Call of Duty 4: So Good It Actually Hurts

Right now, I’ve got what every gamer knows as “controller thumb”, something everyone who has ever played a video game has experienced at some point in their lives. If you haven’t gotten the sore, numb thumbs from hours of gameplay at some point, then you buy some pretty crappy games. Of course, the advent of analog sticks has reduced cases of this condition but every so often comes a game that you simply can’t put down, turn off or hell…even pause. Bioshock was one such game as I couldn’t stop setting things on fire or shooting frickin’ bees out of my hands. Now, I just sat through the entire single player campaign of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

That’s the only real problem with this game, really. That the single player mode is too damned short. I finished it in a little under six hours and I’m almost sure people that are better than me at these sorts of things could do it in a lot less. Heck, I went back and restarted a couple missions for the hell of it.

That being said, there isn’t a single part of this game that’s boring. Not for a second. Did you like the movie Black Hawk Down? Well, half of COD4 is as close to Mogadishu as you would probably want to be. The other half is a variety of covert-ops sniper missions, control of an AC-130 gunship (which is pretty much the most badass thing ever), and plenty more. The sniper mission and the AC-130 gunship are simply the cream of a very, very good crop. The emphasis on slow, patient moves is a great touch for the sniper missions and I think the use of the AC-130 is as accurate as it can get here.

Enemies are half-way intelligent, firing at you from cover positions and ducking when you lay down suppressing fire. I also like the fact that everyone is the same and can only take a realistic amount of damage (well, if you play at the more realistic difficulties and not the wussy ones). Your teammates also do a good job of helping you out. The story isn’t terrible either. It seems to be pieced together from several movies, Tom Clancy novels and such but it’s done well and you feel integrated into it.

Multiplayer is the real attraction here. Team play is relatively balanced and easy to learn although you have to deal with the usual problem of half the Xbox Live! population being jackass 12-year old kids who potty mouths. It’s tough to get into immediately though as you have to play a lot to get the best weapons and equipment. However, if you do, your character profiles are completely customizable with “Perks”, like “Last Stand” where you pull out your pistol and continue fighting for a short time after you get shot. You can’t move but hey, it’s better than nothing. There are several others but…this video will probably explain them better than I can.

I’ve been looking for a good squad-based game to play with my friends since we sort of got bored with Rainbow Six: Vegas and I’m delighted to say that this is it. If you liked Vegas or any other military shooters then you simply have to buy Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It’s better than Vegas in just about every way possible. You won’t be disappointed.

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to subscribe to my full feed RSS and follow me on Twitter!

del.icio.us Digg Reddit Netscape StumbleUpon