"Fifty-thousand people used to live here, now it's a ghost town. I've never seen anything like it."
~~Story~~
In the single-player campaign, you take on the role of two individuals: Sgt. Paul Jackson and Sgt. Soap' MacTavish. Sgt. Jackson is an American soldier in the U.S.M.C. (United States Marine Corps). Soap', as he is referred to throughout the game, is apart of the SAS (Special Air Service) a British special forces. The main story begins with Imran Zakheav, the head of the Russian Ultranationalist Party. Zakheav has a plan to restore Russia to its communist state, where it once was before the Soviet Union collapsed. Zakheav knows that with Great Britain and America out of the way, he can proceed with his plan. This is where the Middle Eastern extremist, Khaled Al-Asad enters the plot. Joining forces, Zakheav has Al-Asad become a distraction to lure Great Britain and America's attention towards conflicts in the Middle East. Once Al-Asad completes his role, Zakheav can move forward and initiate his plan.
As you play through the game, you switch back and forth between Sgt. Jackson and Soap'. As Sgt. Jackson, you and the rest of your fellow Marines traverse the Middle East encountering terrorist resistance, searching to interrogate Al-Asad. While playing as Soap', you play through several different missions throughout Russia and also travel to the Middle East to look for Al-Asad. Eventually, both protagonist parties team up and go on the hunt for Zakheav to stop his nuclear intentions. There are many twists and turns along the way that keep things interesting. The story is very thrilling and because it borders on the realm of reality, it makes for a very enticing story.
~~Gameplay~~
The gameplay of Call of Duty 4 is that of any other first-person shooter. Shoot, shoot, and...shoot. Playing through the game, there is tons of cover is built into each environment to give protection from enemy fire. Aside from standing behind cover, the player can also crouch and even go prone to become an even smaller target. Playing through the campaign on the easier difficulties, cover is not needed as much because you absorb bullets like a sponge. However on harder difficulties and on Xbox Live, cover becomes essential for survival. The game keeps things fresh with sequences where you take control of mounted turrets to mow down enemies, and even to where you become the gunner of an AC-130 gunship to terrorize all who are below. To balance the heavy aggro mission are a fair number of stealth missions where timing, movement, and precision are key.
The gameplay is mostly linear throughout the campaign, with the ability to make some decisions at certain times. The squad of characters along side you are a guide from one objective to the next. Each group of enemies encountered comes out guns blazing with bullets flying and explosions crashing all over the screen. The gun fights are intense and epic at times, but sometimes it appears all the action is for effect more than to kill you. Rather this be true or not, it still makes the situations in game feel tense and that every shot counts. Where every shot counts, outstanding control becomes necessary.
Controls are what makes a game fun to play. If the controls are smooth, the game has something going for it. Call of Duty 4 has very great handling, making the player feel in control of everything involving their character. For the Xbox 360 controller, the controls are very simple and mastering them is key. Moving the character is done with the Left Stick while looking around is done with the Right Stick. Aiming down the sights of the gun is done with the Left Trigger and holding or tapping the Right Trigger to fire. A is to jump and perform actions, X is to reload and perform actions, Y is to switch weapons, and B is to use your knife. It is also good that these controls can be altered from button layout, to stick layout, to sensitivity, giving good amounts of customization. The game also had a great amount of customization, but more on that in the next section.
~~Multiplayer~~
Call of Duty 4 became famous because of its adrenaline-spiking online multiplayer. There is a nice selection of game modes to choose from. Team Deathmatch is the traditional "Slayer" gametype where a 6 vs. 6 team battle is fought and the first team to 75 kills wins. Domination is another game-type with 3 flags that both teams fight to control. And finally, Search and Destroy is a game-type where one team goes to plant a bomb at one of two objectives (A or B) while the other team defends those same objectives. It is nice to play different objectives and not always have to worry about dismembering the enemy team. With these game-types come 16 different maps to play them on and an additional 4 bonus maps that can be purchased separately as DLC via the Variety Map Pack. Killstreak rewards were an interesting innovation where players are rewarded for getting a certain number of kills in a row without dying. 3 kills in a row gets a UAV, a radar that shows the positions of enemy players. 5 kills gets an airstike that carpet bombs any select area of the map. Finally, 7 kills in a row gets an attack helicopter that demolishes the other team for 60 seconds. Aside from the basics, the main catch to the online multiplayer madness is the customization.
Call of Duty 4 has changed the first-person shooter genre with its "Create-a Class" system. Simply, the game gives five custom class slots. Each slot has a Primary Weapon, a Side Arm, a Frag Grenade, choice of Special Grenade and 3 Perks (Perk 1, Perk 2, Perk 3). Primary Weapons break down into Assault Rifles, Submachine Guns, Sniper Rifles, Shotguns and Light Machine Guns. There is a good diverse selection of weapons, however there are some that outshine others. Each weapon also gets an attachment which are unlocked from getting kills with that weapon, and a colorful camouflage which are unlocked from getting a certain number of headshots with that weapon. Side Arms are handguns that have quick access and are also for those times when ammo is running low. Special Grenades consist of flash, stun and smoke grenades, each appropriate for different situations. Finally the introduction of perks. Perks are specializations that allow further customization per class. Perks are divided into 3 categories to keep balance in the game. Perks can range from many things such as Bandolier, which gives extra ammunition, Stopping Power which increases bullet damage, Sleight of Hand, which increases reload speed, and the infamous Martyrdom where your character drops a live grenade on death! People loved this depth of customization because you could play any role on the battlefield and still help your team to victory!
Online itself is simple as well. When playing online, getting kills and completing objectives such as capturing flags and planting or defusing bombs gives you experience (XP). With experience comes ranking up. Every time a new rank is achieved, something new is unlocked such as a new weapon or a new perk. There are 55 ranks/levels online and then comes prestige mode. Prestige mode is the option to go back to rank/level 1 and lose everything you attained for a new emblem next to your rank. You can prestige 10 times before maxing out the online multiplayer. Even then there are still challenges to complete for extra experience, and improved scores for the Leaderboards. The online multiplayer is obsessively addicting and being a 10th Prestige Level 55, I can say from experience how hard it is at times to put the controller down!
~~Graphics/Audio~~
It has been three years since the release of Call of Duty 4 and the game still looks incredible. The back of the box even says, "The most photo-realistic game we've ever seen!" (Game Informer). Every object has great texture and color schemes. Light and shadowing is taken into account on most objects. There are only two problems graphically that are an issue. The first problem is that although everything looks amazing, up close textures become faded and blurry. Not that this is a problem with the gameplay, but aesthetically it can sometimes be annoying. Essentially, things look really good from a distance, but up close become distorted. The second problem is character animations online. From the first-person perspective, all animations are smooth and clean, the problem occurs when looking at other character models. The animations such as reloading are delayed and sometimes don't make sense when it appears someone is reloading their weapon and then they shoot you. There are also idle animations, which aren't really a problem. Sometimes, however, they can give away a position. Even though the player is not moving the character at all, the idle animations will start taking effect and suddenly someone perfectly still and hidden can become easily seen.
Audio wise, the game sounds great. All the different weapons and explosions have their own distinct sound. All of the different characters have really good voices and online, the character models have sounds and voices for certain actions they perform such as throwing a grenade or detonating a C4. The audio just adds to the greatness of the game.
~~The Verdict~~
In the end, Call of Duty 4 is an amazing game and even though it's years later, it's still one of, if not my favorite game of all time. Although there are a few minor problems, the game is entertaining, the multiplayer is addicting, and I'd recommend this game to anyone!
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