“Go easy on him sir, it’s his first day.”

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on the PlayStation 3 is one of the best all-round games that most have ever seen; it easily justifies winning the Game of the Year award in 2007. Building on the hit "Call of Duty 2" online experience, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare's new multi-player provides the community with an addictive and accessible experience to gamers of all levels, backed by a fresh and truly sublime campaign mode.

Graphics & Presentation

Without a doubt, Call of Duty 4 is one of the nicest looking games on the PS3. The environments are really the stars of the show here, and the battle damaged cities, building interiors, forests, and grassy fields all look realistic and great.

You really get a feel from just running around the maps that a huge amount of effort has gone into the game from the publishers and the developers, there’s great detail complimenting a large variety of different settings. The lighting effects are also spectacular and really set everything off. All of these effects combined make Call of Duty 4 the game that it has become today - a brilliant all-round gaming experience.

Sound

Musically Call of Duty 4 is also very impressive, the combination of musical score and sound effects are brilliant and provide a very realistic atmosphere , with great voice acting from stars such as Billy Murray (Eastenders) and Craig Fairbass (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Stargate SG:1). Having a 5.1 surround sound system makes the game come alive and you can feel like you're really there; cheesy I know, but just try it. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on the PS3 is a treat for the ears as well as the eyes.

Gameplay

As Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare's single player campaign unfolds; you play as a US marine and also a British SAS Combatant. From here on the player is introduced to a variety of new gameplay  elements at every turn – One moment you are swooping into a warzone with an armada of choppers repelling from your hovering Black Hawk (helicopter), the next you’re a Sniper in this PS3 video game, concealing yourself in local shrubby and a Ghillie suit miles behind enemy lines and suddenly thrown into engaging hostiles from an AC-130 gunship thousands of feet above the battlefield the action is relentless varied and always enjoyable.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare also delivers special effects, including use of depth of field, rim-lighting, character self-shadowing, real time post-processing, texture streaming as well as physics-enabled effects. Infinity Ward deployed a dedicated team from the start to deliver a new level of depth to multi-player.

The campaign mode, despite being slightly short for my liking, has a wide range of missions and it isn't repetitive as you always seem to be given a new task. However a negative point that springs to mind here is the fact that co-op play is missing, but this shouldn't dissuade buyers as the game justifies it's price even for the single player mode, not to mention the extensive and thoroughly enjoyable multi-player.

From a gameplay perspective, Call of Duty 4 feels pretty much like Call of Duty 2 and 3. The controls are the same, and other features like the grenade danger indicator are all present and accounted for. One area where Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is different is that there seems to be a much faster pace than previous games in the series. Thanks to a very generous lock on system where you can just tap the left trigger and your gun automatically moves to the next target (this can be turned off if you want), you can clear buildings and power through fire fights extremely quickly.

Personally, I really like this because it makes you truly feel like a bad ass. You are playing as a fully trained and highly skilled soldier, and the gameplay really makes you feel like one. It is a great thrill to enter a room and kill three guys in less than three seconds with precision bursts. The whole game is just smooth and easy to control, giving the player great satisfaction.

Closing Comments

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare has been in the works for a long time at Infinity Ward, and all of the effort has definitely been worth it. It has a fantastic single-player campaign, a fun and deeply rewarding multi-player mode, and wraps it all up with some of the best graphics and sound on the PS3.

My only real complaint is that there is no co-op play. The campaign is so fun and exciting and having a friend along for the ride would have made this already great game truly exceptional. That issue aside, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a fantastic game so much so that i recommended you buy Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, a purchase in my opinion that will have you owning the best first person shooter game to date.

More Brilliant Sniper Games for PS3 at GAMES Basement
 

Jake Beddows