Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Best in series"

Infinity Ward's child, the Call of Duty series, split developers from game to game, but in my opinion, the best game in the series is the game that came before Treyarch got their hands on the series for another instalment. That game is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Set in the present day, you play as a various number of characters trying to stop the terrorist threat in a Middle Eastern country and Russia. As Sgt. 'Soap' McTavish of the SAS, you fight through Ultra-nationalist Russians and Spetsnaz troops in order to end the threat of a nuclear strike on America. As Sgt. Paul Jackson of the US Marine Corps, you are with other troops in an unnamed Middle Eastern nation fighting of the Opposing Forces in a bid to take a terrorist called Kahled Al-Asad so as to stop the nuke from becoming so in the first place.

The graphics, first of all. Holy bejeezers, they really are impressive! I know it was one of the first multi-platform titles released on the PS3, but surely that means it can capitalise on its graphic capabilities. Just as well as it did.

The campaign is what does it for me. It's six hours of action, stealth, surprise and the surpassing of expectation. It has some of the best missions in the entire series, and is perhaps one of the best single-player campaigns to date, with a simple-yet-gripping story and a character for every level.
It is only a meagre six hours long, though, so if longevity is what you want, then you may want something else.

The weapons are incredibly well designed and are uber-realistic. Hell, I think they're better than Modern Warfare 2's weapon roster. You have simple weapons like the Colt .45 or the M4A1, but also the AK-74u and the Desert Eagle, which is cool. Also, in the Russia missions, the AK-47 ammo is practically abundant, so you'll never be short of ammo. Also, it's more realistic, so you don't need a whole clip to kill enemies, but rather just a few rounds.

The difficulty. There are four choices: Recruit (those who aren't experience with FPS games, or just don't really play games), Regular (a little more challenging and requires you to be on your toes a little more), Hardened (hard, but not so you rip out your hair, and gives you a little more realism) and Veteran (for masochists only, being the hardest difficulty setting).

The game incorporates something I have been seeing quite a lot in games lately, which is a regenerative health system. If that's too gamer jargon for you, what I mean is this: when you get hurt, and the outside parts of the screen flash red, if you stay behind cover and not get hurt for a set amount of time, you begin to heal, until your health is full again. It's not as real as I hoped, and it makes the game a little easier than it needs to be, but it's a decent idea.

The music. This was by Harry Gregson-Williams, who was the composer for such games as Metal Gear Solid and he even works on films. The music just screams cool. It seriously does. I find it somewhat addicting too.
There is a rap at the end with the voices of the characters mixed in, and it is kind of funny too, so I suppose that's fine.

The multiplayer - the thing that makes a Call of Duty game worth playing. This revolutionised multiplayer online games for one reason: customisable ownage! You can choose your weapon, your side pistol, your equipment and two perks, or three perks if you take out the equipment. The maps are varied, and have different environments similar to those of the single player campaign. It is insanely addictive to play, and it makes you think why there was no Co-op campaign.

If I had to downside this game, it'd be because it's mainly the length of the single player campaign. It just makes you wish there was more to it than 'bang, bang, explosion, done'. It makes you want more to play in the campaign. Well, there is Modern Warfare 2, but more or less everyone on the planet has that game.

To sum up, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is not only the best game in the Call of Duty series, but is perhaps one of the best FPS games of all time.

Overall I give this 98%, which means it's a must-play, and is a genuinely unmissable game. You must play!!