Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

It’s been a good few months since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was released on the Playstation 3, the XBOX360 and the PC and as you will already know, it is highly renowned for its online Gameplay which just about every casual or hardcore gamer has sampled. If you haven’t got a copy by now you still have a chance on getting some marine vs. terrorist action. So what was all the hype about? Is the online really as good as they say? Does it have single player? This is Call of Duty like you’ve never seen it, this is Modern Warfare.



Unlike a lot of conventional first person shooters, you mark the journey of not just one solider but two which is a pleasant change as it tells two sides of an epic story but at times you can get confused as to who you are playing as. Firstly you play as Sergeant “Soap” Mctavish who along with “Gaz”, Captain Price and other squad members are raiding a cargo ship on the Bering sea. It is being manned by terrorists but you soon manage to find what you were looking for, a hidden nuclear weapon. Suddenly you are attacked by MiGs surrounding the ship and as they start to blow it apart you grab the travel manifest and head back to your chopper. From the manifest you learn the bomb was of Russian origin. Meanwhile there is chaos in the middle east, a radical leader by the name of Al-Asad has seized power and executed the president Al-Fulani. The US decide to do something before the revolutionary leader can cause any more harm and so send in the marines. This is where the second half of the plot comes from. In the middle east you will be playing as Jackson. You will occasionally switch between the two as the story progresses. You soon find out that a ultra nationalist figure called Imran Zakhaev was behind the transport of the nuclear weapon upon the cargo ship. You also find out that Zakhaev and Al-Asad are working together. The uprising in the middle east was just a rouse to divert the attention of the US army from Zakhaev’s real plan. As he acquires all the nuclear firepower he needs, Zakhaev plans to change Russia back to when it was in the Soviet Union. Will he succeed or will Soap and Jackson be able to stop him and what will become of them?



“The Gameplay is mediocre.” I look at that statement and analyse it in two ways. Firstly I suppose it is a little mediocre, it doesn’t have anything that no other shoot has but also the other tells me that Modern Warfare just feels so different from any other shooter that it isn’t mediocre. Firstly the controls setup:

L2: Secondary Grenade
R2: Primary Grenade
L1: Aim
R1: Fire
D-Pad: Equipment and attachments
Start: Menu
L3: Move/ Run
R3: Change Aim
Square: Reload
Circle: Crouch
Cross: Jump (Hop)/ Crawl
Triangle: Action

It looks fairly average but it’s the little things added such as the extra equipment and attachments along with the huge variety of weapons that makes it so intense. There are three stances in COD4 (Call of Duty 4) ; standing, crouching and crawling (otherwise referred to as being prone), when playing online the stance you are in can define the line between life and death. The equipment provided isn’t too great but still worth a mention, these include night vision goggles that could help you spot enemies in the dark and they are required for certain parts of the single player. Other equipment includes C4 explosives and Claymore mines that both play their individual roles in the online game. But the thing I found most different about COD4 is the actual shooting itself, probably the most important part of a shooter. Instead of employing one of these controller setups in which you have to click the R3 stick or press up on the D-Pad, instead you can zoom in on all guns by simply using the L1 button. In my opinion this style of shooting is revolutionary, having the aiming and firing button next to each other is a match made in shooter heaven. Shooting without aiming with L1 is referred to as “shooting from the hip.“ which means that you bullets scatter and you accuracy is appalling but when you aim you can ensure a direct hit on the enemy each time. Next let’s talk about the guns. In COD4 there are six types of gun available to be picked up excluding missile launchers. There are pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, light machine guns, sub machine guns and of course sniper rifles. For each type of weapon there are usually a few to choose from which vary in range, accuracy, fire rate and power, choosing the right weapon is choosing your chances on being killed in action.



There is no doubt about it, COD4 displays some of the most wonderous in-game graphics from explosions popping left, right and centre spitting debris across the war zone to aircrafts and helicopters flying overhead. Each occurrence feels very realistic and the locations are also quite convincing. However the setting is again very conventional with Russia and the middle east being involved in nuclear war but if they would have changed the situation it would have probably changed the game’s outcome. Sound is also very convincing, even when you are not in a gunfight you can hear gunfire and shelling in the distance which again adds total realism. Each gun has its own unique firing sound which can be modified with silencers (in most cases) and the voice acting is very average but its very pleasing to hear the British voice of Captain Price which adds an old school army feel.





There is no other online console shooter to match the amount of players logging onto COD4’s online mode each day. It’s quick, it’s intense and it’s rewarding like no other shooter you have seen before. The Gameplay remains the same as in the single player but there are some awesome features that make COD4 online the ultimate shooting experience. First off you will notice that instead of lobbies and servers there is a quick matching system that drops you into the game mode you want in a matter of seconds and you can literally just jump straight in without having to wait for the current game to finish. Secondly you will notice a nice ranking system. A symbol suspended by your name will indicate what rank you are, it’s just like levelling up in any other game. You receive Xp for every kill you get or for every objective completed along with being on the winning team. The max level is only 55 which is a little disappointing at first but you will notice as your level goes up you will be unlocking news guns and equipment to take to the field with you which is a great incentive especially if there is a gun you really want. Another thing earned by levelling is the new perk system. Weapons and equipment wont be available for picking up off the ground like in so many other shooters, instead you choose a class before spawning and use the equipment given but when running low on ammo you can replace one of your two guns for a fallen soldiers one. Upon creating a class you will be able to select: one primary weapon, one pistol, primary grenade and secondary grenade along with three “perks”. Perks are divided into three categories; blue, red and yellow. Blue perks focus on giving the player more equipment such as RPGs, claymores and C4s, the red perks buffer you classes raw stats such as granting them more health or increasing their damage dealt. Yellows are more focused at support including two perks that allow you to deal damage whilst dead, these being: last stand which triggers when you take a fatal amount of damage, your player will drop his primary weapon and draw a pistol. You have roughly around 10 seconds to live in which you can try and fell some enemies with your pistol. The other one is Martyrdom which is possibly the most complained about thing on COD4. In Martyrdom you die and then place a live grenade next to you, so if anyone steps by your dead body just seconds after you die, BOOM! They’re gone too. Gameplay modes include the classic death match and team death match along with favourite like headquarters, ground wars, search and destroy and domination. Maps are plentiful too. You will find that you’ll become hooked on COD4 multiplayer for quite a while. Referring to earlier when I said about level 55 being the max level, at 55 you will have all the weapons, perks and extras but you can give them all up. Why you may ask? it’s called prestige, basically there are several modes of prestige, once you go into prestige mode you will drop back down to level one and your equipment will be stripped from you. However the advantage is a new type of rank badge which may seem pointless at first but if you prestige enough times you will be granted with the legendary golden cross, the mark of a true hardcore COD4 player.





Graphics: 4.6/ 5.0 -- Excellent with hardy any CGI if not none.
Gameplay: 4.6/ 5.0 -- Mediocre has finally gone hardcore. Really convenient control setup.
Sound: 4.6/ 5.0 -- Non Diagetic ambient sounds really heat up to war zone atmosphere.
Story: 4.2/ 5.0 -- Quite gripping but unashamedly predictable.
Online: 5.0/5.0 -- Prefect. You wont find better online shooting for a long time.
Design: 4.3/ 5.0 -- A bit too conventional for my liking but still darn good.
Lifespan: 4.5/ 5.0 -- The campaign could have been longer but the online will hook you like a warcraft nerd with a heavy wallet.