Right from the original trailers of Call of Duty 4, it was clear that this game was a genuine game of the year contender. When the game was released back in late 2007, only the harshest of critics were disappointed. Nearly two years later, and well over 10 million copies on, Modern Warfare is still one of the most played online games, and it’s not hard to see why.
Throughout the game you alternate between a British S.A.S commando, 'Soap' MacTavis and U.S. Marine Force Sergeant, Paul Jackson. Locations range from the Middle East, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Prypiat, Ukraine. All locations work together to deliver massive variation in both style and gameplay.
One of the only criticisms of the game has been the single players length, Even on normal difficulty, my first play through lasted only around 5 and half hours. None the less, they were some of the best hours I've ever spent on a single player game, Infinity Ward has done a really good job at keeping the games quality at an unprecedented level for the entire game, it’s a shame the quantity isn;t there however.
The AI isn't bad, but its not like it ever pulls of any complex manoeuvres. At times, they will duck into cover to avoid fire or to reload, but it isn't very consistent in doing these actions, particularly the enemies with rocket launchers on roofs who really don't show any signs of valuing their life.
Your team mates are fairly helpful, unlike many shooters released around the same time; they do actually do what they are presumably paid to do, shoot enemies. However, the dangerous tasks are left up to you as the player, which one could think is pretty unfair, but the many opportunities to risk your life are generally the most thrilling parts of the action packed single player.
Level design is yet another highlight of not only the single player, but the multi player levels as well (with the odd exception IMO). Unless you are an EPIC noob, you will really struggle to get yourself lost. It can be a bit linear in terms of the level design, but it is never an issue, as your mind will invariably be most on killing those pesky enemies.
And there are plenty of opportunities to do just that. While not the first to do so, the game includes bullet penetration, which allows you to shoot through some objects, namely wooden crates and walls among others. Its implemented almost perfectly, but it would have been a nice touch had some of the smarter enemies realised this, and sought some more substantial cover. Its not an issue, just perhaps something that has been overlooked.
It gets very frustrating when you find yourself whisked away and have a change of location and soldier forced upon you, and it generally happens just as the high of awesomeness is upon you. Infinity Ward clearly have some script writers with a severe lack of imagination, nothing, not one battle, is fleshed out to the level that the game deserves.
But what exists is polished to a previous unseen level. Through multiple play throughs, I encountered only one error, and it was so minute that I can't remember what it was. Weapons somehow feel quality and powerful, and they are balanced to near perfection for both the single player and multi player, although some issues exist in regards to hardcore mode. The aiming probably isn’t terribly realistic, but it makes the guns a joy to use. The rocket launcher (Javelin) looks a bit tacky, but it is devastating nonetheless.
The game requires some tactics to complete on the hardest difficulty, but, thankfully, it is not in the same league in terms of difficulty as Killzone 2. Completing the single player will give you access to a few new features, but it will be the gameplay, and not these small bonuses which draws you in to give the single player a whirl time after time.
It is however the multi player which has the real lasting appeal, with thousands of players having invested just as many hours in the game. The maps are varied and for the most part fair, but new comers will likely find it a bit of a challenge to get a placing near the top of the leadearboard. The spawn system is a nightmare; time and time again will you spawn directly in the sights of an enemy. There needs to be some form of invincibility for a second or two upon spawning. Short of this, I don't see how it can be too hard for the game to work out a place to spawn you which is not too far from the battle or objective, depending on the game mode, that is not currently being watched by an enemy sniper.
The game modes aren't specific to Modern Warfare, nor were they upon its release, but they are implemented in a refreshing fashion, and are accompanied by beautifully honed and refined maps. There is certainly something for everyone in Modern Warfare's online component. Having a microphone isn't essential, but for the team based modes, it can be really useful, not only for you but for your team.
There are also a whole bunch of weapon upgrades and perks which can be awarded either for ranking up or completing challenges. Some of the perks in particular tend to pander to the noob market, and are frowned upon by the more 'elite' players. Reaching the top rank allows you to start all over again. However, the only real bonus for doing so is another kit selection; it really is a pretty feeble attempt to prolong play time, something that really isn't necessary given how good the game play is.
Having played the game on all available platforms, its pretty clear that the developers have gone to little effort in order to improve the graphics for the PC version, even the console versions only display in 600p, and it makes for a bad look on some TV's. Physics are just not implemented enough, trees and vegetation does not respond to wind or fire. The game is far from power hungry though, even on a mid range computer with a 2.4GHz dual core, 512Mb graphics card and 4 GB or ram, the game can be displaying in 1080p with maximum texture resolution, body count, and anti-aliasing (a pithy 4x) you will get a very respectable frame rate in the vicinity of the mid 50’s to 70’s depending on the level of carnage taking place at the time.
At the start of this review i mentioned that the game was extremely well polished. And even though I have many criticisms of the game for what it doesn't have, what it does have is exceptional; without doubt one of the most enjoyable games ever. It is however a shame that it isn't one of the best games ever made, there is just has not be enough detail put into the game, if what is included in the game wasn't so perfect, you would have to say that Infinity Ward got lazy.
MW 2019 is five years old at this point and on previous gen hardware, but it is still the best looking Call of Duty game to date.
MW was an excellent videogame. They messed up Spec Ops big time, but aside from this it was a huge step in the right direction initially. Most notably, at launch it seemed to come from a very cohesive creative vision that was felt across gameplay, to story to art style/visual direction. It was also very notably written by prominent ex-Naughty Dog guys that quit almost immediately before release.
That COMPLETELY dissolved through post-launch content and the full pivot to a "cross-mode" narrative that completely obliterated the cohesion in overall story direction. Warzone then "became" the new face of Call of Duty and the franchise completely removed itself from anything remotely creatively "good". It is a pure money machine, so I kinda get why they're doing it....but I personally completely lost interest.
I would love to see Infinity Ward move off CoD and get to make their own product with full control. They clearly have some massive talent in their ranks but it's perverted by Activision's corporate interests.
Call Of Duty is back with its yearly instalment, but is Modern Warfare 3 breaking new ground, or just a lazy cash grab? The answer may not surprise you in today's review from JDR.
The original Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2 games have been drawing players back in
I really hope we get other activision games on GP soon. My dream would be Scarface but I know the license probably expired
Love me some Scarface! I even bought the comics. Yeah, licensing would probably be an impasse.
I played through Scarface again last year and it still holds up. Such a fun game. I would love for Xbox to get the rights back to remaster Scarface and make a sequel. It sold well and they had plans for Scarface 2, 3, and 4. With how long it takes Rockstar to make games the market is wide open.
That game was so much fun. Expected a cheap GTA clone but it was a good drug empire building game.
They didn't just have plans but there's actual gameplay out there for scarface 2
Seriously man we need games like
True crime
Sleeping dogs
Watch dogs( more like original not legion)
And proper saints row
GTA can’t be the only option we need other games
None of those games had dedicated servers on console in the first place? Were always player hosted. Did something change?
