One Year On

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

It's been interesting to see the criticisms of this third installment of Infinity Ward shit crawl out of the internet's woodwork over the course of this year. Cries of balancing issues, infinitely respawning enemies and a lack of fixes for some aspects of the online play have surfaced recently, and they aren't totally unfounded. However, it's not too much a stretch of the imagination to think of this as a not too subtle example of familiarity breeds contempt. It's not uncommon to enter a lobby of sixteen to hear at least half complain that they "hate this effing game", but a quick glance at their spot on the leaderboards and their playtime of the online aspect tells a different story altogether.

Yes, there are many out there who have been playing the same maps and the same modes, using the same loadouts and the same tactics, with the same perks and the same friends that they have been for a full twelve months now, and going back to play it objectively, as if one were someone who had never touched the game before, will indubitably display exactly why so many have suffered for so many hours for so few Gamerpoints. It's a thrilling, engaging, intense experience, one of a sort that only a select few games can claim to deliver. The visuals are gorgeous, creating a unique atmosphere in amongst all the dilapidated greyness. The sound is a symphony of chaos, as wood splinters around you and dust flies up into the camera amongst the thunderous cacophony of the perfectly weighted weaponry. All of these elements gel into what is a pretty exceptional whole.

Aside from perk imbalance with the online modes, Call of Duty 4 remains a glimmering beacon of concentrated insanity, a perfect storm burned to disc that stands out from the "Shoulder-Pad FPS" crowd not because it reinvents the wheel, but because it is such a refined vision of what one could expect from an action game. Call of Duty virgins eager for some blasting could do a lot worse than pick this one up at a knockdown price; for instance, pay £50 for its sequel, World at War. A year later, CoD4 still stands head and shoulders above its peers.