Confirmed - Call of Duty 4 solo campaign is 5 hours long

From an French review.

They report from the translation:
" Yet, despite all his qualities, including technical, Call Of Duty 4 has some default . The first of, its life: 5 hours! That, as it is said, quick and painful as they say. 5 hours is about the time it takes to complete the game in medium difficulty."

[Meus Renaissance]

I was furious when I originally heard this. But because I'm buying 3 games that are solely single player (R&C, Uncharted and Assassins) this month then I don't mind at all. I'll just play Call of Duty when I want some Mulitplayer action.

This will still be bad news for people who can't or won't be buying much this month if they saw this game as their main source of gaming. But Online will be a blast - literally.

P.S. Look forward to owning you, love Meus

[Meus Renaissance]

Heavenly Sword was short but it is still one of the best games I have ever played and I sincerely hope you one day are able to experience the cinematic feeling of that game. Yes it was short but I wasn't disappointed at the end as some would assume, I was just in awe at the ending and couldn't wait for the 2nd installment.

It could have been longer, it should have been longer, but thankfully we were treated while it lasted. Short and sweet. I sincerely loved it more than I did than with some games that have lasted 10+ hours

[DolphGB]

...only applies the first time through. Hell Mode is a whole different kettle of fish altogether.

Ditto @1.2 - short but most sweet.

[QUNE]

then people (not necessarily you) shouldn't judge this game until they play it. If it's as intense as the PC demo then I definitely wont be disappointed.

[EZCheez]

You owning me. I dare you.

A5 FTW.

[IdontTakeSides]

uhh did you play HS ..it wasn't 5 hours...it's about 7-8 hrs of gameplay..and as Meus said..it's one of the most cinematic game experiences i ever had....and one of the best next gen games so far..

back to the topic..5hrs of gameplay thats short but honestly ..most ppl like myself isn't buying it for single player...MP is where it's at...besides I bet most ppl will take atleast 7hrs to finish the game..!!

[fusionboxer]

After completing my 3rd ninja gaiden run, and then playing and completing heavenly sword, i realized some games are better short in length, but high in quality.

I feel heavenly sword was on par with games like shadow of the colossus and ICO simply due to the excitement and emotions i drew from the scenarios and characters. All three could be beaten in 6 hours or less, but that's really not a negative. HS was just like a great action movie that I'd be happy to have in my collection to take out every once in a while and watch just like i do my favorite films.

I think game informer had an interesting article on game length a couple months back. It had to do with getting the satisfaction you desire from games by either completing ICO in about 5 hours, or playing some MMO for 100+ hours to get an item.

As for COD4, I don't think short single player will really be considered a negative after most of us play it. Most reviews so far have stated it's an intensely gratifying experience that holds it's own weight. With a huge list of modes i see the entire game as a great package worth experiencing over and over again whether you mostly play single player, arcade, or online.

[mesh1]

meus cod4 single playerm looks better than heavensword graphically it wont best graphics e3.

[EZCheez]

If you could beat Shadow of the Colossus in less than 6 hours then you are amazing.

And even though I liked Heavenly Sword, in my humble opinion it doesn't hold a candle to Shadow of the Colossus. That game was on an entirely different level.

[GIJeff]

It took me almost 11 hours to beat Heavenly Sword. The boss battles are quite challenging. Now that I know what to do, I MIGHT be able to finish the game in 7. Its not as short as you rant about, but you're just a hater. So whatever. Nobody should listen to this chump.

[Rockstar]

Putting out the trash.

[JsonHenry]

The game has a single player? : )

[Badhabit007]

To 1.12: JsonHenry.

Did you ever play a COD game in your life? All COD got the most engaging single player story of all time and, normally it's at least 10 hours or more of game play @ medium level. I'm disappointed that for the first time that they leave WWII, we only got a 5 hours story long in solo mode. I'll buy it, I'll love it, I'll try it @ max levels, but I still think that 5 hours for a COD game is short, especially for someone who wants it's for the solo and not for the online gaming. Believe it or not, there is still some gamers out here that loves solo campaign instead of the online features.

Ciao!

Mart

Oups, sorry I just saw your smiley at the end of your comment.... Did not catch you sarcasm at first, sorry again...

[marcdz1]

This is why everyone was saying that the Xbox was going to be holding PS3 games from their true potential. Everyone here knows that their Hardware (DVD) space sucks and now the PS3 is paying the price for lack of space. That is why the damn game is so short. They ran out of space for the 360 when they tried to make it 1080p

[DTClown]

There's a reason it is coming with 16 SIXTEEN multi-player maps guys. That's probably a MP map for every single player campaign....we'll see tomorrow!

[Real gamer 4 life]

Wow only 5 hours of story, man that really suck .

[rubarb23]

i preordered the game, but now i'm wondering if i should just rent it. i'm more about the single player campaign. mutliplayer is bonus for me. tuff decision, the game does look amazing but 5hrs?

[Ju]

Dito. Just added it back to my rental list. Had it removed for a buy, but now I want to see this first. 5 hours really suck - if that's really true.

[rubarb23]

i just spoke with one of my friends who collects the xbox magazine and when they reviewed the game they said the campaign was about 10hrs or so. just an fyi

[lonestarmt]

yeah I was going to either get Call of duty 4 and or Haze and just rent the other. If this is true, I'm renting COD 4 and buying Haze.

[Razzy]

Man I was all hyped up for this one but five hours is sad. Multiplayer ain't really my bag so I'll give this one a rental.

[Fototherapist]

I consider myself a moderately hardcore gamer, and I always get games for the single player campaign. I'm not embarassed to say that I really like all these games coming out that take less than 10 hours to complete. It lets me have a life outside of gaming.

[resistance100]

Well to be fair, i know it will take me longer than 5hours to complete, probally closer to 10hours as i take my time on games. But saying that i mainly brought this game for the multiplayer and am picking up R&C on friday aswell for the single player

[EZCheez]

I am falling in love with that game. The ONLY reason I'm thinking about holding off on this game is because I want to find everything there is to find in Ratchet. Seriously, that game is awesome and is the best I have played on my PS3.

[Ju]

Got Ratchet already, beat it, was great. Do the challenge mode now. And enjoying it again. But my budget will most likely go to the big single players Uncharted and Assassins Creed. And then I want to see Haze (more a fictional shooter then real world - CoD4 is very gray to me, I want some more colors - but I gotta try it out first).

[skagrerrrr]

this up for multiplayer gaming too, it's sweet!

[simplemetry]

that is y im buying this game.. because of the multiplayer online gaming... for sure that lots of people will be playing this in ps3... bcuz ps3 have 18 players in 1 online battle...

[xplosneer]

I'm tired of this. I have GRAW2, and I'm tired of multiplayer. Just am. I'm going to pick up Ratchet and stay offline for awhile. I'm just tired of online. IMO. At the guy above with the 18 player comment:They both have 18 player support on one gameplay type, and they both have 16 players on the other types.

[Douchebaggery]

it's the next gen game length

[PS3 Limps on and on]

But this looks like Game of the year. Why didn't they make Halo 3 look this good?

[Covenant]

That's a shame...one would have expected it to approach the length of the original CoD games.

BUT, if online play is as good as the Beta showed, then I suspect people will spend far more time pwning people online than on the campaign mode. And they won't mind.

This may give Halo 3 a run for its money when it comes to a great online experience.

[wangdiddy82]

I was hoping at least 8 hours.. Or even 7 hours.. Whateva im still buying this game, looks to freaking sweet to pass up.. I bought heavenly sword after everyone complained it was short and that was one of the best games ive played, im glad i didnt pass that one up..

[vangl76]

This game probably won't be more than a rental for me. I can't really see myself purchasing a $60 with that short of a single player campaign even if it's a awesome 5 hours.

[Vojkan]

Mark my words, sites won't bash it like Heavnly Sword, they will find excuse to praise this 5 hours just because it isn't PS3 exclusive, but if it was....o boy i can only imagine ....

[Meus Renaissance]

Heavenly Sword didn't have a comprehensive online Multiplayer though. I can understand why it was hated upon, I accepted that but it I disliked how they barely praised the game itself. It was an experience and a half mate. I still think about Nariko /\_/\

[Vojkan]

Not everyone playes multiplayer(like my self) so that is useless to me. We can't just say, hey it has multi player and thats what makes it up for crappy single player.

[iNcRiMiNaTi]

because it has online multiplayer and anyone who ever played a CoD game knows thats where its at...

but yea..i hate the fact that some of the biggest games coming out are less than 10 hours long, i thought we were passed that this console generation already...hopefully assassins creed wont be short

[brothersimon]

Sounds like a ps3 game, typical short PS3 game :/

you know, just like heavenly sword..

[Keyser]

You are not well thought of by others are you?

[Devr]

Huh, I read a magazine review of COD4 and they didn't complain much about this. They just said the singleplayer could be a little longer.

It got 10/10, btw.

[kspraydad]

With a single player that short I may wait for Socom Confrontation and compare.

[Heaven_Or_Hell]

Socom Confrontation is just multiplayer game, no solo campaign

[kspraydad]

If COD is basically online only I might aswell wait to see how SOCOM C works out before committing my $60

[QUNE]

but how long will the wait be? There's been no hype for that game unfortunately. COD4 game will more than take care of the time between now and then.

[Azures]

The single player is just additional imo, the genius is in the multi player

[PirateThom]

Sadly, I believe that should never be the case.

In games like this, single player should be the game, it should be able to stand by its self, it's what I'm paying for. The multiplayer should be the bonus.

[Azures]

Your living in the past I guess. Multiplayer depth is quickly becoming the premiere focus on FPS games. Just look at Halo, who plays that game for it's story or single player? It's all about multi, its where the value of the game comes in stride.

[PirateThom]

I am stuck in the past, I've never been big on online multiplayer anyway and this shift towards it bothers me.

It may give more replay value to a lot of people, but when the campaign is only 5 hours long it puts me off buying the game.

[damnwrx]

Half Price for 5 hrs.

[emaddox84]

Well, I guess I'll be renting this.

[cyprus]

Multiplayer will be fun. That's where the game is!

[DolphGB]

...is one of the best games on any platform right now and since it doesn't have a single player mode, it's CLEARLY much shorter than CoD4! :-)

My point?

CoD4 doesn't need any kind of single player experience really, just like Warhawk. I expect they only included it as a fallback for those people who still don't have internet access. Which can't be many.

CoD4 won't suffer from having a short single player mode. Warhawk is proof of that.

[Kyur4ThePain]

I didn't have to pay $60 for it.

[wil4hire]

Xbots are looking very desperate right now, now you guys are attacking superior ps3 multiplats.

HS is an amazing game, read a review for once and not just a score. Its short. Thats that. You guys are acting like sony invested their entire business into HS.. Nope, just 1 company made it. It came out as an average game as far as Gamerankings/metacritic goes.

So ratchet comes out, and you guys still talk trash about HS?
COD4 looks better on the ps3, yet you guys still talk trash about HS
Uncharted is definitely going to own, and you will still talk trash about HS..

Are you just avoiding talking about the good games on the ps3?

lets talk about two worlds on the 360 then? Or any other flop, and just use that as a the leading game for the entire console.

Seriously XBOTS, its cute seeing how you guys keep changing your argument from:

Delaystation - Rendered useless since games are flowing out now.
Crappy hardware - COD4 & UT3 great examples of the terrible hardware.
Bad Games - Ratchet & Uncharted, Haze all at the end of the year, and NONE of these are major franchises.

Now its turning into "mehh well.. Heavenly Sword was short?!?1 ROFFLS!!!"

Go read about pretending you are a woman in Mass Effect or something guys... or at least, troll well. Or is it that your third RRODbox is broken, and you have nothing else to do but compare COD4 to Heavenly Sword?

Last ditch efforts are cute as hell.

[Chabbs0]

ur cwazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!! does any1 else think that an xbot just sounds like a cool robot? from now on xbot is a compliment, unless you dont want to be a cool robot, then its not a compliment.

[WilliamRLBaker]

its short...and its goddess of war...its not original its basically god of war but with an female protagonist and thats a fact.

A game like goddess of war shouldn't be short, Its beatable in under 4 hours without much effort its a button masher to the core and thats a fact.

P.S: and how many SKU's was it now for ps3? 5? and they still aren't selling? lol damn.

[Heaven_Or_Hell]

70$/5

14$ per hour :)

[Funky Town_TX]

good point. I just hope the MP is very solid. Campfest = no play.

[fenderputty]

I kind of laugh. While they are not cheap, I can easily spend 70 on a night at a club with little to no continuing satisfaction. Hell ... the more I spend the less I tend to remeber.

[mswan999]

This review is probably from the French version of COD 4 where it allows you to surrender at any point in each level. No wonder it only took them 5 hours becuase when it got tough they hit the button that throws out the white flag.

[Scythesean]

Bubble for you sir that was funny! :)

[Aass]

Now, that is just hilarious!

[sjappie]

Oh, man, that's just hilarious. "ze French"

[GrizAdams]

Awesome post!!

[cr33ping_death]

cartman(from south park) " there were people who quit playing in WWII CRAIG, the FRENCH, are you french CRAIG"

CRAIG "NO"

CARTMAN " Voulez-vous couchez avec moi, CRAIG? LOL from make love not warcraft. :)

[mighty_douche]

looks like ill be playing through on HARD first time round then!

not really a disappointment, at least if offers countless hours of fun though multiplayer.

[MK_Red]

Well, COD4 looks to have the best multiplayer experience in years and could very well be the next Counter Strike so I'm not complaining. Plus, it has different difficulties as well as the superb Arcade mode for SP so it's all great.

[mighty_douche]

it aint no CS!

sorry thats my fanboy weakness! love that game...

[iNcRiMiNaTi]

the MP matches looks awesome...cant wait to try the game and those perks looks pretty cool...

[MK_Red]

I understand you. I'm a big CS fan myself. Terms like next "Mario 64", "FF7" and such are often used but have they really happend :)
BattleField 2 and others tried... yet CS is still CS and nothing is even close.

CS is the online game that I've played and enjoyed the most and I'm saying that as a UT fanatic. But I got to say that COD4's MP looks beyond great.

[mighty_douche]

CoD's MP looks amazing. id kinda compare it to halo (dont ask me why), UT has the speed and fun, you just wanna get back in there an hear the sweet sweet sound of "ULTRA KILLLLLLLL", CS has me on the edge of my seat all the time, the excitment of the 'rush' and the fear that every gun instills, one in the head and its game over (gotta love that deagle). but CoD, to me, just looks good old FUN like halo, but with all the added ranks and unlocks its gonna keep me coming back time and time again.... cant wait.

[mesh1]

thia gia game has better grapics than counter strike but is it a better game NO CHANCE BUT itis the best war fare shooter on a console tho nothing comes close i played it on the xboxbeta and belive u me unfinished this game look and played like beast THE FUN factor is very highhhhhhhhhh kind of like the weed im smkoing atm hahahahahah

[ShiftyLookingCow]

hmm makes me wonder if the next installment will be multiplayer only

[Rooted_Dust]

If I wanted to play multiplayer, I would just play Battlefield, or Day of Defeat, or CS, or TF, or UT. Why can't anyone make a decent game with quality and quantity Single player. Your basically paying 10 dollars per hour of gameplay, and you're probably going to beat it the day you buy it.

[mighty_douche]

i hope not Darth.

i think im one of the few left who really loves a good single player experience. problem wth CoD is its all set pieces, so everytime you play through it regardless of difficulty settings or the new arcade mode it still feels very 'samey'.

personally i played the PC single player demo, and i gotta say, if its 5 hours of that, ill be a happy man!

[otherZinc]

if Heavenly Sword, Lair, Warhawk, MotorStorm, Folklore, Eye of Judgement, or any other FLOP PS3 game is so great........Buy Them!

No one is buying these games: Numbers don't lie and 6 games were out thats supposed to be great and none sell?....... this isn't a coincidence, the games are not that good.

I'm no PS3 hater but I tell the truth, the only game worth a purchase for the PS3 is Ninja Gaiden Sigma and no one purchased that. Now, what makes you think Uncharted, COD 4, Haze, is going to do better?

COD 4, my problem is No CO-OP! and you want $60 for this game, NO, from me on both sides 360 & PS3 (I don't count Wii: its not a game machine), I would get the 360 version because of Live, but we all know how great that is.

[apoc06]

?

motorstorm has sold well over a million copies. given the low ps3 userbase, thats like a 1 in 5 attach rate. depending on how you look at it, thats better than halo 3's! as of summer, resistance sold over 2 million, thats a 1 in 2.5 attach rate. every other ps3 owner has a copy of resistance.

[kurochi]

To 26......

I'm no PS3 fanboy.... but have you noticed that every game you just mentioned are completely different in style and offers variety? I kinda like that. All I have on my 360 are Halo 2 &3, Gears, COD 3 and Dead Rising..... I mean, where's the variety MS? This is why I tend to rather try out PS3 games. It's different.
Before 360 fanboys lash out at me, I like the 360, I just wish it had different genre of games that are consistently good. I just don't see it. I'm sorry to say, the Wii has more variety to choose from than the 360.

[aiphanes]

And it is a good game...and will be even better after december with the booster packs...(new maps)

Since COD4 and Assassins Creed are good on the PS3...so will Haze, Uncharted, and UT3.....Ratchet is already the best PS3 game out right now...

[Funky Town_TX]

The single player should be longer. I hated the MP in COD2. Too much camping. I will not pay $64 ( $60 with taxes 8.25%) to play a 5 hour game. It will be a rental for me. I hope the MP is not a camp fest. I remember when COD2 launched it was a disaster. There was no player custom matches, no lobbies, and very laggy. It took them like 2 months to fix it. I have hated IW since. It takes more than pretty GFX to get me to buy, and I am a GFX whore.

[Rooted_Dust]

It's a legitimate strategy :)

[mighty_douche]

boring tho...

[PS3 Limps on and on]

Some soldier boy joins then military then goes to war, and gets shot at by other soldier boys who also joined the military?

I hate Military shooters, give me Sci Fi over military any day.

Halo 3, Resistance, Gears of War, Killzone, Haze

Over

Call of Duty, Metal Of honor, Rainbow six, Ghost Recon

Still call of duty 4 looks very good for being boring military.

[sjappie]

did you just use 2 ps3 games, and 2 360 games in the same sentence, in a positive way? Wow, kudos!

[apoc06]

i think the appeal of CoD4 is that it finally breaks free of WWII. there arent that many modern FPS games out there, in comparison. out of the few around, very few are stellar. with the exception of rainbow six, none of them are available on the next gen consoles. IW seems to be filling the gap w CoD4.

[Chabbs0]

I think the amount of realsim draws people in, so its like real people are doing this, wow! whereas some people find halo and resistance are too fake because its farfetchd

[gamesblow]

So, COD4 is basically another Gears of WAr... I gotcha!

[sjappie]

Well, in the end I was going to buy the game for the multiplayer anyway, but I would've loved a big single player campaign like COD2 had. Or at least something longer than 5 hours, wtf? Dissapointing.

[PS3 Limps on and on]

has his day

[Nykamari]

Sh!t360 Boys are crazy, don't you think if the ps3 is 5 hours aren't all them the same. COMMONSENSE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!

[Ignorant Fanboy]

I think you are making stuff up.

[rbanke]

same opinion anytime the game length subject is brought up for any game. Id rather play 5 hours of a great game then 10 hours of the same game extended to meet some time quota

[iNcRiMiNaTi]

my girl likes to play halo online with me sometimes and i wanted to know if i can bring in other people to play this game too?

@sjappie

yea thats what i meant, so if CoD3 had it hopefully this one does too..i have cod2 and u couldnt do that so i was kinda worried..never got cod3, heard it wasnt as good as 2

[sjappie]

I'm not sure, in COD 3 you could.

[Salvadore]

But the multiplayer games up for it.

[Marcellus Wallace]

Constant complaining gets you nowhere. Rent it if you're complaining.

[Guitarded]

If we don't complain, how will "THEY" know we're dissatisfied?

[Z501]

Resident Evil 1 was only 3 hours long.
Should all games be 20+ hours,just to please people.
What if the game does't warrant 10 hours or 7.Should NON gameplay elements(i.e.storyline/escort missions)be their just to make the game longer?
What about the 4 hours of dialouge in MGS3?
Is that justified?
Was the dialouge nessecary for the game and the story?Or was it just filler?
Seems to me people now-a-days prefer video game filler.

[Guitarded]

to warrant at least 10 hrs. of game play without fillers, then don't bother making it. If the game is good but less than 10 hrs. it's a ripoff, and goes to the rental list.

[Devr]

But those 5 hours are probably the best 5 hours in any war shooter, ever. Plus there's the arcade mode.

[kewlkat007]

even tho I really enjoyed the game...I bet you if this was a Xbox 360 EXCLUSIVE we wouldn't be hearing fanboys saying we don't care[I have more games I'm playing].

riighttt...

GEARS got the flack for being short and this should too regardless...Even though multiplayer will be sweet.

[akaFullMetal]

i was going to buy it, but now im not so sure, 5 or 6 hour campaign, just seems to short for me, i would love to play this game, but i think my friend from gamestop, will just borrow it for me if its that long, and if i enjoy the multiplayer enough i will buy the game, but damn they should of made the single player longer

[Charlie2688]

This is a rather heavy hit since the campaign from COD2 took around 12-14 to complete

But I guess COD4 short campaign makes up in quality what lacks in length :)

...I hope >.>

:P

Edit: what exactly does you response have to do with my post?

[Close_Second]

...was invested in bringing the COD4 single player campaign to life?

If a 5 hour game is what you get for all the years and millions of dollars spent, it does not bode well for the cost of future games...

[shodown19]

Multiplayer sold me on this game. The length of the game is not really a problem with me. As long as the game is fun and interactive, I could care less about the length.

Like Meus said, Heavenly Sword may be short but on a cinematic level , it's one of the greatest games I've ever played. When it comes to capturing my interest, I can honestly say I put Heavenly Sword on the same plateau as Shenmue. A game that I'm thankful for being able to play.

Back on subject. Call of Duty 4 looks very promising, but I'm more interested in Drakes Uncharted and Assassin's at the moment. I'll wait for reviews and get back to CoD4. I'll more than likely buy the PS3 version rather than 360.

PS3's version will probably have a more active online community than 360. Yes I do know that 360 has more subscribers and what not but let's face it, a high percentage of those are too busy playing Halo to be playing CoD4.

[Ashta]

Gears of War was about 6 hours long for single player campaign and Heavenly Sword was kinda short too.

BOTH are great games though, but Heavenly Swords faults doesn't come from the game itself but comes from its lack of extra content. Obviously it couldn't have had any real multiplayer that would have been decent but they could have added more in there to play with besides unlocking artwork and movies. A few extra costumes or something would have been nice.

GEoW has been kept up because of its multiplayer. Despite having an awesome single player experience it has been labeled as a short game, but thank God they kept the multiplayer right?

Still, Call of Duty 4 has been sold as a multiplayer game much like Unreal tournament 3. Sure, they both have single player stories (and I cannot imagine what the hell UT3 consists of) but the real fun is in the multiplayer. If multiplayer isnt your cup of tea then might I suggest you wait seven days and pick up Assassin's Creed. It should fill the single player experience gap you've been feeling in such a joyous way.

[highps3]

Ya should have played it, Heavenly was sick and the AI Boss fights were insane!

As far as COD4 being short, as long as its a solid expirence I have no problem playing a short game.

Heck I rather have these two games over the Halo 3 campaign, that was surely longer and sucked.

[Close_Second]

...campaign rather good actually. Especially the level where you were making your way through "The Floods" carrier ship. Did you get right through Halo 3 or are you just repeating what other people have said about it?

[otherZinc]

Wrong logic. MotorStorm was so hyped, 1st month terrible sales, around 200k and was never seen again. Until they made it a pack-in and got the sales #'s up.

You say attach rate: the 360 had almost the same amount of systems out and it didn't stop the hot games from selling off the hook 1st month they released.

I wasn't talking about Resistance, Its also one of the only games out for the PS3 thats above average. Its just Ninja Gaiden & RFOM.

If the PS3 is worth its salt it will sell their top games but it doesn't. Also, the early adapters purchase the most games.

[kurochi]

have you played rachet yet???

[xaphanze]

What about people who cant play online?We dont have fast connections here =/. I dont know if ill buy it.

[Close_Second]

Next-gen so far has been sending clear messages so far:
1. Improved visuals
2. Wireless
3. Shorter games!!!!!

5 hours is too short and is clearly a rental for those who are not set up to play on-line. I feel they should have offered two flavors of release for this game:

1. Single player only at a substantially reduced price to reflect the short single player mode.
2. Single player + multiplayer at the suggested RRP.

We all know that COD4 will be all about multiplayer but to expect consumers to pay full price when all they want (or can play) is single player is downright criminal.

I for one will be playing COD4 on-line but I must admit, I may now wait 6 months so I can pick up the game at half the price from an on-line auction site.

[Chabbs0]

unfortunatly its the trend, I really dont mind it but i can see how some could.
its the question, better graphics or long game? well games like assassins and mass effect are long with no loss of performance/graphics.
how long is R&C i could imagine that being a long game, havent had the chance 2 play it :(

people will still pay full price for this game, heck i bet people would pay double the price. Im getting the limited edition, twas only £5 more expensive!!!

[CaliGamer]

Though the reasons for the shorter length can be easily speculated.

Think about the nextgen gaming experience, and now think about all the things that go into making these games, sound, textures, level design, dialogue, visual accuracy, balancing of the levels, and many other factors that I can't think of at the moment.

All these take extra time and money to implement, and thus, there is less of it.
Once you add in the scripting for games such as this, and all the other features, you end up being very limited in what you can do all at once.

The development time that some of these games take is getting longer and longer, and the amount of things you have to take into account is ever increasing.

On the other hand, Resistance was a fairly lengthy game and it had a lot going on too. It would just boil down to the choices the developers make.

Games are becoming shorter tho, perhaps playing on hard would increase the gaming pleasure.

[Marcellus Wallace]

...for added length and pleasure.

Seriously, I'm not worried about its length, the SP will be phenomenal regardless.

The MP is the best I've ever played, can't wait. I won't touch Halo 3 again.

[CaliGamer]

My bad man, I made the same point as you did, I completely agree that the difficulty is a huge factor. Bubbles for you bro.

[CaliGamer]

The point being, if this were a movie, this would not be an issue. Its like saying The Prestige was a bad movie because it wasn't as long as Lord of The Rings. If the game conveys what it needs to in that amount of time, then it has done its job.

A longer game doesn't make it better, and I for one would rather a well crafted single player experience rather than one that is made artificially long and just drags on. Not to mention this is a MP game at heart, so a lot of the value lies in ranking up and unlocking the various things that the online experience has to offer.

The difficulty that the game is set at also affects the length, I tend to play all my games on the more difficult setting because I feel like I get my moneys worth and as a result, the games take longer because of the increased challenge.

I would ask just as a general question, for a game like this, what would an acceptable length be?

Edit:
Have they been raising prices in New Zealand? How is it that you paid $89.95 for COD2 and now COD4 is $105? I think you missed my point completely, the movie reference wasn't talking about the visuals or anything, its talking about the story and the satisfaction you get from it. As I stated above, just because a game is long doesn't mean its good, but I guess if the experience is good, the longer the better.

[Chabbs0]

I think the same length as MoH Airborne about 8 hrs and that was a difficult game, but then again i generally suk at gaming. :(

8HOURS!!!! otherwise i just lose interest and move on, its the right amount of time too keep my attention without me getting bored, but just for an FPS

[Close_Second]

...in New Zealand COD4 will retail for $105 (NZD) on the 360 and $115 on the PS3 (and only $85 NZD on the PC??????). To me, if you're only getting it for single player you would rent it.

FYI - when you go see a movie in NZ you pay around $14 (NZD).

I don't consider COD4 to be value for money in terms of a single player campaign. COD2 which offered 10 hours + only cost me $89.95 and it was an excellent campaign. So, for COD4 you pay more for less gameplay but has better visuals. Thats like saying because Star Wars III had better effects than Episode I they should charge more for ticket prices.

[huntsman1230]

Why is everyone freakin out. the game will be great. gears of war was that long if not shorter. calm down

[Close_Second]

...is not a sequel to games that offered 10+ hours for single player and GOW was cheaper to buy than COD4.

[shysun]

Multiplayer is where the meat is.I fine with that! :)

[kewlkat007]

everybody comes together and write comments like this one

"The length of the game is not really a problem with me. As long as the game is fun and interactive, I could care less about the length."

A lot of gamers say the same about halo3 and Gears but I've never seen these comments.

We'll see about the next short game...hey blu-Ray doesn't make games longer after all....

[CaliGamer]

And how might the fact that this game is multi platform affect its length? I am not surprised you left this point out of your comment, nice try tho.

Edit:
I think my argument is very strong, the only game in that list is considered by many to be VERY short was Heavenly Sword.
Your comment was about BluRay, and the fact remains that this game is multiplat game, so if they could make it longer on the PS3, how would the 360 community feel if they got a shorter version because of DVD9? You would not be happy, inherently multiplat games this generation, at least in length and maybe in other areas, might be held back by lack of storage space. It is not to IW advantage, especially in the hostile gaming climate we live in today to release a longer version on the PS3. To say some would go ballistic is an understatement.

As far as BluRay or PS3 exclusives, talk to the developers and ask them why they made certain choices, perhaps, and this might not register for you, THEY MADE THE GAME HOW THEY WANTED TO MAKE IT. I didn't know there was an arbitrary length a game was required to be, if there is, then I guess Halo 3 and GOW are too short. Not to mention that your acting as if game length is the only factor that takes up room on a disk, what about sound, textures, etc. Its all about creative choice, and if all you can look at is game length then you mind is really limited.

If anything, I think your argument is weak, look at the total package of a game and I think the benefits of BD will become clearer to you. Simple logic prevails again.....

Edit Below:
"I have all 3 consoles, enough talking to you, your argument is moot..moving on, no time to dabble in fanboy matter."

Exactly, you should move on buddy, you really had no point, just a bunch of BS with no logical conclusion. BD gives choices, and being short sighted doesn't pay off in this business. Not everyone will use a whole BD but some will, and that is having a real choice my friend. "no time to dabble in fanboy matters.", cute, wouldn't want to cut into your trolling of PS3 news to take up the time between your 360 repairs, carry on.....

[kewlkat007]

Comment on your end.....

HS, Lair, R&C and others games made for Ps3, that are not multi, are considered short by some...

I really don't think you have an argument...

Yes this is a multi-platform game, but what does that say about the Ps3 exclusives? Or Blu-Ray, unlesss you know something, I do not..

Edit above:

Great "THEY MADE THE GAME HOW THEY WANTED TO MAKE IT". you proved my point. BD did not dictate the final outcome of the game..if there gonna make a game that uses such disk then the game will be long or short, it doesn't matter the medium used."

"Its all about creative choice, and if all you can look at is game length then you mind is really limited. "

-Proved my point again when I was referring to Gears while being short but..

I play all 3 consoles, enough talking to you, your argument is moot..moving on, no time to dabble in fanboy matter. It is what it is, I just don't see where your going with what I said.

[CaliGamer]

Those are compelling points, and I can see where paying $60 for a game in the US and ::vomits in his own mouth:: $105 in New Zealand would make a 5 hour game not too compelling.

I guess the decision lies with the individual and if they love MP then the SP length shouldn't be a problem, otherwise, I guess that is the conundrum of this game. Either way, I would suggest if you don't purchase this game, at least rent it for an extended period of time.

[zenkai]

People are exaggerating. Heavenly sword is 6 hours long for people who literally run through a game without admiring the environments or experimenting with physics in the game. I played 2 demos of Heavenly sword for 3 hours. So I would definitely play it for 10 hours.

Its same with COD4. People who run through the game just to finish it will complete it in 5 hours others normal people will finish it for 8 hours.

[The Ginsu Masta]

Honestly i bought the limited edition for 75 bucks for 5 hours of gameplay WTF(I know it has a kickass multiplayer,but when you pay that much for a game then they release new maps and try to get even more money out of you i feel like companies are just getting lazy when it comes to the single player portion of the game)...I feel like there just trying to pull the wool over my eyes and feed everyone as much BS as they can.As to way they cost so much.But heres one thing i dont understand Bioshock 60 bucks on 360,yet 50 bucks on PC and thats the launch price.Hmmm thats total BS.

[jiggyjay]

Yeah but don't forget the $300 you had to spend to upgrade your graphics card to play Bioshock or this game on your PC! With the 360 your not needing to upgrade anything to be able to play this game. If you have a PS3 though and want rumble you would need to upgrade your pads for $50 so its still a lot better deal on the consoles than on PC.

[zonetrooper5]

Well I'll asked for CoD4 on my 360 for Christmastbh. Assassins Creed is for me and I got it preordered it for my 360 and its coming out in 2 weeks time. =D

Need some more money and I can get Mass Effect.

[PS360PCROCKS]

I am new to really reading tons of reviews on games and so I never trust what they say it takes to beat the game. First off I am not a hardcore nerd with "Pwnage skills" and so I could never beat this the first time through on medium in 5 hours. I would probably play the second hardest difficulty, and THAN play the hardest. If that's medium than so be it, but I for sure know I won't be finishing this in less than 5 hours and even if I did, I'd just turn around and play it again, these games are TOTALLY worth it.

[KDash]

i'll rent it and keep warhawk for online-battles!

[The Chief of Mjolnir]

What the hell, I´ll buy it. After all, it was the MP which got me interested into this game. And almost all next gen games are short, so I´ve learned to live with it. But it could´ve been longer, tough.

[DJ]

There's still quite a few people that claim "well, at least it's just as long as Heavenly Sword." Heavenly Sword took me 8 hours to complete, and I breezed through that game. If I can survive Devil May Cry's 2.5 hour gameplay length, I can survive this.

I'm not so much about length as I am about quality; it'd be great to have 10 hours of single-player, but I'm sure there's a good reason the campaign mode is a certain length.

[rbanke]

Super mario brothers = can be beaten in 15 min easy, great game, cost as much then as a game does now counting inflation.

[kurochi]

bubbles for you!!! LOL
LMFAO!!!! ha ha ha ha

[DethWish]

It's the DVD9's fault :(

[EDF 2017]

THat line is old, look at Mass Effect, looks awesome and is larger than any ps3 game as far as worlds go. SO how did they fit that all on a DVD and the games looks as good as GRAW2?

[demolitionX]

u can't compare 40 or 100 hours of talking or wondering around same scenes to even an hour of HS

[CaliGamer]

How do you know how large ME is? They said its 40 hours somewhere I believe, but it could be like Oblivion where most of the assets were repeated no? Just wondering if you could clarify the info.

[PimpHandHappy]

and plan 2 play that game for a few years

COD4 might only be 5-6 hours long but i bet i will get more then 40 hours from MP

[zenkai]

PimpHandyHappy dont you just love Warhawk. WH destroyed every other online shooter for me. Everything looks boring to me now. From UT3 to COD4.

[BLow]

If this game was just for the PS3 it would have gotten slammed more than this. Besides it does have online multiplayer but what about the millions of people that don't have broadband. Broadband is still not available in all areas and it's still expensive for a lot of people. And yes I have a 360 also but it seems that if a game is short for the 360 it's ok but if it's for the PS3 it's the end of the world. Especially on this site. Just my two cents...I'm sure I will get a bunch of disagrees....Oh well...I'll enjoy the game for whatever system I decide to buy it for. Games are short now because that's the way society is now days. A lot of people don't have time to play all the time. Make the game shorter and more people will beat the game and they feel like they accomplished something. I've beaten more games this gen than I ever have before. But that's just me......Maybe others are in the same boat as me....Game on

[beavis4play]

sorry, 5 hour SP is pitiful. had it pre-ordered but it's just a rent now.

[Ghoul]

HUUUGE disapointment for me tbh

Call of duty was allways a great singleplayer game with insane tension and story telling, seeing this is becoming a mp game with a super super short singleplayer campaign kinds destroyed it for me since im playing Team fortress 2 instead of this military mp

sad sad sad

[dfcm2003]

that when this game gets reviewed, that this short single player, will not hurt the PS3 version. LOL You know some sites just look for a reason...... I mean a 360 game no Multi player its fine, a PS3 no multi player its a junk game...... ;-)

Do you think the shortness is because they ran out of room on the DVD_9 format? Look at HS it was short, graphics were awesome and it had to be on a blu-ray.. Not knocking but something to think about...

[InMyOpinion]

It's probably 5 of the best hours you can ever spend in a fps.

Would you rather have 10 so so hours or 5 incredible?

People seem to forget about the awesome multiplayer. IMO it's better than Halo 3.

[demolitionX]

people are sying that blu-ray is not for games????!!!!!!!!!!!!! DVD=5hours---->blu-ray at least 15hours. studios should shift their focus on PS3 next year or gaming industry will suck big time. it's already showing now, R&C:TOD and uncharted nothing in the market can even touch them.

[InMyOpinion]

Heavemly Sword at least 5 hours worth of gameplay...Blu-Ray is good for copying and pasting the same textures over and over again for each level in order to bring down loading times. You don't need to do that on DVD-9 since DVD-drives have much faster read speeds.

[sheng long]

I'd rather spend 7 hrs playing heavenly sword than 99% of so called "AAA" next generation games. Anyone who's dissing HS clearly is not a gamer, but simply a blind fanboy.

EDF: from what i've seen fo far on ME, the graphics look nice, but not HS nice.
I still believe HS could've been a little longer, but not much. just like a movie, you run the risk of "dragging" the story for too long.
Some online minigames would've been welcomed. Perhaps some accuracy contests with bow&arrow, catapult, and bazooka. survival mode and even an open arena 1 on 1 vs mode. I hope the sequel will incorporate such modes and maybe add 3-4 hrs of gameplay.

[wangdiddy82]

game is freaking addicting.. Most games are short these days.. Halo 3, heavenly sword, and bioshock were all pretty short.. Doesnt mean the game sucks now because its short..

Ratchet and clank is probably one of the longest games i have played in awhile.. lol..

I loved call of duty 2 online for the 360 so i hope COD4 multi player is as good.. But I dont know if i will like it as much as i use too anymore after playing warhawk.. Nothing touches warhawk right now.. That game owns online for me that is..

[Kleptic]

I would have well over 100 hours if the stats would have worked for the first month, or if it would include time played on unranked servers...plenty of weekends back in September when 4 of us would just play non stop with a few cases of beer all night...it really was quite funny to see how poor our performance got right around the time the sun would be coming up...a drunk friend on your team driving a tank is not recommended...

that V1.1 update is awesome though...the rank-up bug being gone is great, I can actually pick and choose who to go after...Recruits are funny...can't wait for V1.2 this month and next months "booster pack"...rumors are it includes a drop-ship of sorts...can't wait, and its also rumored to be completely free...

[Z501]

If this was a PS3 exclusive it would get SLAAAAAAAAMED!!!!
for it's length.
FACT
FACT
FACT
FACT
FACT

[KakashiDX]

I knew that MP would be the focus of this game. And that's fine, I guess. People seem to like it.

[ErcsYou]

This might matter to some people but not to me.
The main reason for me buying this game is the multi player. ill probably play the single player campaign for about a hour then ill spend the next 2 months in multiplayer team death match. I bought GRAW2 and i never beat the single player game because i prefer spending my time online..GRAW2 is only 5-6 hours long but it didn't affect me one bit...same with R6V

[Legionaire2005]

why did Official Xbox Magazine said the campaign mode was 10 hours long? And to top that they gave it a perfect 10. These guys probably are playing the easiest difficulty, which is easy and possibly normal. Heck Halo 3 on easy could be beaten in 4 to 5 hours too!!! That's without the advance A.I. and etc. When I get the game I am going to play it on hard.

[Heaven_Or_Hell]

There were playing on medium difficulty

[CaliGamer]

they would give it hell.

I think game length can be looked at like a car. You don't go top speed all the time, sometimes you need the power to merge onto a freeway, other times you don't because you are just driving through a residential neighborhood or for a short trip. The extra power might come in handy when you least expect it.

Now with the PS3 its like having a really practical sports car. If you need it (MGS4, KZ2) the extra storage is there for you, sometimes you need it for different things like in HS, but the fact of the matter is that it is there if you need it, and at some point you will.

You don't buy car insurance after an accident, why would you wait until you need more storage space to realize that it would have been a good idea to go larger? If a console is to last a while, then there needs to be some measure of forward thinking.

Who knows if DVD9 held back this games SP length, I wouldn't hold my breath for IW to admit it either way. The fact is that this game is multi plat and as such I am sure sacrifices were made, there are different characteristics to cater to and each system has weaknesses the other doesn't share.

As it stands, the game is what it is on PS3, 360 and PC for whatever thats worth. The SP is short, and the MP is meaty, thats all that needs to be known to make a decision whether to buy this game or not.

[Kleptic]

some things with reviewers are definitely changing with this title...No matter what in the past any little tiny detail between the 360 and PS3 versions of a game were always harped on...usually these differences were in favor of the 360...now, in a case where its equal or even a little in the PS3's favor...it doesn't even get mentioned...if the 360 had a slight edge in any way at all, it would have been in the very first paragraph of any review...

I don't care about stuff like that...just pointing out that this is a very obvious case that no one can really deny...it happened a lot more at the beginning of the year than as of late (except for the 360 version of VF5)...

as far as 360 vs. PS3 limitations...one thing I think everyone can agree on is that in terms of the 360...every dev from here out should require a HDD for their games...just stick a quote on the box of something like "HDD required" or w/e...that takes care of most of the limits of DVD9...some games may still need to come on a few DVDs, but at least level size and load points won't be as hindered...and HD CGi + high res texture streaming really wasn't possible anyway (those would be the only limits of DVD9 remaining)...I really don't think anyone on this site is happy with their Core 360...or I don't think anyone is riding out this generation with a couple of those overpriced memory cards...if they are, I feel bad for them...

[NiteWarrior]

dam thats short.. o well still gettin it in about 30min =D

[TrenchaunT]

5 hours is just sad. That means for a lot of people it'll be even shorter. I like online play, but I love being able to play games by myself sometimes.

Either way, I hated COD3's campaign so much that I'll definitely have to rent COD4 before I'm daring enough to buy it. The AI was just so insanely stupid in COD3 that I can't stand even playing it.

For me, the ideal campaign experience is Gears of War. Lots of action, lots of fun, good story (although Gears wasn't perfect), and online co-op ability. I've played through Gears' campaign many, many times.

[PMR_21]

the single player campaign could be only 10 minutes long and I wouldn't care..the longevity has always been in the multiplayer component of COD games and I except COD4 to be no exception

[BLACKJACK VII]

HUGE disappointment. I played the MP beta, & it was great, but not incredible. 5 hours for $60... it's a tough call now. May have to wait for it used....

[367 To Your Ass]

although for me 7 hrs is the minimum but for this game i guess i can bend some rules :)

[Shaka2K6]

Damn you x360 and the primitive hardware mostly that dvd is whats holding most game devs and this is what happends.

still PS3 Blu-ray version is the version to get the superior game best played on PS3.

[green_ghost5]

Wow, what an uneducated post. Are you serious? DVD9 had nothing to do with the length of this game, are you that much of an idiot? I think so.
Just look at Mass Effect, it's huge, and it doesn't sacrifice graphics or any of that to make the game longer. So what you've just said was one of the most stupid things I've ever heard. Literally, and I've heard some pretty dumb sh!t, before.

Both versions play well, Blu ray isn't the answer for everything.

[Jinxstar]

Sooo its 5 hours. Who cares. Its worth every penny to me. I just beat it. I loved the airplane bit after the credits. Really nice.

[Spinitus]

that part was so awesome.good thing u can go back anytime and do it aging.

[The Dark Knight]

Well ps3 delayed GTA IV YOU A$$HOLES because its a SH!T machine!!! how dare yous, i would be playing it right now but no sony had to put something in it that no one will use till 2020!

I'd shank you if you were here:@

[Mars Attacker]

I rarely play on-line games, so the short single player mode is a show stopper. I was trying to decide whether to buy COD4 or the Orange Box. Now the decision is easy! Orange Box is a no brainer.

I'll borrow COD4 from a friend for a weekend sometime and be happy that I didn't spend the $60.

[esemce]

I can say that this game is most intense, atmospheric and grafically gorgeous shooter to date, and the multiplayer is amazing. Just play on hardened or veteran mode.

[Heaven_Or_Hell]

What mode have you choose ? And how many hours it take to beat it ?

[stuntman_mike]

gears of war was only 6-7 hours long and that seemed the right length for that game so the short length of cod4 might be just right.

anyway i think most people will just get this for multiplayer.

[Heaven_Or_Hell]

Single player was very important to me because online play was not an option availaible. It was dev challenge's to make a long game with a good replay value...
But sadly now, dev are focusing on the Online Play. Hopefuly COD 4, without even an MP game, has some replay value with the arcade mode.

[The_Engineer]

I have been playing the single player campaign since Sunday after noon where I clocked

4 hours

monday night

2 hours

tuesday night

2.5 hours

and Im STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GAME!!!!!

who are these idiots that probably run through maps like its a sprint to the finish??

[solidboss]

i have been playing since saturday also and im doing it on hardend and im only up to the "heat" mission. then again it also depends on how u play it ofcourse on normal and easy u can jus swarm right through it but its def. not gunna take 5 hours on hardened or even veteran

[OC_MurphysLaw]

I clicked off on the easy mode by accident and noticed right away that your AI teammates were very aggressive and could withstand a lot of punishment. I could sit back and let the team go ahead of me and they would wipe everything away if I let them.

So...I have gone to hardened mode and am replaying from the very start. I was only to ACT 1 anyway before I changed...but it definitely could be a short game if played on easy and you let the AI fight the war for you.

[marcdz1]

This is why everyone was saying that the Xbox was going to be holding PS3 games from their true potential. Everyone here knows that their Hardware (DVD) space sucks and now the PS3 is paying the price for lack of space. That is why the damn game is so short. They ran out of space for the 360 when they tried to make it 1080p

[OC_MurphysLaw]

First off....marcdz1....save it. This has nothing to do with that...it has more to do with them really designing this game for multiplayer more than anything. They included a great single player short campaign..but from the get go they have always said this game was going to be more about the online play than anything. Please take your fanboy a$$ somewhere else!

If you dont like playing online....rent this game or wait for it to hit the bargin bin. $60 for 5 hours isnt worth it imo.

If you do like online play ....by all means pick this up! Online play is fantastic! I played the beta and loved it ...always felt fresh and that was with just 3 maps! The ranking and perk system is done beautifully and really pulls off what it is trying to accomplish.

This probably wont be game of the year due to the short single player side...but it could be based on the online play alone. It's that good.