Sometimes its almost too real...

The fourth installment of the Call of Duty franchise takes the action out of the done-to-death WWII arena and places it smack dab in the middle of current events. Now, in the single-player campaign, it's a group of Islamic terrorists and Russian ultra-nationalists who are threatening the free world and you must join a crack team of special force operatives in order to prevent armageddon.

As in previous COD installments, this one has you jumping between two different characters. You begin as a young SAS operative nicknamed "Soap" who undergoes a short stint of training before jumping into a mission on a pitching ocean liner. The explosive climax to this mission is a pitch-perfect example of the tightly scripted action pieces that makes the Call of Duty titles so gripping. You also jump into the boots of a member of the USMC recon, fighting among the crowded streets of a clearly Iraq-inspired Middle Eastern city.

The action is always hot and heavy, with convincing teammates to help you carry out your missions. For those familiar with previous installments, the nature of the missions is nothing surprising. Typically, you must fight your way from point A to point B, through hordes of vicious enemy soldiers, in order to blow up a target with C4, rescue a hostage, or reach a hot Landing Zone before you get overwhelmed by your opponents.

The switch from WWII to modern warfare is not simply cosmetic. The battlefield is now full of automatic weapons, helicopter gunships, and laser-guided precision airstrikes. Death comes swiftly and, often, with very little warning. The game tries to make things a little less difficult by giving you a clear warning when a grenade is in range. You are also given an indication about which direction you are taking fire from, which can mean the difference between life and death. The health system allows you to quickly regenerate your stamina once you are out of the firing line, meaning that there are no health packs to worry about. This is a good thing, because it only takes a few well-placed shots to kill you. The drawback to this sort of system is that the enemy tends to perform a lot of suicidal charges. This makes sense when you are fighting Islamic fanatics in the Middle East. It is less convincing when you are battling your way through Russian ultra-nationalists.

The missions are all very tightly scripted, with many parts of each scene triggered by crossing an invisible line. This can be frustrating as a few places are poorly programed. At times, I found it difficult to get my squad-mates to follow me along because they had not received their in-game trigger yet, and the clock was running down. This is not, however, a common event and most of the missions moved along at a cracking pace. You lose any semblance of open-ended gameplay, but the return is that every second is filled with action.

The story-line to the single-player campaign unfolds nicely, with each mission feeling like a logical step forward. Scattered among the foot-soldier missions are a few places where you take command of an airborne gunship, raining death from above onto targets in scenes pulled straight out of Desert Storm television feeds. There is nothing more satisfying than sending a string of explosive shells down onto an enemy platoon and seeing their bodies flying in all directions.

One surreal mission involves a flashback to events just after the Chernobyl disaster, where you must work with a sniper team in the deserted exclusion zone. For those who played S.T.A.L.K.E.R., this is an odd sort of deja-vu. It is an interesting mission, particularly when you must take out a target from nearly a mile away using a 50 caliber rifle.

The biggest problem with the single-player story is how short it is. It can easily be won within six hours for the average gamer, which is well below average for today's shooters. I was disappointed by this, so I can only hope that some good mission expansions are released soon. Fortunately, the missions that are included are so well written and executed that you can forgive their short lifespan.

The graphics in COD4 are nothing short of astounding. The level of detail, both in the scenery as well as in the human characters, is excellent. All of the boards are highly detailed, and full of nice little touches to make things immersive. There is a definite "rat in a maze" feel to COD levels, but this was not a big problem for me. Your enemies, while typically working with their faces covered, do not quite suffer from the typical "gas mask" syndrome so often seen in today's shooters. They look human, and react to gunshots in a way that is almost spooky. While the graphics are sharp, the system requirements are reasonable. I was able to play it with a mid-level system and had no problems with lag or long load-times.

The sounds in COD4 are another strong addition, with each weapon having its own distinctive sonic profile. Heavy machine guns have a nice roar that makes firing them very satisfying, and explosions are almost too convincing. One of the best effects, used in previous COD installments, is the way in which nearby explosions cause your ears to ring. Couple this with a flash-bang grenade, and you may find yourself both deaf and blind at key moments in the battle.

There is a definite arcade feel to COD games, but this is not a bad thing in my opinion. Rather then bog down in details, this is a game meant to be enjoyed as a near-cinematic experience. This is a good thing, because your enemies tend to behave like rabid kamikazes rather than rational human beings. They will take cover under when fired upon and attempt to use teamwork to flank you, but they will always move forwards.

The multiplayer component of COD4 is not the main reason I bought the game, but it was a pleasant surprise. The servers are easy to join, the games fast-paced and vicious, and even a new player doesn't have to feel completely overwhelmed. I was able to join a server with no problem and even wrack up kills without having the sort of hair-trigger reflexes that such games usually require. While I was never at the top of the scoreboard, I still found playing multiplayer missions very enjoyable. There is a ranking system in which experience is rewarded by unlockable classes and weapons. While this may seem like a way to keep new players weak, the game rewards you with experience for many different actions, and it does not take long to start climbing the ranks.

Overall, this is a truly great shooter both in terms of its single-player as well as its multi-player modes. The only major drawback is the somewhat silly behavior of your enemies, as well as the incredibly short single-player campaign.