COD4

[Tony]

Anyone else into Call of Duty 4? I've been a big fan since the first one, picked this up a week or two ago, and just finished the single player campaign.

I'm looking forward to playing through it a second time.

And a third.

Anyone else? Or is this a Halo crowd?

[Michael Firman]

Ok, I've never been into CoD and I'll explain why. I bought and played (though admittedly not extensively in every case) Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Medal of Honor, Day of Defeat, and Battlefield 1942. By the time Call of Duty rolled around, my eyes rolled similarly at the thought of fighting more nazis. Interestingly I picked up Red Orchestra later on, so I guess Call of Duty just came at the absolute wrong time for me.

The problem is, that made me brand the entire series as negligible; I've yet to play an installment. I've been considering CoD4 with the attention it's had, so I may pick it up when it reaches some sort of discount. One thing I hear about it is that its difficulty is very arcade - so while it might aspire to achieve a sense of realism in other departments, stepping up the challenge consists of them simply dumping an endless supply of enemies at you out of, say, one shack. Jerks.

Reviewing the wikipedia entry for the first Call of Duty, I feel a little tempted to try it out as well. Jason Statham and Giovanni Ribisi as voice actors? That is high quality production, my friend!

(PS: PC gamer here)

[SonOfaRich]

Hey Michael, If you liked those other games, then you'll like CoD. I played all those games too and got a little burned out as well, so I never played much of CoD2 or any of CoD3. But the way CoD games offer excitement is to never let up on the action. Those other games I felt got repetitive, while CoD subtley changes it up every level and keeps the gamer engaged.

Now CoD4 is a new breed of CoD. Modern weapons, modern environments, and modern situations. The single player campaign is so cinematic and has some of the best levels ever in a fps single player experience.

I think the multiplayer in CoD4 is great. Feels like a more awesome version of CS. I like how players can rank up to earn new weapons and accessories. You can also call in airstrikes, which is always nice.

[Scott Hallett]

Call of Duty stole my attention away from Halo. I'll go back to Halo, but for now I'm hooked on levelling up in the COD multiplayer. You earn much more than bragging rights at each level in multiplayer. Fun times.

[Tony]

Michael - I highly recommend trying COD4 if your PC can handle it comfortably. The story is, actually, extremely engaging - I found myself really caring about one char in the story in particular. I can't say more without spoilers, but there are a few really moving moments.
The modern-day setting might relieve some of the weariness you mentioned regarding the WWII setting. It certainly creates a different atmosphere. I don't know if you've heard about the section where you man the TV in the AC-130, but personally it was so eerily realistic that it was unsettling, and it kind of makes you think about some challenging issues.
It does suffer from a bit of the arcade-y feel, though. In some spots, enemies DO keep respawning unless you press forward, which ruins some of the realism and takes away any sort of "tactical" approach to an obstacle. Plus, when the credits roll there's a track that plays that I found kind of offensive and in bad taste.

But then, on the other hand COD4 made me enjoy shooters on the console. The control is really very good, and has a certain something that I find missing in games like Halo or Bioshock. The weapons are definitely very tactile, and provide very satisfying feedback. There's also a "humanity" to the game - dunno whether it's the story, the setting, maybe the graphical grittiness - that I find missing from Halo, which feels sterile by comparison.

On the flipside, Multiplayer COD kind of boils down to who-sees-who-first. If you see a dude first, chances are good that you've got that dude's points. Compare that to Halo's slower, back-and-forth fighting - where if you engage some dude, there can be exchanges back and forth and it's maybe a bit more dynamic. Personal preference, I guess.

[DarkWriter31]

I was curious about the locations when you go out to those maps between levels.

In the middle east levels, when you play as SGT. Paul Jackson, you invade the Iraqi coast, the Kuwati coast is further west. The nuke goes off shortly above that in southern Iraq or southern Iran, maybe on the border. You battle your way across Saudi Arabia, starting on the west coast, close to Mecca actually, go to the center of the country which is actually desert, and end in the northern part of the country.

I may be wrong, but I'd like to know what others think about this.

Adam