Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (COD4) was the biggest selling game of 2007 and was lavished with numerous year-end awards from many gaming magazines and websites. It broke away from the World War II settings of previous titles in the series, situating itself in modern times. The game brings the same gripping quality and attention to detail that made the earlier titles set at Nazi-occupied Europe a huge critical and commercial success.
COD4 is a military-based first person shooter (FPS), much like the rest of the games in the series. Updated to a modern setting, the game features the same meticulous care that developer Infinity Ward employed in bringing World War II weaponry and environments to its predecessors.
Gameplay
If you’ve played any of the original Call Of Duty titles, getting into the game will be a breeze, as all controls are essentially retained.
In COD4, players fight alongside a team of soldiers. In single-player campaigns, your squad will comprise of AI-controlled characters. Unlike most team shooters, though, you won’t be ordering your soldiers around. They will move from cover to cover, shoot down enemies and clear a room all on their own. The AI is tight and your squadmates will fight like their real, well-trained military counterparts.
A really smart AI for you squad members, though, also means the same for your computer-controlled enemies. The gameplay in COD4 is especially intense because of the resourceful and merciless behavior of your opponents – not to mention their unbelievable numbers. They will flank you, flush you out and keep their cover until they get a clean shot!
Dogs play their parts as dangerous weapons on COD4 and are only after one thing – ripping out your throat. At times, you can end up succumbing to dog attacks while otherwise performing flawlessly against enemy soldiers. You have barely a few seconds to successfully attack any dog that lunges at you before they go for your neck – at which point you’ll be dead in no time.
Bullet physics are especially notable on COD4. When you shoot through a wall, your bullet can go through or stop dead on its tracks. What happens next will depend on various factors, including your distance from the wall, the caliber of your bullet and the substance composition of the objects that you hit. It’s a significant element that can prove indispensable during the single player campaign.
You will need to exercise caution in some levels, where enemies are dressed in similar color schemes as your squad. Friendly fire is part of real-world combat and you will likely end up killing some of your men during these situations.
Plenty of Call of Duty 4 hacks currently exist, each with various uses. With the relative shortness of the single-player campaign though, it might be wise to keep these for gaining an advantage during multiplayer mode. Among the dozens of hacks you can find include a vector aimbot with customizable aim points and keys, a hitbox aimbot which allows you to auto-target specific body parts and limbs, a cheat to make all perks and weapons available to your character and even an Anti-Cheat Proof to ensure your hack-laden character doesn’t get banned.
Single Player Campaign
Moving away from the approach of the older titles in the series, COD4 is fitted with a tight narrative. The story is standard action-fare featuring stolen Russian nuclear warheads and Middle Eastern fundamentalists, woven in a Tom Clancy-like tale. In the story mode, you will shift between several characters taking the perspectives of both British S.A.S and U.S. Marines soldiers. You can move from one character to another between missions, with each shift continuing the storyline’s progression.
Each mission will have a series of objectives that you will need to complete such as arriving at checkpoints, defending an installation or planting explosives in enemy camps. You will be accompanied by a squad of friendly troops that, surprisingly, you will likely end up getting emotionally attached to. Game bonuses can be unlocked by finding laptop computers hidden throughout the campaign.
Multiplayer
The multiplayer mode supports up to 18 players on consoles and 32 on the PC. It comes with 16 maps and 13 game variants.
COD 4 adds a twist to class-based multiplayer gameplay. In the game, classes become dynamic and are not used to limit neither your role nor the activities you are able to perform. You’re not gonna be slotted into being a medic or an engineer for the duration of play. What classes do is determine your available starting weapons, along with your best skills (perks), all of which you can use to play whatever part you wish to during combat.
Once you reach level 4, you can even create your own class, along with gaining access to better weapons, accessories and perks. You’ll also be able to play in new challenges – both specific to a weapon and more generic mini-games. Over time, it helps keep the game interesting. Perks can either give you a boost in unique skill sets (like dropping a grenade when you die to take your enemies with you) or allow you access to new explosives (like a bottom-mounted grenade launcher). The unique customization possibilities offered by perks can endow different characters with unique abilities that should prove valuable in many team campaigns. Some perks, when combined correctly, can definitely bring a game to one side’s favor very easily.
Loud, Fast And Tight
COD 4: Modern Warfare is a truly immersive game that can leave you jarred in parts. Combat play is especially loud and in your face, the story is tight and the personalities you encounter throughout the game can feel strangely human. The sounds and visuals of the game do a lot to deliver the truly engaging experience. Though the single player mode may prove too fast-paced for its own good (average game should finish in five hours), the multiplayer delivers enough goods to hook you in for the long haul.