When you decide to review a game like Call of Duty 4, so long after its release, when it's already an incredibly popular game, then you're already at the point where you aren't even reviewing a game at all, you are simply telling people what you think and the people reading either want to know if you agree with them that the game is good, or that the game is bad.
So if you want me to say I don't like CoD4, I would suggest you stop reading now. However if you wanted me to say something along the lines of "CoD4 delivers a high octane action experience with incredible pacing and an addictive online multiplayer" then you have come to the right place.
Single-player
In the single player campaign you take up the role as either "Soap" MacTavish of the SAS or Paul Jackson of the USMC, the story lines of both soldiers take place simultaneously so you switch between the two throughout the game, you also have an interesting cast of NPC's who accompany you throughout your missions, including Cpt. Price from previous CoD titles who returns as a hard assed SAS squad leader.
The SAS and USMC missions play very differently from one another which helps keep the campaign fresh, the unique single player weaponry is also a nice addition as each one caters to the style of gameplay for both military forces, SAS usually getting suppressed weaponry like the Silenced M21 whereas the USMC get front line weaponry like the SOPMOD M4. Also note that you can pick up almost any weapon dropped by friend and foe alike as well use a number of special weapons like the Javelin Missile Launcher, Claymore Mine and C4.
Now unlike a lot of games in the action FPS genre, CoD4 does a good job of breaking up gameplay segments or bringing in different ways to handle objectives like "Defend this position" which gives the game a feeling of variety. But even when you are basically doing the same task over and over, CoD4 still brings a lot of action to the table and remains incredibly fast paced through the entire game, which is helped along by the brilliant controls which make advanced gameplay a lot easier to carry out, making that split-second decision to whip out your pistol and blast a terrorist in the face that much more satisfying.
The story is pretty simple and plays out a little like an episode of "24" but I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't a little sucked in by the hunt for terrorists in possession of nuclear weapons, of course the underlying problem is we never really get to know the characters from either side enough to really make a connection with them. I don't want to make CoD4 sound shallow as I'd give it an A+ for effort, but ultimately I'd have to admit you won't remember CoD4 for its story, which for an action FPS may be a good thing; I'll let you decide.
Multiplayer
While the single player will only last 7-10 hours depending on difficulty settings and player ability, the multiplayer on CoD4 is nothing short of fantastic. To say you are playing with human opponents, the fast paced action of the single player has transferred over incredibly well to multiplayer, this is enforced even more by the fact most maps are based on various locations throughout the single player campaign, so even if you are playing CoD4 multiplayer for the very first time, you should be familiar with the environments. The exception to the rule here is the Variety map pack which features 3 locations with completely new geography, but since you have to pay for those maps to use them, you should be OK for awhile.
With 16 maps to choose from the get go, it also helps that there is no shortage of game modes to play. Classics such as Team Deathmatch, Free-for-All, Domination (Capture the Flag), Headquarters (Attack and Defend) and Search and Destroy (Famous counter-strike game mode) should keep multiplayer fans entertained for a long time, but the game modes and maps alone are side notes when it comes to the addition of Perks and Create-a-Class.
Perks are special abilities which can give you one of three "boosts" to your weapon class; which you can customise at a certain level. There are three different perk types and you can equip one of each, the first is an equipment perk which you can use to give yourself with a special item or weapon attachment, the second are offensive perks that directly effect your combat ability such as being able to equip two primary weapons or increase your explosives damage and the third category consists of support perks which can increase your hip accuracy or help you shoot though walls better.
At first perks may not seem like much but as you progress in multiplayer you will learn that using your perks in the right way, in the right game modes and even the right maps can give you a great advantage over almost any opponent. And I cant express enough how much this adds to the online gameplay, however I do feel I should warn you that some perks are incredibly cheap and sometimes you will feel like you are getting screwed or even cheated by the game, but the experience should be fun for the most part.
Well, I think I covered the basics and hopefully if you are reading this review you should know a good deal about Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare and what to expect should you decide to purchase it.
Hope you enjoyed my first review.
Ryan Garside