The game feels like a tactical shooter, but unlike other games where you lead the squad, you instead follow orders, greatly simplifying the player’s workload without compromising the fun. If you try and rush ahead without the protection of your squad, you WILL get cut down almost instantly. Your commanding officer will have you perform a variety of tasks including breaching a room, setting a demo charge, or call in air strikes which mixes things up and keeps the player entertained with constantly changing battlefield conditions. New weapons like the Javelin rocket launcher allow players to enjoy the jump to the modern battlefield as they call down the thunder on a cluster of enemy tanks, and vehicle segments like the amazing AC-130 Gunship portion of the game allow players to experience action so realistic it could easily be mistaken for actual combat footage.
Mutliplayer matches are just as fast paced and as intense as the terrific single player.
While COD4’s single player portion is terrific, it’s the multiplayer matches that will have people holding on to their copy of COD4 for years to come. Up to 16 players compete on 16 maps in a lag-free online environment. As you play matches, you are rewarded experience points which unlock ranks, gear, new classes, and abilities. Furthermore, players are able to create their own custom classes, greatly adding to the variety of potential play styles. It’s all perfectly balanced such that players with a lot of experience will have access to different equipment and abilities, but since none of those abilities or weapons are inherently better than any of the others, it just gives the veterans more character customization options without spoiling everyone else’s fun.
In addition to custom classes, COD4 online brings two multiplayer innovations to the table: rewards for kill streaks and perks. The kill streak rewards gives players who are able to stay alive while racking up kills handy tools to help their team keep the up the momentum of a battle. Kill 3 enemies and you can call in UAV support, showing enemy locations on all your team mate’s maps. Kill 5 and you can call in an air strike, which brings up a map and allows a player to drop bombs on a large number of enemies at once. Finally, kill 7 without dying and call in a support helicopter which circles the map and automatically targets any enemies unwise enough to remain in the open. It’s a fun reward system that provides players with an incentive to stay alive, while allowing them to help their entire team in the process. The perks system is equally enjoyable. During character creation, you are able to choose between various abilities such as extra health, bullets that penetrate dense materials, and the ability to blow up your body with a grenade when you are killed. It’s a fun system that not only encourages you to keep playing, it helps keep the game feeling fresh and dynamic.
Really the only problem with COD4 is that the single player campaign is a bit on the short side, providing most players a mere 6-8 hours of game play. However, the experience is so superbly crafted it definitely warrants multiple play throughs. What’s more, the multiplayer component is rewarding and fast paced, making COD4 an easy recommendation for anyone with an interest in FPS games. In fact, the action is so intense, I found myself taking little breaks every half hour or so just to escape the horrendous conditions the game throws at you over and over again, which is saying a lot considering how de-sensitized I am to virtual warfare. COD4 throws a lot of data at your noggin, and it can be overwhelming… dare I say frightening at times, but it is, without question, one of the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had.
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