Insanely Awe-dical

Call of Duty has already won a handful of GOTY awards, and I haven't heard anything short of incredible-ness this game has achieved.  To be perfectly honest, I have grown tired of the FPS genre tauting awards and dominating the gaming scene, with it's Halos, Gears of War, Quakes, Unreals, Far Crys, and Call of Dutys.  I would say that I'm relatively jaded when it comes to FPS games, and I'm not seeing much new anymore (save for the brilliant FPS puzzler, Portal).

Enter Call of Duty 4: <strong>Modern Warfare</strong>.  No sci-fi or outer space theme, and no historical war theme - this already sets itself apart from Halo, Gears, Quake, Unreal, Call of Duty 1-3, Medal of Honor, and so many other FPS games that I don't really care about any more. 

My FPS experience is fairly limited - I've played my handful of Quake, Unreal, and Halo (single player only).  The <strong>only</strong> FPS single-player campaign I have ever finished is Call of Duty 1.  I didn't realize it but I had a natural attraction to it's presentation - theatrical, intense, and the visceral feeling of the battlegrounds that I feel is missing from run-and-gun action-styled Halo or slower-paced Half-life.  The bombs, the grenades, the helicopter support, the myriad of weapons per scenario, the mission introductions and ever-changing mission objectives - it's an intensity that keeps me on my toes.  The missions swapped between different fronts of the battle, and all of a sudden, my commanding officer had a different accent and a different taste of the battle - it was all-encompassing, and I expected no less from CoD4. 

I picked up CoD4, and was instantly impressed.  The opening video expanded the game to the current world and really pumped me up.  CoD1 used the soldier's diary to open the mission, but this one uses a nice mission briefing and on-screen maps complete with intel pictures to really set up the scene of the mission.  The loading screen is actually a full-time video of these sort of briefings and screens, and I couldn't be more occupied while the game was loading. 

The opening mission holds you by the hand, as you are the newest member of the troop.  The team is very vocal, and really gives you an authentically-led British SMS group as they attack a ship on a stormy night.  The gameplay and controls handle extremely gracefully and you're given a nice easy level to introduce you to all the controls.  The first level ends rather cinematically, with a daring escape from a capsizing ship.  As you escape, the ship begins to tilt and your point-of-view tilts as well, The hull bursts and waters gushes, and you are forced to run for your life to escape, culminating in a dramatic jump for the helicopter.  God of War 2 did this same sort of idea - where the first level is one of the most enthralling and scene-setting levels in the whole game.  After that, I knew I was in for a treat. 

CoD4 has some tactical (covering fire, cover-shoot-moveup) and some non-stop action - it's cinematic flair is unmatched, and I could hardly breathe normally during some levels.  The types of level shift fairly often, one gives you gunship access, another is a sniping mission, another has you shooting a gun from a running jeep.  You never feel the staleness that can come from levels and levels of duck, hide, shoot, move forward, etc.  The story is full of intense moments, and I thoroughly enjoyed how each level began and ended.  There are 2-3 Great Moments of the Year in this game (I already know which one I'll choose when I make that post), and that speaks volumes of the quality of the game and it's presentation.  I'll agree with most critics that the single-player campaign is short, but it's plenty for me.  I feel like I've been playing Halo 1 for hours on end, and I'm barely at the halfway mark. 

Labels: games