The Second World War saw millions perish. One of the most devastating wars in the existence of mankind forced humanity to pledge in creating a universe where their future generations could breathe without the mist of a nuclear morning. Well, I would not quite agree with the role of the modern day state in preventing an all scale nuclear fallout. But Infinity Ward’s latest addition to the franchise seems to take the role of war extremely seriously.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is one of the biggest hits of 2007. It aggregated a score of 94+ on both renowned and tainted sites, the reviewers might have discussed and dissected the article in great detail, but there were quite a few boundaries that they probably forgot to touch upon which makes the experience of playing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, one of the most satisfying for quite a period of time.
To begin with COD4 does not seek a major departure from the series. It’s more of the same but the way the same stuff has been recycled is quite appreciating and worth applauding. To be very honest the immersion factor has been done to its best level and there can no denying that a war torn country will actually feel and look right out of COD4. The very first cutscene, which takes us to the violent streets and the brutal assassination, is something that will send shudders down anyone’s spine.
The other quite distinct feature of the game is the consistency of the framerate even with a million things going on side by side, it’s a real treat to see developers actually scooping out the best deal from whatever platform you are used to and not being overtly biased to a particular one as seen in a lot of cases. The action is another aspect that never seems to slow down. The mission may quite be linear and non-taxing on the grey cells but the levels of addictiveness this game is endowed with cannot be elucidated by any humble or mighty reviewer. It is for the player to savor and bask in the glory of vanquishing those who threaten their motherland.
Coming back on the levels of immersion, the game offers 3 basic acts, a prologue (training mission) and an epilogue (which I think is one of the coolest additions in any game so far), the story no matter how clichéd it might sound, does the trick for most of the time because it’s simple sweet and translates into putting the bullet into an artificially controlled human being, now how difficult can that be.
Well keeping up with the entire Call of Duty traditions the game offers two perspectives for the same game. One is an S.A.S operative Soap MacTavish, whose mission is to hunt down “Imran Zakhaev” in Russia and the other puts you in the shoes of Paul Jackson of the USMC who has been sent into the heat of the Warzone in the Middle East to hunt down “Al-Asad”.
The game does have its share of twists and turns and you do get your fair share of Ohhs!!! and Ahhhs!!! But moments like the explosion of the nuclear warhead make it seem something right out of a Hollywood flick, thus proving the fact that this game was one of the best produced titles of 2007.
The area of sound is another region where the high production values can be seen or should I say heard almost instantly. The gun muzzles, the flash noises, the rubble, the choppers, the radio chatter all of the atmospheres of a raging battlefield are aptly re-created within the boundaries of your television set.
This leaves me with very little to complain about, or does it? While Call of Duty 4 might be a visually efficient, it’s not quite visually stunning apart from your player models. The environment within the game is quite bland and non interactive, although your foes have a robust ragdoll system in place. But this cannot be quite said about other objects that are present in the game. Another minor gripe is the fact I cannot open doors in spite of being a modern day soldier of the 21st century. I need my Captain to help me opening the most basic doors which I find absolutely absurd and ridiculous.
The game gets even better once you take the visceral carnage online. Call of Duty 4 game has already topped both PSN and XBL charts worldwide and is showing no momentum of slowing down until another king arrives to dominate the scene. Till then I guess I have to heed my calling and finish my duty for as a soldier my life begins only in a battlefield and seems dull and grey otherwise.
–Neelesh Mukherjee