This review was written exclusively for Space-Meat by Jelani Stevens. Check out Jarnz other stuff here!

Developer: Infinity Ward
Publisher: Activision
Available On: PC, XBOX 360, PS3, NDS (n-Space)

Call of Duty, the next in the series with a little twist. In this game we are taken away from the WWII setting we have grown to love in the COD series and have been dropped in the middle of modern warfare. This is a risky change as the previous COD games have always fitted perfectly in the WWII sub-genre of FPS, meaning the leap into the modern day sub-genre could be a mistake with other games like Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six making their names dominate in that field. I for one was very pleased to find the game was addictive and really well done, couldn’t put the controller down.

The game is set around two groups, the British SAS and the American USMC. The single player is made up of one continuous story and you hop between the SAS and the USMC, each hop between the groups continues the progression of the storyline. The story itself isn’t anything revolutionary with stolen nukes in the hands of middle-eastern terrorists, but it is laid out in a way that it is enjoyable. Each level has a different feel as you travel around the world, going from places like open seas, to swampy areas, and to close combat areas around a city. With each level you get a different weapon and gadget load out, all of which are realistic. I did enjoy the ability of throwing back grenades to the enemy that they sent over, and shooting people in the leg will make them hop away for cover.

The control system of COD4 is perfect with one button actions. Any hardcore console gamer will be able to pick up the controller and start playing almost instantly, with casual or new console gamers some learning will be required. With the learning curve of the game, any new player will easily be able to get use to the controls before the really intense and large battles begin. With the smarter AI the battles can be a bit tricky, especially in the large ones where there are 10-30 enemies. The AI also knows how to take cover if needed, and stay covered too, plus they are really good at flanking your party so watch out. When you get hit too much, the screen edges turn red and a bit warning pops on the screen telling you to get to cover, which means finding some boxes and pressing O to duck behind. Once you have been in cover long enough, it’s like your health is all back and you can continue onwards. One thing I would of liked to be added as with all console FPS games is keyboard and mouse support. The controls are good on the game pad but sometimes the sticks for aiming can get a bit frustrating.

The sounds of the game were amazing, especially in really intense battles with all the rockets and bullets flying around, people moaning and groaning from being shot. And also the lighting effects were purely god like. What I did find annoying was the voice acting. The voices didn’t really play a role with the story and was made more like a public convenience just to let you know the story is progressing in some way.

The multiplayer component of COD4 was a bit of a mixed bag. The multiplayer itself is a bundle of joy as to be expected from a COD game offering several game modes, only 2 of which are unlocked when you first start playing. The other game modes are unlocked as you gain rank, which I thought was a bad move, would be a good idea to have all game modes available at the start. Having said that I found the multiplayer action very addictive and wanted to come back for more. The maps are designed very well, open areas, places to hide and scout around, huge amount of detail, and lots of rewards like killing 3 people in a row lets you use radar for 30secs. Weapons and classes are unlocked as you gain rank which is a good incentive to keep playing to get those more powerful weapons.

The multiplayer system on the PS3 was a huge let down. Yes the game supports invites but only if your friends are playing COD4 at the time, but the biggest issue are the servers. The problem is that they went in the style of PS3 Rainbow Six: Vegas in the way of not having a server list but a button that says Find Game and it searches for a random game and joins it. Most of the time you get put with Americans, which have very high pings, so it’s really refreshing when you do get an Australian game. The best solution is to hunt down Australian players, add them to your PSN Friends List and organise games through the PSN messaging system before playing.

Call Of Duty 4

90%

The Good –

* Great visuals and sounds.
* Multiplayer will be around for a long time.
* Great single player campaign.

The Bad -

* Game crashes.
* Lack of server list in multiplayer.
* Voice Acting.