So what is Call Of Duty 4 Modern Warfare like
A change is as good as a rest, so they say. In Infinity Ward's case, a change must have been absolutely essential for its own collective sanity, having worked solidly on World War II shooters for longer than can be strictly healthy. The fruit of this welcome shift in direction brings us bang up to date with by far its most engrossing, varied and ambitious offering yet. Modern Warfare is the product of a confident developer; one which knows what it's good at, but evidently giddy with the chance to try out different things. In common with its previous efforts, it's a game that understands the power of maximum cinematic intensity, but also knows when to turn the dial down and bring in the kind of cloying on-the-edge tension more readily associated with Ghost Recon or even that lost classic Hidden & Dangerous. As a consequence, it's by far the most well rounded Call of Duty game, with an exciting yet coherent blend of gameplay styles.
Check point
Although, once again, told through the eyes of the Americans and the Brits, the interwoven storyline builds a greater sense of character (and therefore purpose) than many war games manage.
As you might expect, the dismantling of entrenched terrorist cells with evil plans of mass destruction requires a) very best soldiers and b) lots of high powered weaponry. So, from the Brit side you'll follow the events of the hilariously gobby British 22nd SAS Regiment, as well as various "Ooorah"-spouting personnel in the United States Marine Corps 1st Force Recon. None of that is especially important once you're embroiled in the nuances of each mission, but as a means of framing each mission in presentational terms, it's quite engaging, even light-hearted at the most unexpected moments. And, for once, the Brits don't have cut glass accents, favouring the more comedic potential of the kind of propa' geezers you're likely to get the wrong side of if you spill their pint.
The environments still lack that vital element of
destructibility, but the overall detail levels and the quality of the
character models more than make up for that.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Mission #9
Technically, things have moved on a bundle, too, with some
wonderful levels (the deserted, depressing depiction of Chernobyl a
particular highlight) and a great deal of environmental variety helping
to make it an enjoyable game to play through. As you might expect,
Modern Warfare has a bullet point list of fancy dynamic lighting
effects, real world shadows, depth of field, yadda, yadda, but as boring
as these things sound, the game looks absolutely lovely. Admittedly,
certain things don't look that great close up (such as vegetation), and
you have to say that the geometry's stubborn resistance to damage is a
touch old school, but in terms of atmospheric effects it deserves
nothing but high praise. As ever, the particle effects are staggering,
with some of the best smoke and explosions ever seen in a game, and
aligned with superb lighting, excellent attention to detail and
convincing, fluid character models, Infinity Ward has built on
everything it was already renowned for.
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