Who you gonna Call?

After spending the last few weeks battling through Halo 3 to finish it on Legendary (Look at me! I'm up a tree!), it feels weird to step into a shooter world so vastly different to Bungie's sci-fi masterpiece.

Halo's shtick has always been about you being the centre of the universe. Your mere presence makes toughened marines pee their pants in excitement, as they greet you like you'd greet a hero expected to save mankind pretty much single-handedly from an alien horde.

Call of Duty has always been the polar opposite of this – casting you as a series of everyman characters who, sure, all played a valiant part, and yet against the backdrop of millions of World War II dead, meant next to nothing.

The Call of Duty experience is just as valid and just as powerful, and serves to emphasise that the people who fight wars are scared human beings, not invincible super-soldiers.

Call of Duty 4 does nothing particularly revolutionary – but what it does achieve is a highly polished and perfected version of what we've come to expect from Call of Duty game, transplanted from its usual 1940s setting into the arena of “Modern Warfare”.

Predominantly cast as a US Marine called Jackson, and an SAS grunt known as “Soap” you take part in a series of missions which make up a narrative which comes across as something straight out of 24 - all terrorists, rogue states and missing nuclear material. Standard-style Call of Duty missions are supplemented by further missions where you act as a gunner in different aircraft, play a role in a flashback, or otherwise take on another persona for a narrative section.

The missions often feel like a string of interactive set-pieces. Whether you're protecting a tank, storming a building with night-vision goggles activated, taking out enemy hardware with a rocket launcher, or performing a long-distance sniper assassination, it's one incredibly cool, albeit linear, section after another. You don't get enough time to master any of the great new gadgetry or really revel in these sections, instead going from one gripping section to the next with a high level of urgency.

Jaw-dropping

Call of Duty 4's world at war feels like the most believable depiction of 21st century combat we've yet seen – not necessarily the most realistic (and don't listen to any games reviewer that comments on the realism of a war game – they're likely to have fought in only a few real-life gun battles) but it's coherent, solid, and utterly, utterly alive, powering the illusion with the best visuals and sound seen on the PS3 or 360 to date while the game also looks jaw-dropping on a PC games rig.

One thing that Call of Duty 4 does bring to life is modern war's inherent creepiness. Once upon a time you had to be a man, to kill a man in battle. To thrust your bayonet between his ribs and see the life die in his eyes. Today's clinical war tech, and the de-humanisation of anyone that can vaguely be referred to as a "terrorist" has made the whole thing impersonal, distanced and cold. The first mission features squad members shooting guards as they snore in their beds while a later mission sees you aboard an AC-130 gunship with immense firepower taking out enemies which show up from afar through night vision technology as tiny white blobs, while the dispassionate voice of a co-soldier "celebrates" your accuracy with phrases such as "Ka-boom".

It's incredibly executed, fun to play, and it even gives you some idea of how difficult it must be to separate friend from foe in this type of situation in reality, but it definitely leaves you with a funny feeling in your stomach. Maybe it's supposed to, and maybe that's not a bad thing at all.

While Call of Duty 4's single-player game will not last for ever, replayability is assured with the superb online multiplayer, which gives you options for developing your warriors with "perks" which provide a wide range of extra abilities – as far as online gaming on 360 goes right now, Call of Duty 4's multiplayer mode is right up there with Halo 3's.

Call of Duty 4's only real downside is the lack of connection you can sometimes feel with the world around you in the single-player mode – partly because it can feel as if you're a third wheel a lot of the time, and partly because everything around you seems so scripted.

With a compelling narrative, superb presentation befitting its blockbuster status and some of the most impressive technical chops of any game on the market today, Call of Duty 4 does a wonderful job at what it does best, with all the horror and exhilaration of modern warfare dragged kicking and screaming before your senses.

Sure, it might feel like you're strapped into something on rails for most of the time, but it's one of the best rollercoaster rides around.

GAME's Verdict

• Some of the best graphics you've ever seen.
• The best Call of Duty yet.
• Ghillie suits are awesome.

• Very controlled experience - essentially "on rails".
  
• Feels very much like every other Call of Duty game despite the different setting.
  
• Singleplayer mode is reasonably short.

Review by: Jonny Austin
Review Published: 23.11.07

Mark answers the Call…

Making the move away from the setting you’ve based an entire gaming series on is no small gamble, but it’s something Infinity Ward, creators of the acclaimed original PC Call of Duty, have decided to do with Call of Duty 4. That said, the modern setting of Modern Warfare doesn’t take Call of Duty too far from its roots, and should give Call of Duty 4 fans far more toys to play with in Modern Warfare’s bullet-strewn sandbox.

The emphasis with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, is firmly on retaining Call of Duty’s frenetic war-torn feel and instant first-person shooter playability – while moving Call of Duty’s gameplay into new, hi-tech territory with a slew of new modern technology.

We’ve seen three distinctly different levels demoed from Call of Duty 4, and all fit into this ethos nicely. The first saw the Activision PR rep picking up the pad to play one of Call of Duty 4’s all-new aerial co-ordination missions; where the player mans a helicopter turret and covers his troops from above with different types of firepower.

Stunning presentation

Shown first because it’s probably the best indicator of how modern technology will influence Call of Duty 4’s gameplay, what struck us most about this level was the stunning presentation style; riding high above the action in shakey-cam documentary style likened to an NBC chopper, the view was a grainy white take on night vision, with ally troops and enemy units clearly marked and a definite objective in mind. It gave this particular portion of Call of Duty 4 almost the feeling of a real-time strategy title playing out before our eyes.

But it’s the more traditional Call of Duty gameplay which fans are going to be looking forward to in Call of Duty 4 – and Modern Warfare didn’t disappoint in our sneak peak, showing us two campaign missions each with their own unique feel and approach.

Sniping will be nothing new to Call of Duty players, but the sniper infiltration mission we’ve seen makes Modern Warfare’s take on silent ranged death-dealing utterly immersive. More slow-paced and considered than your usual Call of Duty blastathon, it sees the game’s stunning graphics engine rendering your cammo-clad soldier and squadmates – who are so well-concealed you can barely see them against the underbrush – through dense foliage to take out enemies in a nearby outpost, and plays with all the tension you’d expect from being vastly outnumbered on the modern battlefield.

The last level of Modern Warfare we saw, however, was the real deal Call of Duty experience. Set on an explosive, ballistic middle-eastern highway, we watched in awe as helicopters burst and blazed across the skyline; bullets ricocheting and buildings burning right before our eyes in one of the most impressive visual displays yet for next-gen consoles.

Jumping into the conflict, Activision’s poor PR was having an awful time with what looked to be the most sophisticated A.I. yet seen in Call of Duty; frequently mown down by barrages of gunfire and eventually having to take cover to proceed. When he did, night vision soon came into play – this version making the screen turn green and highlighting our enemies and comrades accordingly. He soon made his way off the highway, picking off terrorists from distance and even fighting with one up-close in a Call of Duty 3 style QTE, before finally being mown down in the shrapnel-shredded hallways of a crumbling building.

Promisingly accomplished

And that about rounded up our sneak-peak of Modern Warfare’s singleplayer mode. There’s a multiplayer mode planned too, of course, factoring in 16 players on consoles and up to 32 on PC. The big news here will be a brand new set of maps and a persistent character-building element where you create a class of character and unlock new gear as you go. As anyone who’s played the recent Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Xbox 360 Live Beta will attest, it’s promising to be the most accomplished Call of Duty multiplayer yet.

With Call of Duty so well-respected amongst gamers and Infinity Ward one of the best FPS developers around, it’s no wonder Call of Duty 4 is shaping up so well. The final proof will be playing of course, but it’s safe to say that for CoD fans, shelling out on the gamble that Modern Warfare represents will carry with it very little risk indeed.

Preview by: Mark Scott
Preview Published: 05.10.07