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In my last entry i told you about how much i’ve been enjoying Orange Box. A glorious game indeed. However… It’s on the backburner thanks to my new passion.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

To make a gaming generalisation… It’s rare to find a game that is as much fun single player as it is multiplayer or vice versa, but Call of Duty 4 is the exception to the rule. It’s tremendous in both regards. I have no idea which i’m enjoying more. Compare this to Half Life 2 on the PC, fabulous single player but i barely touched Half Life 2 Deathmatch. Or Halo 3, enjoyable (but stale) multiplayer with disappointing single player (i’m well aware that people won’t agree with me there, but i was really unimpressed with it).

The fourth iteration of the Call of Duty franchise, just like Call of Duty 3 before it, is a fantastic example of storytelling. Playing most first person shooters is much akin to Being John Malkovich. The silent-protagonist concept is useful in some games, helping support the players delusion that it could well be them in the game. But it never feels as immersive. CoD4, as i said, is a bit different. Little things like the way the camera moves when you slump onto the ground really put you there, and as a result CoD4 is very possibly the most realistic portrayal of warfare that we’ve experienced on a games console.

Multiplayer you say? Magnificent.

Some time ago myself and Shaun were discussing a game that he was working on. A multiplayer combat game in a similar vein to Worms. I suggested complicating it a little by allowing users to select a “Skill” for themselves. Skills would be things like running slightly faster, or reloading slightly faster. I come from a background of roleplaying games, so no character feels complete without personally selected skills, and it’s something that’s rarely implemented in shooters.

But they beat me to it, and to a far superior degree. Call of Duty 4’s multiplayer has an experience system. You gain points for killing your enemies (and rightly so), and gain levels. Proceeding up the ladder unlocks new weapons and gametypes. After a few quick initial level-ups you unlock the “Create a class” setting. This allows you to pick three skills for your character, they’re referred to as “Perks”. Perks can give you new equipment (C4, RPG7s), physical skills (increased health, faster reloading) and advantages (not appearing on the enemy’s radar is nice).

By allowing players to select their own perks they’ve effectively levelled the playing field. It’s easy to look at the situation and say “well all they’re doing there is making the good players even better - that’s not levelling the playing field”, but think about it this way - you might encounter an enemy who is a ridiculously good shot.. but if he can’t spot you coming up behind him you might win. You might encounter an enemy who has unlocked himself a great weapon.. but if you have more health than him you might win. They’ve given players a way to find their own skill. In games like Halo 3 online, if you’re not an accurate shot you’ll suffer. Not so in CoD4, you just find your own niche.

But it’s not just the perks that help with this. They haven’t just level it at experience and levels, they’ve added “Challenges”. The first challenge people will likely complete is killing a certain number of enemies with their favourite weapon. This unlocks a Red dot sight for the weapon, making it more effective. The next one is a bit more difficult, getting a certain number of headshots which gives you an ACOG scope. Basically they’re rewarding you, and at the same time making you more effective. They’re actually helping you play the game the way that you play the game. A character who loves the heavier weapons but still shoots accurately might love to unlock himself a stabiliser and scope for it.. But someone who just tends to spray and pray won’t unlock those features anytime soon, he’ll probably prefer to use his perks for other purposes.

You really feel comfortable playing CoD4, you can sculpt your character to a nearly unheard of degree for an FPS. Which is great.. but it’s not the best thing. The best thing is the replayability. You can keep changing things around, try new weapons or perks. You can even set up five classes, specifically designed for different types of gameplay.

I don’t see myself getting bored of this game anytime soon.