A return to the rollicking past of 8-bit paced gaming, Modern Warfare is a Modern Classic.
PlatformOVERALL
Xbox 3609.00
Overall 9.00
The first war related FPS I ever played was Call of Duty 2 for the 360. Up until that point, I was squeamish about the concept of playing a game based on a real war, an event that took so many lives and in the case of WW2 devastated much of the western world. I played the demo on XBOX Live however and 20 minutes later found myself driving to a store to find and play what was an enjoyably tense and somber game. I played Call of Duty 3 at launch and found it just as satisfying. But when Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was announced I was back where I started again, dealing with playing a violent game that was mirroring real-life events, and not ones from 60 years ago but ones happening right now. The great word-of-mouth the game has received compelled me to buy the game and I found it to be an even more respectful (and dare I say enjoyable) portrayal of the human sacrifice involved with human conflict.

As I found myself not that impressed with the opening and first levels I assumed the good word-of-mouth was being circulated by those who had hitherto been sitting out the current generation of war shooters (having been fatigued with the WW2 genre). As I progressed through the game though I found that the developer, Infinity Ward (who produced the first, second but not third release), was somehow able to ramp up my involvement with each level of FPS and on-rails shooter action. If you are like me you will find yourself in one previously unexploited use of on-rails-shooter saying to yourself, "Okay, now I get what the buzz was about". And you will expect to see that game mechanic repeated -- but it never is, as are none of the unique twists of play found throughout the game.

The non-repeating aspect of the game's special moments build on each other bringing back a sense of what it was like to play an 8-bit platformer, a never ending, don't-turn-off-the-system-until-you're-finished romp toward the finish. Which brings up the matter of the length of Call of Duty 4. It is short. Ordinarily, in fact, uniformly, I have disagreed with any criticism of a game being too short, but in this case I was shocked when the end credits rolled (even knowing going into it that the game was decried as short). The bonus mini-level that follows after the credits indicates that perhaps Infinity Ward would have preferred to of added a level or two if not for the requirement of Activision to release a new Call of Duty each fiscal year.

For the purposes of this review the multi-player mode (which is wildly popular) remained un-played, but I know for a fact that I will replay Call of Duty 4 and even for the 5-6 hours of Campaign mode call of duty 4 is a tremendous value that is truly enjoyable to anyone who loves the FPS genre.
Posted by aspro Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:48:21
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