I’d never played a Call of Duty game until this one, but that didn’t stop me from getting my money’s worth of fun-un-ness... Infinity Ward made a bold move and jumped out of the standard Hitler killer style that plagues this genre of games and gave us something we haven’t seen much of, a realistic modern day shooter. I now give you my very late review of Call of Duty 4 for the Xbox 360.

GRAPHICS
I don’t know how Infinity Ward did it, but they somehow managed to get the game to run at a silky smooth 60 frames per second on the 360, and yet still maintain the photo-realistic feel to the graphics. The animations are smooth and life like adding again to the realism. This category receives a well earned ten for pulling some crazy witchcraft.

SOUND
With any game that makes its central focus war, you need high quality sound. CoD4 delivers in this respect using realistic gun and environment sounds to make an excellent audio experience. With surround sound audio the game becomes even that much more immersive, giving you the ability to accurately pinpoint the location of an enemy player by just listening to their footsteps or the sound of the weapon. Sound receives a ten.

CONTROLS
Controls are always a make-or-break with me when it comes to games. You can have an excellent game that looks beautiful and has an awesome story, but if you can’t control it properly it’s all for naught. CoD4’s control scheme is simple yet effective, left trigger to aim, right to fire. Even though deep down in my heart I want a mouse and keyboard, the gamepad does what it needs to. Controls get a nine.

STORY
Players will take control of two characters in a plot set in the modern day: Sgt. ‘Soap’ MacTavish, a member of the British Special Air Service (SAS), and Sgt. Peter Jackson, a member of the United States Marine Corps. Conflicts will take place in Russia and the Middle East giving a wide range of environments and enemies to fight in and against. The story mode of this game clocks in at around 8 hours, depending on skill level and difficulty and has a slightly baffling ending that left me with too many questions. Story receives an eight.


REPLAY/ FUN
Although I play most video games for the story, CoD4’s multiplayer needs some mention. Infinity Ward has created a very deep multiplayer experience though the use of Perks. Perks are simple additions one can add to their custom classes that do thing such as allow you to carry 2 packs of C4 to throw around, or make you gun deal extra damage. When playing over LIVE users gain experience for kills and finishing games that allows them to rank up though 55 ranks unlocking weapons, perks and challenges along the way. Once a player reaches rank 55 they are given the option to enter Prestige mode. Prestige mode resets their rank to 1 and removes everything that has been unlocked, basically starting over. The only difference is your rank icon is replaced with a new icon showing that you had the balls to so it all again. On top of this, you can do it TEN TIMES. For creating the best multiplayer experience I’ve had in a while, replay and fun receives a well deserved ten.

All in all Infinity Ward has created a fine game, from its immersive single player to its award winning multiplayer, Call of Duty 4 is a must buy for any FPS enthusiast.