Call of Duty 4 Impressions

Call of Duty 4, a game I said I didn't think I'd much care for. However, there are times when you must admit that you were wrong and embrace defeat. I mean literally grab it and hug the damn thing. Although since I purchased my defeat on Steam, I can do little more than smile. ENOUGH with the small talk, you wanna hear juicy details.

I must say that Infinity Ward has our classed themselves. This is a top notch shooter on the PC platform. Previously I had played Call of Duty on the Xbox, Call of Duty 2 on the PC, skiped 3 because it looked like a shitty launch title for the Wii. Previous incarnations were WW2 themed, however, with a title like "Modern Combat" I don't think there will be any mistaking this time.

Game play is robust. Unlike alot of shooters, there is so much chaos and gun fire that you must move cautiously. Using cover, return fire, crouch and prone techniques you can work your way to the next position. The gameplay is based on frenetic battles, lots of guns, lots of confusions, but many of the maps push you in a direction and use keen scripted ques to help immerse you.

I found "Hardcore" mode to be most challenging. This mode removes all HUD elements, radar, and crosshair. Now it is imparitive that you aim down the gun to be most accurate.

Single player is very cinemattic. I provides that "stress" in games that makes you almost panic. As I said earlier, it uses the scripted events to help immerse the player into the action.

Multiplayer is NUTS. It is what BF2 should have been without the vehicles. Lots of cover, lots of debris, lots of stuff going on. Ive seen servers as large as 50, but that is too big for the maps. 30 players seems to be the sweet spot. Persistant online ranking allows for RPG style addictiveness to infuse the game. As you capture points, kill enemies, you earn Exp points towards the next rank and weapon unlocks.

I got the game via Steam, and I paid a premium price for it. However, the game is always up to date, I can get it wherever I go, but no server browser via Steam. You can get COD4 in retail outlets as low as $39.95.

I would definitely recommend this game if you got some cash to spend or looking for a new shooter.