“50,000 people used to live here. Now it’s a ghost town.”

Those are the first words you hear as the opening sequence for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare begins and already you can tell this will be a game of epic proportions. Ever since the first Call of Duty I’ve been a fan of these games and CoD 4 does not disappoint. Many of you may be thinking this is just another FPS with the same sort of plot we’ve seen recycled again and again. I’m sorry to tell you that you are wrong as you’re introduced to a whole array of characters for whom, whether you like it or not, you will develop feelings for.

However let’s talk about the gameplay. Two words. Mind blowing. This game does all it can to utilize the power of the next gen consoles (personally I played it on the 360) and it doesn’t feel like you’re playing a game, it feels like you are in a battle and scarily you can see these sorts of events occurring in the future. The gaming experience is fluid and very involving. You play as three different characters, Sergeant John “Soap” MacTavish who is part of the SAS with missions occurring in Russia and the character you will play as most. The other main character you control is Sergeant Paul Jackson who is part of the United States Marine Corps who is based in the Middle East. In one level you will play as Captain Price in a ‘flashback’ mission where he relives a mission that could have led to the events that they find themselves in now, in my opinion the hardest mission of them all.

The gameplay also is different from the previous Call of Duty games due to it not being a straightforward shoot and move game. It is not up to you to clear an area before the whole group moves ahead; instead you follow the group who all do different things to keep the action moving. At some points you will be in intense firefights which can become stalemates as the enemy A.I is very advanced in keeping you back. At other times you will be moving slowly, surveying the area so you know what action to take. Do you run into the fight or do you cautiously take out the enemy soldiers slowly.

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The incarnation of multiplayer mode in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is probably one of the best incarnations of multiplayer in any game in history. It’s just that damn good. The different modes of multiplayer range from Free for All where everybody just goes out to kill everyone else, to Capturing the Base where you do exactly what it says. You capture an area and defend it from the opposing side who tries to capture it then destroy it. The other thing about multiplayer is choosing a class with each class having a different weapon style each weapon having different advantages over each other. Also something we found very appealing was calling in air strikes after 3 straight kills and then the dreaded helicopter after 5 kills which will follow the other players mowing them down mercilessly. Very different from other multiplayer games and much more satisfying.

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The sound and graphics are just beautiful. The areas you play in look like real war zones right down to little details like bullet holes in the wall, spent bullet cases on the floor and another thing is that unlike in many games the bodies don’t disappear. Run around a map and you’ll see bodies of the enemy you killed ages ago in the same position. The music score also fits right in with the action, dramatic and loud. Slow music for the times when you are moving slowly through the areas and fast paced when you’re in the thick of action. Sometimes there is just deathly silence adding to the experience.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare isn’t just a great game. It’s a masterpiece and even though it doesn’t bring that many new things to the table it is probably the best FPS of all time with its almost flawless style, a plot that has depth and most importantly gameplay that really makes you appreciate greatness. I’m giving this game 9.5/10 and I urge you all to try it.