Infinity Ward’s latest addition to their infamous FPS series, Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat (CoD4), switches the timeline from WWII to modern day, but that doesn’t stop it from totally kicking ass! Since CoD3 was developed by TreyArch and not Infinity Ward, a fact Grant Collier is quick to point out, the team has had plenty of time to ensure CoD4 will return the franchise to its former glory. I recently got the chance to sit down with the guys at Infinity Ward to sample the multiplayer component of the game – here’s my report from the trenches.

As luck would have it, I have been playing a lot of CoD3 Online lately, and since CoD4’s control scheme is almost identical, this gave me an immediate advantage. Familiarity with the series also made me realize the importance of using iron sights to increase accuracy. Still, my death rate closely followed my kill count in nearly every round. Oddly enough, I died just as often by knives as by gunfire, which was maddening. In fact, some players decided to forgo high tech weaponry altogether, choosing instead to provoke others by sneaking around in the shadows, emerging only for the quick knife kill.  [We can see the ‘knives only’ servers now…sigh – ED]

Perks Outperform Cialis!

Various RPG elements that combine persistent upgrades with round-based rewards help to set CoD4 multiplayer apart; think Battlefield 2 meets Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and you get the idea. For starters, each pre-defined soldier class comes equipped with three, pre-filled, performance enhancing ‘Perk’ slots. Most Perks are passive, and they range from the extra sprinting distance gained from Extreme Conditioning to avoiding enemy radar detection through UAV Jammer. However, some ‘active’ Perks can be utilised during combat, like the Rifleman’s grenade launcher. In the final version twenty different Perks will be available, but the interesting aspect is the ability to create custom soldier classes and equip them with personalized Perk sets. In addition, as cyber-soldiers advance in rank, they will be able to add even more perk slots – wicked! - giving them a huge advantage on the battlefield; but the fun doesn’t end there!

In-game kill streaks offer single-use rewards that are only available for one match. For example, racking up three kills in a row grants access to the UAV, enabling all allies to see enemy positions on their radar for 30 seconds – a very welcome upgrade since enemies don’t usually appear on the radar until they fire their weapon. After a five kill streak, a devastating air strike becomes available. Simply hold the select button to bring up the area map, move the cursor to the desired area, and press ‘A’ to rain fiery hell down on the enemy. They’ll never know what hit’em! Those skilled enough to acquire seven kills in a row can call in helicopter air support that will hover over the battlefield spraying nearby enemies with machine gun fire. Every kill the helicopter scores is added to the player’s total, and the constant barrage forces adversaries to duck and cover!

Ditch the Enemy!

The CoD4 maps seem to be well thought-out and balanced. One map we played through, called Overgrown, featured a deep trench running down the middle of the level spanned by two bridges. The bridges create great choke points, and some players took cover inside of buildings and behind boxes to stop enemies from crossing. However, it’s also possible to run down into the ditch and up the other side assuming you don’t get caught up in the bloody firefights raging down in the riverbed. Snipers will love the tall grass found throughout the level as they can crack off shots while concealed – just be aware -  the ‘kill cam’ shows the direction of the ‘killing shot’ so don’t plan on camping  anywhere for too long.

Choosing to play most rounds as a Rifleman armed with an assault rifle, I was happy to find that it only took a few bullets to down each enemy. I can’t describe how frustrating it is to play ‘realistic’ war games where sending someone six feet under takes an entire clip – that’s if they don’t kill you first! Instead, CoD4 plays more like an FPS (first-person shooter) sporting a realism mod, which is how I prefer my shooters.

As you can see from the screenshots, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare sports gorgeous, lifelike visuals and realistic particle effects. How Infinity Ward was able to squeeze so much detail into the game while also retaining a smooth frame rate is beyond me. Needless to say, I can’t wait to enlist as a virtual soldier when it’s released in November. We’ll keep you posted on more info as the official multiplayer beta kicks off in the coming month.