Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

I was fortunate enough to be able to get in on the Call of Duty 4 multiplayer beta. I actually got my token this past weekend, but since I was out of town I did not get to download it and play it till yesterday. I was so excited to play it because if you have seen any of the videos at all you would know how awesome it looks.

First off let me say that I am glad to see that they have gone into modern combat, personally I was getting a little tired of the WW2 games. They have all been way over done and I just don't care for the weapons. I really like newer type weapons for some reason.

As for the Beta, let me say that it looks amazing. I cannot get over the graphics of the online play. Everything you see just looks incredible, it is hard to believe it is a beta at this point. The beta has really gotten me really excited about the game. I played for about 6 hours last night, now if that doesn't tell you how good it is I don't know what would. I didn't want to put the control down, but realizing that it was 2am I thought it was time to go to bed.

What kept me playing was the overall game play. Some of you know that I am a huge fan of Rainbow 6: Vegas. I love the tactical shooters more than the run and gun type game play that you encounter in Gears of War multiplayer. I love to work as a team and try to plan a route to accomplish whatever the goal might be. One thing that I love about RB6 is the cover system I love how you can press against the wall and pop and shoot, although not realistic I still love it. I knew going in that COD4 would not have a cover system due to realism plus many of the walls can be shot through and you don't want to get hit through the wall. One thing that COD4 does have is the ability to lay on the ground, something that I really wished RB6 had.(very nice getting low and sniping from across the field.) I also like the fact that it is harder to snipe in COD4, so you actually have to practice it to get good at it.

The game play would be a combination of tactical shooter and run and gun, all though I think you are much more successful when you take a more tactical approach. I can pretty much guarantee that if you run out into the open field or and open area you are going to get sniped. (I am speaking from experience.) As in RB6 there is a ranking system which adds to the game play I love being about to rank up. Plus you get new equipment with each rank up just as in RB6. There is also this ability, which I haven't gotten yet, to call in air strikes. When this happens you are notified of an incoming enemy air strike via your radio. It is best to get inside a nearby building that could withstand the air strike. If you get caught out in the open and the helicopter or jets pin point your location you are a goner. (The placement of the strike is determined by the person who called it.) And yes you can take out the helicopters and planes with a rocket launcher if equipped. So far and I hope it stays like this, there are no vehicles like in COD3. I hate it when game makers put vehicles in FP shooters, it is ridiculous and I just can't stand it. I like it when everyone is on foot and using a combination of guns, grenades and other weapons. Honestly from the maps that I have played, there are only 3 so far, there would be any room for vehicles.

The maps all vary and I have grown to love all of them. At first there was one that I didn't like, but as with most maps in games you get familiar with them and you get comfortable with where everything is at. One called Vacant is inside an old office/ warehouse so it is more close quarters combat like in RB6, I love it. You can and will have some shootouts outside the building which is awesome. The next one is called Crash, it is based around a helicopter crash that occurred in the middle of a village that appears to be middle eastern. This one is a combination of indoor combat with outdoor combat, it is what I would invision our armed forces facing when they sweep smaller towns. Players can be anywhere, out in the open, on top of buildings, hiding behind cars, or sniping from inside a building to the open courtyard. The one that finally grew on my is called Overgrown. It is the largest map and has a lot of open field combat, (a lot of sniping) but also has plenty of building to enter into to try to get an advantage. As I have said before I love playing all the maps and love the fact that all three are played just slightly different.

Game modes that are available are Team Deathmatch (12 players), Free for All (every man for himself) (12 players), Team Objective (12 players), and Team Tactical (6 players). I have only played Team Deathmatch and Team Tactical. Team Deathmatch is your typical deathmatch style play. Team tactical as you can see is small team oriented play. One round you play small team deathmatch and the next is search and destroy. One team defends the 2 areas and the other tries to plant a bomb in one of the areas. Both are extremely fun and I cannot wait to explore the other game modes. One thing that they nailed are respawns. You never respawn in the exact same place so it eliminates the spawn camping that happens in RB6. What is awesome is that you will eventually spawn where your opponents originally spawned. It makes it really fair and one team doesn't always have a position advantage over the other.

As you can see I am really impressed with this game and look forward to it's release. As of right now none of my RB6 friends got in on the beta so I really look forward to being able to play it with my friends. It has been a blast to play so far and I really think that this game is going to be a must buy. It is the perfect combination of tactical shooter and run and gun. I am extremely excited about what Infinity Ward has done with this game. Game play is awesome, graphics are absolutely amazing, and they have added things to the online play that just add to the already impressive play. If you get a chance to get in on the beta in the future I would make sure you try it out, definitely worth it.

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