On Friday, Infinity Ward was kind enough to grace us with a singleplayer demo for Call of Duty 4, which is the next (and probably last) big shooter to drop this fall. Since my computer is in pretty good shape , I decided to download her and give it a whirl, as I was already privy to the delights and heartbreak of the Call of Duty 4 multiplayer beta last month.

First, the game is called Call of Duty for a reason. That isn’t a bad thing. It’s not the disappointment that Call of Duty 3 was; it’s very much Call of Duty done right and done by the people who left EA to create their own games in the first place. Infinity ward has a knack for pacing and setting that I’ve seen few scripted shooters match, and that’s in full effect here. The point is, if you didn’t like Call of Duty 2, then this game may not be what you’re looking for. It doesn’t have the crossover appeal that Halo 3 does. In fact, it’s sort of like Call of Duty 2 turned up to 11. And for me, that’s a very good thing.

Now onto the rest of it, as if you’re still reading, I assume you care. The game looks fantastic, even on my system; with everything set to at least medium and high with no AA, the game still looks great on 2 year old cards, and as I was playing on an HDTV over DVI at 720p, you’re getting a graphical experience that’s comparable at the very least to what the current gen consoles will offer. I would imagine that on more powerful hardware like ATI’s 2900s or Nvidia’s 8800 series, you’ll truly be blown away. What’s more, it was very polished, with no noticeable bugs, and no weird collision issues.

The sound is excellent, especially if you’ve got good speakers, although there’s not quite as much oomph as I would have liked to some of the gunfire. You forget about that though when you nail someone in the head with a Dragunov through a wall. The ability to fire through surfaces (and to be fired upon through surfaces) ratchets up the game nicely, and adds an unpredictability to the proceedings.

Other than that, the change in setting seems more about opening up new possibilities for engagements, scenarios, and storytelling than any fundamental gameplay changes. I’m ok with that, as in a time with FPSs that vary wildly in gameplay and mechanics as they have this fall, some traditionalism with all the bells and whistles and some great level design goes a long way. After playing the multiplayer beta and this demo, I’m excited to get my hands on the final game. They could completely botch the story, and it would still be worth playing, though I don’t think they will mind you. The gameplay is that good. And PS3 owners, as someone whose played this and Haze, this game is where possibly limited FPS dollars should go, assuming that game sticks to its projected November release.

Now I kind of want to play through the demo again on the highest difficulty.

-Aegies