Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Details
- Publisher: Activision
- Developer: Infinity Ward
- Release Date: November 7th 2007
- Number of Players: single player, multi-player
- Game Type: First person shooter
- Website: Call of Duty 4
When the word ‘mind-blowing' slips from your lips, don't say you weren't warned.
The blockbuster that really busts blocks
When naughty Russian ultra-nationalists and rebels mount a coup d'état in an unsuspecting Middle Eastern country, it's up to the US marines and the British SAS to take these people in hand and give them a very severe slap on the wrist. That's what Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is all about.
CoD4 is a first-person shooter, similar to the earlier games in the series, but a number of features make it stand out. For one, it's set in the near future, instead of World War Two. This gives the player new weapons and technologies to play with, as well as a refreshingly different scenario.
The game engine is also an improvement on its predecessors. It features true world-dynamic lightning, high dynamic range (HDR) lighting effects, dynamic shadows and depth of field. The physics engine is no less impressive. In particular, it calculates bullet penetration, taking into account surface type and the thickness of material. This makes it important that the player distinguishes cover from concealment and adds greatly to the sense of realism.
The developers called in veterans with combat experience to help them not only with the motion capture – which, in conjunction with rag-doll modelling, is used to great effect – but also to help design the AI of your computer-controlled team-mates and adversaries. Thus, your squad members can provide covering fire and clear rooms with considerable skill.
The single-player campaign is set in locations across the Middle East, Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan. The story is as rich as it gets in an FPS and integrates well with the action. When the single-player campaign is complete, a special extra level is unlocked. In multi-player mode players are awarded experience points for kills, objectives reached and being on a winning side. Experience unlocks new weapons, challenges and game modes. What allows the game to achieve all this is the fact that it's multithreaded. It will take full advantage of as many processor cores as you can throw at it. Try it with the Intel® Core™2 Extreme – or even two of them – and see for yourself.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare has landed a huge number of awards. Probably the most prestigious was the Overall Game of the Year 2007 award from the Acadamy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. It was the best-selling game of 2007 and has sold over seven million copies worldwide.
It's not surprising. The game format is a classic. The story and mission design are spot on. The score and sound effects are worthy of the big screen. The graphics and physics are state-of-the-art. To see all this running on a PC with an Intel® Core™2 Extreme processor is one thing but what you really want is to play Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on a top-end rig. When the lead starts to fly, you'll be ducking for cover in your living room.