Terror taskforce
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
With all the previous games being based on World War 2, it was a shock to see that the fourth game in the series would be featuring modern weapons and a topical storyline, involving some shady nuke-brandishing folks from the Middle East and ex-communist Spetsnaz forces from Russia.
Lush visuals set the scene with amazing detail. Smoke trails, dust clouds and bullet impacts are all eerily realistic. The story - worldwide political deadlock, with terrorists having seized a nuclear weapon - is driven through the use of in-game-generated cinematic sequences. And it's not all pretty bunnies and smiling faces, folks. There are some grim executions and intense firefights, the latter being almost always interactive. Of course, with all of this turmoil going on, the good guys aren't just idly standing by. Gameplay sees you taking on the role of two different soldiers, in two storylines that intertwine and form part of the bigger picture. First up is Soap MacTavish, a hardened SAS operative who accompanies a squad of other tough guys on a secret mission into Russia, where they have to track down an arms dealer. On the other side of the continent we have US Marine Paul Jackson, who's deployed in the Middle East, where the real trouble is. When you're not shooting bad guys with the game's very accurately portrayed weapons, you're doing support missions as a sniper or a gunner on an AC-130 Gunship - easily the best level in a video game, ever!
But long after the story has been concluded and you've saved the day, you'll still be playing the online multiplayer component. It offers a ranking system that rewards progress with extra weapons and upgrades for existing guns in your arsenal. It's very satisfying when you finally unlock your gold-played Desert Eagle or AK-47, and mount a red-dot sight on it. It's even better when you use some of the "Perks", the game's balanced upgrade system, to enable your character to run for longer, shoot through walls, take more damage or drop a grenade when killed (just to annoy the unsuspecting killer). While Halo 3's multiplayer has more options and configurations, Call of Duty 4 offers real thrills and intense battles involving air strikes and helicopter backups. It's really, really good, and by the time you read this, they should have issued an update to sort out the few niggles that remain.
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Lush visuals set the scene with amazing detail. Smoke trails, dust clouds and bullet impacts are all eerily realistic. The story - worldwide political deadlock, with terrorists having seized a nuclear weapon - is driven through the use of in-game-generated cinematic sequences. And it's not all pretty bunnies and smiling faces, folks. There are some grim executions and intense firefights, the latter being almost always interactive. Of course, with all of this turmoil going on, the good guys aren't just idly standing by. Gameplay sees you taking on the role of two different soldiers, in two storylines that intertwine and form part of the bigger picture. First up is Soap MacTavish, a hardened SAS operative who accompanies a squad of other tough guys on a secret mission into Russia, where they have to track down an arms dealer. On the other side of the continent we have US Marine Paul Jackson, who's deployed in the Middle East, where the real trouble is. When you're not shooting bad guys with the game's very accurately portrayed weapons, you're doing support missions as a sniper or a gunner on an AC-130 Gunship - easily the best level in a video game, ever!
But long after the story has been concluded and you've saved the day, you'll still be playing the online multiplayer component. It offers a ranking system that rewards progress with extra weapons and upgrades for existing guns in your arsenal. It's very satisfying when you finally unlock your gold-played Desert Eagle or AK-47, and mount a red-dot sight on it. It's even better when you use some of the "Perks", the game's balanced upgrade system, to enable your character to run for longer, shoot through walls, take more damage or drop a grenade when killed (just to annoy the unsuspecting killer). While Halo 3's multiplayer has more options and configurations, Call of Duty 4 offers real thrills and intense battles involving air strikes and helicopter backups. It's really, really good, and by the time you read this, they should have issued an update to sort out the few niggles that remain.
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