REVIEW: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360)

Scribbled on December 14th, 2007 by JBonner71
Filed in Game Videos, Microsoft Xbox 360, Reviews, Shooter, TheCritics.TV

In the immortal words of NBA legend Moses Malone, “Fo…fo…fo!” Today, it’s all about number four, CALL OF DUTY 4, that is. This is the latest installment of the excellent, first person shooter franchise that, thankfully, updates the scenario to the modern era. And what an update it is! This game kicks ass and takes names from the word go.

The single player portion of the game puts you in the shoes of a British SAS officer and a Marine recon grunt fighting the good fight against “international separatists” around the globe. Now, I’ve never been a “hot” war zone before but if I was, I would assume that it would be very close to what is depicted in CALL OF DUTY 4. The graphics, sounds and music are as good as it gets in this generation and completely immerse you in the game world. This game does an excellent job of capturing the real-time confusion of a fire fight: the frantic screams of your platoon leader inside your helmet, hot lead whizzing past your head as a flash-bang grenade explodes at you feet and rings in your ears…its crazy, chaotic and oh, so very sweet all at the same time.

Taking the fight online only adds to the enjoyment, which is in direct contrast to most tacked-on, multiplayer offerings these days. Yeah, I’m looking right at you Stranglehold. You can play with, or against, up to 18 players in one of the deepest, RPG-like experiences, you’ll find online this year. The outstanding nature of this element only prolongs CALL OF DUTY 4’s shelf-life to the nth degree.

My only minor quibbles with this game are that while immersed in the single player experience the objectives aren’t all that clear sometimes, and that the A.I. of your squad mates can be sorely lacking in tight spots, which are frequent in this game.

To sum up: CALL OF DUTY 4 is the shit. Go buy it. Console FPS’s don’t get much better than this. It blends tactical, run-and-gun, and even RPG-like elements almost seamlessly into the first person shooter genre. I know the market is crowded with great games this holiday season but mark my words, you’ll dig this one. It is chock full of gaming goodness.

FINAL RATING: