Call of Duty 4 PS3 Review

Call of Duty 4 is one of those games you just have to own. It simply has everything: an engaging story, amazing graphics, great game play, and an insanely good multiplayer. But of course the game is not perfect, and besides pointing out the good parts in this review I will also discuss the not-so-good parts. This review contains spoilers, so if you have not yet played the campaign, read carefully.

To begin this review, I first heard of (actually saw) Call of Duty 4 months back when they aired a commercial for it on TV. At the time of not owning any "next-gen" consoles, I did not think much of it, but it did look cool. Now that I am a Playstation 3 owner, I was following the game for sometime. It really caught my attention.

I picked up my copy on release day and popped it in. The very first thing I noticed is how good the game looks. By far the best looking console game I think I have ever seen. The levels are filled with enough detail to make it almost feel like you are actually there. The player models, weapon models, and animations are simply stunning. Sound is something else that really brings this game to life. Being in a gun fight with a group of terrorists really sounds like you are in a gun fight with a group of terrorists. There are explosions around you, bullets whizzing past, and your squad members yelling at the top of their lungs. You couldn't ask for better visuals and sound.

The game play itself is truly incredible. At many times throughout the game there will be tons of things happening at any given moment: explosions, gun fire, tanks, swarms of enemies and so on. But what I think this game nails that most game developers have problems with is the frame rate. Rarely does it go down, and when it does it is not that much and does not last long. To have that many things going on at once and still have a constant 60 frames per second for almost the whole time is something to truly brag about.

Since this is a modern warfare shooter, you will obviously be shooting a lot of enemies and other objects. Call of Duty 4 makes this very enjoyable. Some objects (like wood for example) can be penetrated by bullets. So if there is an enemy behind a wooden wall, you can simply keep shooting to eliminate that enemy. Cover is harder to find because of this and it makes you keep having to move. There will also be cars and barrels that will explode if shot enough.

The weapons in this game are awesome. Guns ranging from M4's to the .50 caliber sniper rifle all make an appearance. Like I said earlier, the weapon models are very good, and you will go through many of these guns throughout the campaign and multiplayer.

Now for the campaign. Yes, it is short and can be completed in about 6 hours. But the story, I thought, was amazing. You switch off between two characters, one in the Marines and one in the British Special Forces. Eventually you get to a level where you have to find one of the terrorist leaders. This is where I thought the story really picked up. You go through the level and are unable to find the leader and you get a call saying there is a nuclear threat. As you are returning to base in the back of a helicopter, you see a nuclear explosion, and the many helicopters following, including the one you are in, all go down. When the nuclear explosion happened, I was shocked. I did not expect that to happen. It flashes to a casualty list, and you see your name (the Marine character you are playing as). It then goes back to the level you were in, and you are lying down in the helicopter. You can walk around, but you are obviously injured and have trouble moving. When I got out of the helicopter, I noticed complete destruction. No one was around, and buildings were falling apart. I looked over to where the explosion was and see a huge mushroom cloud. You the drop and are unable to move. My jaw then fell to the floor.

This is the kind of campaign it is, there are other points in the game like this, although this was really the most dramatic and surprising. You have to play through it to get really get the feel for it. Being with your squad members in a gun fight feels like you are there. I do not know how Infinity Ward did this, but I have to applaud them.

There are two very good missions in the single player besides the one just mentioned previously. One involves you being a sniper, and the other involves you being in a C130 airplane. I will not explain these missions. I feel if you want this game you simply have to see them for yourself.

Once you beat the campaign, you unlock arcade mode. You simply pick a level and you get points depending on how many enemies you kill. It is entertaining, but nothing too special. It does add some replay value however.

While I thought the single player was really good, that is not why I bought the game.

Multiplayer online is something special. It reminds me of that addicting game play that SOCOM II offered me years back. What you will notice when you start playing online is that you have to unlock almost everything: different game modes, new weapons, accessories for those weapons, and so on. But I actually like this. It makes me want to keep playing. To unlock things, you gain experience points and are promoted through the ranks the more you play. Certain ranks unlock certain things.

There are also challenges. Things like getting 25 kills with this weapon, calling in an air strike, and so on. When you complete any one of these, you gain experience for your rank. There are literally dozens of these challenges.

Classes are also a huge deal in multiplayer. You pick a class (like sniper or assault for example) and it gives you a load out of weapons depending on the class you pick. You can also create your own classes. When you unlock new weapons and accessories, you can customize your gun with camouflage, different sights, and even grenade launchers. This alone I thought was really cool.

The actual game play of multiplayer is addicting and fast paced. The maps are very well balanced and designed and provide for long range gun fights and even close quarter's action. Having many different game modes helps keep you playing for hours, and even team death match is a blast. Playing with friends is even more fun, too. What I noticed about the multiplayer though is the graphics. They definitely lowered the detail for the online portion, which is perfectly acceptable. I'm glad they didn't try to push high end visuals online, because that's how frame rate problems can occur. While it does not look as good as single player, it still looks good. And like I always say, graphics do not make a game. Online is still a blast.

There are a couple issues with multiplayer though. There is no lobby system. You cannot browse through a server to look for a certain game. You have to push "find game" and it puts you in one. The lobby system reminds me exactly of Halo 3's. While it is bearable, I do not like it. If you have friends you are playing with, you have to invite them to your party, and the party leader then finds a game and it puts you and your party in that game, when it works. Sometimes you have to keep sending invites out to people so they can join your party. While this isn't the best method, it is acceptable. There are a few bugs that I wish would be fixed, though.

The mic system (talking to others) is not the best either. It is open mic, so you just simply talk and everyone else can hear you. This means if you breathe too hard, if there is background noise, if you cough, the headset might, and probably will, pick it up. I wish you had to push a button to be able to communicate.

Either way, you can simply overlook the headset and lobby "issues" to see that there is truly an amazing multiplayer experience.

Overall, this game is a must have. A great single player and an even better multiplayer help you keep coming back for more. If you read up to this part, thank you. But you really should be playing this game instead of reading.

Go out and buy it now.