variety come on. Also many times i found myself forced to use an m4 assault carbine and had few chances to use an m-16 which i believe is a better gun.I found it a little odd the British S.A.S. was using the m4 and not the standard British rifle the L85 which was a gun i was really hoping to see.(I only have this problem with the campaign.) Multiplayer leaves nothing to be desired.The multiplayer is excellent its easy to just jump in and play the game and actually be good at it.There is a good variety of weapons on multiplayer and some customization to be done to the weapons.Plenty of match types that people could want or need.

All around Call of Duty is the best war game i have ever played and I've played enough of them.I own it for the ps3 and have not experienced many problems with it.Best war game out there and best COD of the series.