4/8/2008 - New Killcams for Call of Duty

I'm not sure if I've given my thoughts on the new Call of Duty game I bought for my Playstation 3, so here it goes. I've always considered Goldeneye to be the cream of the crop when it comes to first-person-shooters because it was the first one in the genre that I really got into. Most of the games after that included bizarre weapons that makes the game unrealistic or went back in time to a World War II setting with no modern weaponry. So when the subtitle for the latest CoD game became "Modern Warfare", I took notice.

Simply put, CoD 4: Modern Warfare is the most realistic first-person-shooter ever. The settings look like they were ripped from the evening newscasts and if the game is any representation of what real war is like today, you better hope they don't reinstate the draft. This game really shows what a next-generation game should look like in terms of its ultra-high resolution graphics. In fact, if you have this game, you better get a high-definition TV, because the targets are so small, they can be down to half an inch wide or less on my 42" widescreen.

As everybody says, the single-player campaign is very short but challenging nonetheless. The real meat of the game is in the online mode where it really is warfare. The RPG-like leveling-up system is well thought out and rewards you for playing the game a lot. The higher your rank, the more guns and "perks" you can choose from. Perks are the most innovative feature of the game in that they really allow you to customize your character and dictate how you play the game.

What's clear about Call of Duty 4 is that it is all about killing and being killed. There are few modes in the online mode that offer anything more than deathmatches. I really wish there was a true "capture the flag" mode, but the closest thing is the "Domination" mode. There are no vehicles by land, sea, or air (unless you count air support). You only have guns and explosives and you're on foot. Nothing illustrates the emphasis on killing more than the "Kill-cam". When you are killed in the online mode, you'll see from the perspective of the enemy exactly how they killed you. There's nothing more humiliating than seeing yourself killed by someone in their "Final Stand" mode (if you have the game, you know what I'm talking about). Recently, they updated the game with a patch that improves the Kill-cam views for some of the more explosive weapons in the game... and they are a hoot to watch: