Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - We've Got Tangos!

Every now and then a game comes along with a difficulty setting that is hard enough to keep killing you, but not hard enough for you to blame anyone but yourself for not coming up with the right strategy for success. Last year it was Gears of War, which kept us jumping from cover to cover to avoid eating alien lead. This year it's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and it sets a standard for what a next-gen realistic first-person shooter should play like.

A departure from the World War II theme of the Call of Duty series, Modern Warfare excels in every category. The graphics are stunning; from the ambiance, to the scenery, to the modeling and interface, everything looks amazing, and just about as realistic as video games get. The physics work well, though there's nothing mind-blowing like in Half-Life 2, though that's not what this game is about. When you're playing on Veteran difficulty, you really feel like you're right there in the middle of the action. The game sucks you in, and you're checking behind every corner, tossing grenades into every suspicious opening, and are always on the lookout for attack dogs and enemy snipers. The single player campaign is very well scripted, masterfully written, and features a soundtrack rivaling the perfectly epic one of the Halo series. It plays like what a Counter-Strike campaign should have played like, and it stays true to the Call of Duty mechanics. Why change what's already perfect?

On top of a marvelous and unique single player campaign, the multiplayer of Modern Warfare really shines. It's very well balanced, offers a lot of cool options and maps, and it reminds me a bit of Team Fortress with the class selections. If you can't find a class that suits your style of play, then maybe first person shooters aren't for you. Frankly, the multiplayer is so well executed that I'd go so far as to say that this is how every first person shooter should be balanced for multiplayer, and how Halo 3 really should have been. It's addictive, not even slightly repetitive, and loads of fun.

It's rare to find a first-person shooter that creates a single player experience that can realistically compete with the fun of multiplayer, or a multiplayer experience that fits the single player mechanics, but Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare pulls it off without breaking a sweat. It really is game of the year material, and no game currently in the market even comes close to rivaling it in flawlessness. There are no downsides to this game, and if you enjoy first-person shooters, then your collection is incomplete without it.