Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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93 of 98 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best FPS yet!, 8 Nov 2007
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Having owned the game for a few days now, and played through the story twice and the multiplayer almost constantly, I feel it's time to give a review!
It was an interesting move for the Call of Duty series to venture away from their WWII 'safety-zone' but then again, we've seen the ending of WWII more times than we've had hot dinners, so the formula was getting a little old. Needless to say, the 'modern' update is refreshing and new.
The story has you playing as both an S.A.S soldier (Soap MacTavish) and a few U.S.M.C soldiers (depending on mission location). Both styles are fundamentally different, with your S.A.S missions focussing on stealth, and point-entry whilst the Marines missions focus on supporting, reclaiming ground, and neutralising confilct zones. Absolutely needless to say, but both sides offer a rich gaming experience and there's fantastic character building on the S.A.S missions; you really feel like part of the team.
I won't go into too much detail on the story, because I don't want to give anything away, it's hands down the best FPS story I've ever played (and yes, it beats Bioshock in my opinion) and it'll give you many many hours enjoyment as you'll want to play it again and again! One technical thing I thought I'd throw in is that the game is recorded at 60fps, so it's super smooth even on 1080i! This is also true for multiplayer!
Moving on, I suppose Call of Duty's crowning glory has always been the multiplayer. Call of Duty 2 was incredible, and 3 was on par albeit slightly less fluid compared to its predecessor. It goes without saying that Call of Duty 4 is hands-down the best multiplayer experience I've ever had! Everything is brilliantly thought out and the levels are designed fantastically. There are so many features I want to talk about!
Perks: Everyone knows about these from the beta, but there's some confusion to the levelling and over-powering that perks give you...Basically, they don't. Perks are decent, and useful, but they are not overpowering whatsoever. Yes, there's a perk to shoot through walls, but only if the walls are pretty thin and made of a lighter material. So you can't shoot through thick building walls or anything.
Another important aspect of the 'perks' is that you only get the very best ones when your rank is very high, and that takes a long time to achieve. There's a ranks system in COD4s multiplayer where you get promoted based on EXP gained from killing opponents, meeting challenge requirements etc.. and it's well balanced to take people a long time before they get the best weapons. And by best, I mean different. Fundamentally the weapons have similar stats, it's just having the prestige of using fancy weapons over bog standard ones.
But yeah, as you can probably tell by now, I think the game is very good. I'm also 100% certain that my thoughts are echoed across many of the thousands of current online players out there. Get this game, you'll lose your life, but by God is this a worthwhile game to lose it to!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Brilliant Game, But What Are Its Flaws?, 8 May 2008
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
First and foremost let me say that this game is utterly stunning. I would go as far as to say it may be the best game i have ever played. The single player campaign is incredibly intense, exciting and challenging, and the multiplayer is even better.
However i find when im reading reviews on amazon it isn't to read people praising a game, i generally want to know whats wrong with it and whether it puts me off buying it. (I know, im a horrible pessimist!)
So, heres what i think is wrong with this game:
1. Since the patch this has become much less of a problem, but all the same, the host migration issue is my biggest gripe. I mean by this that when the host leaves the game, it will end and restart once a new host has been selected. For the life of me i can't understand why this host migration couldn't take place in-game, allowing people to continue playing.
2. The single player campaign is a little short. Make no bones about it, the single player campaign is fantastic. It has amazing set pieces, looks beautiful, it is unbelievably intense and varied and on higher difficulties it becomes very challenging. However, with the quality of this content you find yourself wanting more, as the game just seems to end too quickly. If this campaign was 50% or 100% longer it would comfortably go down as the best single player game i have ever played.
3. Slightly overpowered perks. The perks you can get in multiplayer are a genius idea, and really add to the game. However there are a couple which seem to give too much of an advantage. The most obvious of these is the juggernaught perk, which allows people to sustain far more damage before dying. I cannot describe how frustrating it is to hit people with 2 good shots with a Barret 50 cal and then watch them run off to some cover. I'm sorry but if i hit someone in the chest with a GIANT high velocity bullet, or half a mag from an SMG then they NEED to die, i mean what is this, Halo?! However this may just be me whinging because im a sniper and some perks work annoyingly against me (bullet penetration being another one).
4. Im shocked this hasn't been mentioned more but a boot option! I can't stand whiny kids, racists, xenophobes and generally horrible people screaming down their mikes when im trying to relax and play a game. Whilst on the whole the atmosphere is good on COD4 you do get these people, and it flabbergasts me that Infinity didn't allow a vote system to kick people out, perhaps with a 75% threshold to stop it being abused by parties or used against people who are doing well. Most of all this would be useful in the hardcore modes for those most sinful of people, the teamkillers!
So, those are my 4 main problems with this game, and if Infinity does another modern COD game (probably COD 6) then i hope they would make these changes, or even make them with patches for COD4 in some cases.
However i have to once again stress that this is my favourite game, i love it, and all of the brilliant 5 star reviews on here discuss its excellence far better than i can so i would advise you read them. These faults are all very minor issues when taken in the context of how good this game is.
So, buy this game and if you haven't got it, buy an x-box live account, because the multiplayer is what really elevates this game to one of the best of all time.
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71 of 82 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Realistic, cool looking game with superb online gaming that will keep you hooked for ages, 17 Oct 2007
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
From the word GO, you can tell that this is a very well thought out game with a slick interface. The controls are very intuitive with a marginal feel of Halo as you can cut people down with a CQC knife melee attack. It's so satisfying to sneak up behind someone or if you've turn a corner and cut them to pieces. It's one of the fastest moves when you're right up close. To snipe, you need to press the left joystick to hold your breath and as in real life you can only do so for a short period of time. You will also need to recover from holding your breath as you take gasps of air.
Single gameplay
The singleplayer story is good. Like in previous COD they start you off gradually. This time you begin as a member of the SAS in a shooting range and a CQC (close quarter combat) training room gives you an opportunity to get used to the contols and also the layout of your first mission. It lets you in easy for the first mission. The story is split between playing as Bristish SAS and US marine. It has to be said that in the first US marine gameplay, the voice of the officer giving you instructions sounds remarkably like Keifer Sutherland in the series 24. US marine missions remind me a little of playing in Black Hawk Down environment, running amongst demolished buildings.
I've now completed the gameplay twice now and am working on the hardest level Veteran. It's a good mix of playing with different environments. For example you get to play the much anticipated 'Ghillies in the mist' sneaking around right by enemies and sniping guys. Also close quarter gameplay with uzi's and shotguns around demolished buildings. You even get to play as US air support which is extremely good fun and the commentary is sometime hilarious. All in all very good fun but it seems a little short - but maybe that's because i've played it twice already.
Multiplayer Gameplay
The thing that stands out the most for me about the multiplayer gameplay is the ability to customise. The designers have gone out of their way to make it this way for us and it's very much appreciated.
You start off with limited options and 5 preset player types using Assualt rifles, submachine guns, light machine guns, shotguns and sniper rifles. However as you rank up, you can can unlock 'Create a class' where you can select exactly what weapon you want as your primary, secondary and 3 perks.
Class creation
A unique feature new to COD is the customisation of your character online. A new feature is the PERK feature. when you customise your character you have the option of selecting 3 perks like;
Last Stand - when you get shot down, you can have a perk that allows you to have a last pistol gun fight to take one or two people down with you which is a very common perk that people use
C4 expert - throw C4 and blow stuff up like cars, lay a trap for your opponents which you don't see that often.
Demolitions expert - allows you to see where C4 has been planted so you can avoid areas which I haven't found anyone who uses yet
Sleight of hand- allows you to reload your weapon twice as fast which is extremely useful for very slow loading guns like the Light Machine guns.
Deep impact - allows you to shoot bullets that can penetrate through thin walls. Excellent for getting those guys who hide behind walls.
Doubletap - allows you to fire twice as many bullets in the same amount of time
Dead silence - allows you to run and sneak up behind opponents for a melee attack which is only available at level 44.
As you rank up you unlock more and more excellent perks and also when you use a certain weapon, you unlock more weapons of that class.
These are just a few of the perks that you can add to your character. I've been playing a lot recently and have currently reached level 52. Other perks that i really like are the UAV jammer which allows you to be invisible to the enemy radar which is excellent for flanking your opponent and when used in conjunction with a silenced weapon and Martyrdom (which allows you to drop a grenade automatically on your death) can be a deadly combination. I mostly use Steady Aim which allows you to have greater accuracy when firing from the hip which is very useful and one that you gain at a very high rank called Overkill which allows you to carry ANY 2 primary and secondary weapon - although you can choose a primary weapon and a secondary weapon normally, you are limited to pistols for secondary weapons only.
Not only can you specialise in a certain area (like sniper) but the more you use a particular weapon, the more extras you unlock for that class. For example, if you always select the assault rifle and do well with it, you can unlock different scopes (like COG, red dot) or silencers and other weapons in that class.
When you select a sniper rifle as your primary weapon you get to wear a Ghillie suit automatically!! You look extra cool and have the benefit of blending in to grassy environments and disappear. It has to be said that the Sniper looks very cool in the Ghillie suit for perfect blending into natural environments.
There are also some modifiers that allow you to call in additional help depending upon how you do. this is cool as you can call in UAV for radar (3 kills in a row without dying), air support by plane (5 kills in a row), helicopter support (7 kills in a row). In a fairly even match this is really good fun. However if the teams are uneven in capability, then they can really crush you which can lead to a very unsatisfactory game. Don't forget you can call in all 3 supports (radar, air strike and helicopter) during your lifespan so you don't need to save them. They also can be used in your next respawn after you die so use the air support in conjuction with a friends UAV radar support for accurate and maximum kills.
Team selection once you've joined a match is mostly random but it does try to even the teams out by spreading members at a high level over each team. If you are a member of a clan, you should party up before hand so that you are all in the same team. You can add any clan tag at any time from the main menu too.
Some of the maps are -
1)Crash - this site that reminded me of Black Hawk Down when the helicopter went down. Area has a broken helicopter in the middle and half demolished building areas around it.
2)Vacant- Abandoned warehouse/office type area with lots of corridors and some area outside with cargo holders.
3)Overgrown - a mixed area map with old abandoned buildings, large ditches, lush vegitation.
In addition to these maps there are plenty of other maps, all taken from parts of the single player game.
e.g.Bog - a mixture of marshy and demolished buildings
Pipeline - abandoned partly demolished industrial building type area
Backlot - similar style area to Crash (imagine running along the streets in black hawk down)
Types
There are LOADS of different types of gameplay available of which some are
Free for all - essentially solo elimination with a all for me. your on your own against everyone else.
Team Deathmatch - probably the most played as you play in a set team against others.
Mercenary Team Deathmatch - where there can be no party members (so that all are random players and you don't get smashed by a clan)
Search and destroy- where a player must get to a bomb and plant it and the other team must stop them.
Domination - you must capture and hold areas of the map.
Headquarters - try to reach a certain point and hold it but the team holding the headquarters can NOT respawn.
I've mainly played free for all, team deathmatch and Headquarters. Don't just stick to Team deathmatch as you'll miss out on other maps. Headquarters have different maps like 'Shipment' which is a very close quarters map with shipment crates in (You get loads of kills by using martyrdom). There is also 'Showdown', 'wetworks' (on a ship) too.
All in all for me, this game combined Halo and Ghost Recon Advanced Warefare 2 together. The UAV with air support and different classes and modifiers reminded me of GRAW2 but you also have close up melee attacks and joining games is much like the way you do in HALO 3 so is random. The host is also selected amongst the players participating in the game, so could be you, although I don't know what criteria they select. Also much like in HALO 3 you have an Experience indicator which goes up every battle you have which allows you to increase in military rank. As you increase in rank you can unlock perks.
When you reach level 55 you have the option of going to prestige mode which allows you to have a special icon by your name. BUT you lose all of your perks and you have to start from scratch. This is fine by me as what interested me most about the game was leveling up and gaining that extra perk. That's what i strived for and makes the game addictive. I'm currently at prestige 3 nearly at 4. You can of course stay at level 55 which many do and keep your perks etc and just try to gain those head shots. For all weapons, you not only can gain extra points for kills to a maximum of 1000, but you can also gain extra XP for headshots. Once you max out a weapon's headshots and kills, the weapon you choose is Gold.
I found COD4 an absolute blast to play and extremely addictive. Not only is it visually stunning, but you just want to gain that extra experience to gain rank or gain a certain perk. The customisation allows for varied gameplay styles in different maps.
For me this is the must have game since GRAW2 and it's no surprise that it's always sold out at the shops. If you liked GRAW2, you'll love this game. Hardcore COD fans will definitely not be disappointed in this game.
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