Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Players: 1 Player Campaign Mode, 2-4 Player Offline Multiplayer, 2-24 Player System Link, 2-16 Online Xbox Live
Genre: Reflex
Another Call of Duty is what I thought. Yet why would everyone be so hyped for this game? I bought and I saw.
The singleplayer mode takes place from two perspectives, the British SAS and the US Marines. It doesn't matter who you are, but what you do. You start your training with the British and from there you tackle your first mission.
Right away, the controls came naturally. Fire was right trigger, aim was left. I had to get used to melee and run however. To run, you have to press the left stick button and hold forward. Melee is the right stick button.
The first mission has you in a helicopter, over a crew ship that is carrying a bomb. Right away, the graphics hit you. The smoke that your commander throws off before he jumps down the rope... it's little details like this that make CoD4 believable.
As you jump down, you are in direct sight of the enemy. You fire and make your way to the bomb. Along the way, your teammates will be giving orders and using communication. The voices jobs are fantastic.
And that's the first mission. Then it switches to the war in the Middle East with the Marines. It's chaos here with bullets flying everywhere. It's quite easy to die. Of course I did go commando at times, but you do have to take cover.
I'm only a bit through the campaign, yet so far, it's very interesting.
Now as for Xbox Live, it's quite easy to jump into. Just click join and you'll be fighting with other players on different maps. As you play, you'll level up and be able to choose new equipment or perks, special upgrades that give you things like faster speed, more health etc. Although it doesn't seem realistic, it makes playing it deeper and besides, it's not realistic to have this battle anyway.
The singleplayer mode is called short, but that's not my focus. Right now, even though the story is the typical, "bad guy wants to destroy the world, yawn," the presentation really makes up for it. It's the details like how the camera positions from the world right to your soldiers face that make the experience enjoyable.
Online multiplayer is one of the deeper FPS games. The rank system is fun to climb up to. Battles are 8v8, but they still feel intense.
Offline multiplayer won't be as exciting but it's there, keep in mind there are no bots.
Overall, if you have Xbox Live, get this game. While the singleplayer mode is quite engaging, you need Live to get the full experience of the game. Multiplayer mode is lacking without bots, but you can do system link. The problem with system link is that only 1 person can play per xbox, even though it can do 24 people system link (24 tvs and xboxes... electricity bill wow).
The game is easy to get into, yet it rewards you for playing with the ranking system. With great graphics, an engaging singleplayer campaign and a rewarding online system, CoD4 is a game that should not be missed, even if it is a sequel.
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