Activision has finally released the long awaited Call of Duty 4, known as Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. This is the first Call of Duty game to take place in this day and age, as if you didn’t already know all previous Call of Duty’s took place in the WW2 era. Call of Duty 4 puts you in the heat of conflict with a Russian madman who has a score to settle with the western countries. Your mission is to track down the Russian and his Arab allies and stop them from releasing a mass nuclear strike on the United States. To do this you are given control of two characters throughout the story, Sergeant Jackson from the United States Marine Core and Sergeant “Soap” from the British S.A.S. Call of Duty 4 is sure to have you playing and playing until you finish the main story line. It also comes with an Arcade mode to run back through certain parts in the game as well as an online multiplayer mode to pwn up some noobs.

"Ohh baby stop my beating heart."

Call of Duty 4 starts you off with a little bit of training in case you are new to first person shooters, or if you are just new to the Call of Duty series. You start off as Sergeant “Soap” MacTavish from the British S.A.S. you are under the command of Captain Price, a hard ass and seasoned military specialist. You first start out in a training room where you learn the basics of firing, switching weapons and using melee attacks. After that you get to see Captain Price, where you go through a timed training course which lets Call of Duty judge what difficulty you should play the game at. After you choose the difficulty it’s time to start up the missions.

Your first mission starts you off on a freighter looking for a nuclear weapon that it holds in its well… hold. Call of Duty 4 gets you right into the action not letting pesky sailors get in your way by being all nice and diplomatic. After running around the freighter killing everything that pops out, you finally find the nuclear warhead but alas the Russians decided to send some MIGs your way which makes quick work out of the ship. As you work your way back to the deck you get to know some other features of Call of Duty which is to say a pain if you’re not paying attention.

After the first mission the beginning credits start and you get a nice joy ride through the suburbs of a militant group’s takeover from a president. The main thing with Call of Duty 4 and all the Call of Duty series is the ability to keep you in the storyline. With not only active scenes and actions in between levels, each level has unique and independent dialogue that makes it different and new each level. Also with the quality voice acting, you don’t have to worry about trying to rip your ears off listening to it. The game dynamics and time put into it definitely make it worth trying out if not to keep playing for the multiplayer to at least finish the single player in all its attributes.

With Call of Duty 4, first is the basic game set up, unlike some first person shooters, when you zoom in you have to zoom down the sights. The crosshair is typically taken away, and unless you are using a scoped weapon you have to try to make sure you know how to aim it. Call of Duty 4, also has an amazing set up of graphics, it may not be DX 10 quality, but there definitely was time put into it. Each weapon and soldier has amazing detail and attention put into it. From some Arab’s hat to the camo on a sniper rifle, it definitely had time put into it. Though most of the backdrops aren’t up to par with Crysis or other soon to be released games, I honestly didn’t notice it between the close up detail and the amount of action the game brings on.

Also, unlike some first person shooters, Call of Duty 4 never leaves you with the “haven’t I already been here before?” attitude with levels. Each level is different and made especially for that level. Also Call of Duty introduces some extra levels other than the simple moving through the storyline. With Call of Duty 4, you also get the chance to fly around in a plane using a T.V. camera and drop down ammunition on lesser knowing enemies helping your allies move through buildings and tactical terrain. Also you get to go back in time with Captain Price with a whole level of a sniping mission which uses patience and cunning.

Call of Duty 4 lives up to the hype. It’s an amazing game that has yet to let me down. After going through the single player and arcade mode I still get around to having fun with it. I give Call of Duty 4 a 9 out of 10, The game is completely solid, but there are some drawbacks. I was able to finish single player mode in 1 day with time to sit around and type out this review. Unfortunately first person shooters try to leave all their money in the multiplayer mode. I wish this wasn’t true as I would much more enjoy having a 48 hour all nighter just to finish the game. Other than that, the game could of scored a perfect 10 even though it was not made for DX 10 during a time when game releases should be featuring it. Call of Duty 4 should be on your gotta have list as it is definitely worth having.