Oh, Call of Duty 4. I love you so, so much! I think it is funny that Call of Duty 2 outshined the game of the moment then (Perfect Dark Zero) and Call of Duty 4 outshines the game of the moment now (couch, Halo 3, cough). We’ve talked about the single player, which is an amazing reason to buy the game in the first place. But the Multiplayer? Yes, this is the reason to keep the game in the drive, only taking it out to watch a movie or take it to a friend’s house. COD4 multiplayer is very similar to the Call of Duty 2 multiplayer. You pick a weapon at the beginning and you head out and shoot people. But, COD4 does it so much better and for many reasons. All these reason’s smashed together equals an amazingly deep multiplayer game unlike anything on a console right now. (more…)

Call of Duty 4 is fan service–and more–for those who played Call of Duty 2. The game may not have you shooting Germans, and may be a whole hell of a lot prettier, but it still feels like very much the same game. And, before you start questioning me, I beat the damn game over a week ago.

The game is good. Some might go so far as to say really good. I don’t want this to be a review though, so I’ll assign no score. The game was enjoyable, worthy of a playthrough for any FPS enthusiast, and is deserving of most of the praise it will get.

The game takes about 5-8 hours to complete (more if you play it on Veteran). The game feels instantly familiar to those who have played previous CoD games, but also manages to mix in enough new mechanics to keep it feeling fresh. For instance, the mission where you get to shoot the guns of C-130–fucking priceless; even the dialogue between the radio operators is convincing. I even watched real videos of people being shot by C-130 guns, to compare. This game knows its shit.

However, for all the bits of realism and military oo la la, there are times when the game returns to being just that, a game. Walls that you can’t go past, enemies that don’t always react the way that you know a human would — these things make the game playable. The game isn’t totally forcing you down a path, but at the same time you will never really get lost–your objective marker always gives you the “hey, idiot” path.

The graphics of the game are strange to me. They are both pretty and odd looking at the same time. The grass and foilage of the game looks amazing, but sometimes buildings still look like they are from an older title. Let it be known, though, that CoD 4 has the best frame rate of any 360 game to date. Seriously, from the moment you start playing you will be a little confused as to why the game feels weird to your eyes–that’s just 30fps sickness, you’ll get over it soon enough.

The only thing I haven’t gotten to try yet is the multiplayer. However, if it is even half as competent as the single player, fans will have nothing to worry about.

Chufmoney

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.

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Part of me feels bad for Aegis and Chufmoney. They are moving, reformatting their lives to better suit their lifestyles. And I’m left on the other side of the country, playing the Call of Duty 4 Beta. Sigh. My life is so horrible.

So, the main question. Is it good? Hell. Yes. It is so good. It’s like walking through a desert, no water in sight, and then suddenly rain. Its a multiplayer experience that you can drench yourself in, become completely immersed in. But, there are some parts about it that concern me, and rightly so! But my full critique will come after the break, as all good things do. (more…)