Over all: TIGHT. What can i say, i put this in, and could not put it down until i beat the single player mode (downside: single player is only 6 to 7 hours long, this hurt all the reviews on heavenly sword, but since this has mutliplayer, it’s forgiven). Amazing, i don’t want to spoil to much of it for you, but there are some moments that just blew me away, helicopter crashes, the way the story is told, boat scenes, secrete ops missions, being the gunner on a helicopter, and a night bomber air raid sequence that is simply breath taking. What i love the most about this, is how it’s not really pro war, and shows how ugly war really is, and when you die, there are all ways these really cool quotes about war from people usually talking about how evil war is. So in that regard i feel like the game does apologize for being an instrument of propaganda for the west. Because all these war games are. Even so, they do show the opposite side, you hear the dictator talking about the west in an intelligent way, the real life media never lets you hear anything like that. It makes you feel like there is a purpose to this game. In multiplayer mode you sometimes play as the bad guys, and listening to them freak out over a grenade in arab is pretty cool. The controls are all most perfect, and aiming is not that hard with the ps3 controller. I also love how you can shoot through certain walls made of wood etc, not metal or brick though. That really adds a lot to the game. COD4 is about aiming more than running and gunning. You have to take cover for reloading as well, and learn the weapons because you can easily shoot off all your rounds and get caught in a bad situation reloading, and reloading on some weapons takes a lot longer. The AI is amazing. Bad guys are smart, they throw back grenades, and will flank you. You have to be on your toes.

Now, let me complain a little. You cannot drive any vehicles in the game like in battle field 2142 or warhawk. You cannot crouch or huddle up against walls like you can do in mass effect or gears of war or drake’s uncharted. What is even funnier is that the enemies in the game can and you cannot. You cannot shoot while you are running like you can in unreal or quake etc. So this kind of sucks, you’ll run into a room and your guy has to stop running before he can aim, and this guarantees your death. It takes to long to stop running and fire, come on, you can fire while running in real life, not well, but you can. This is a major flaw in the game. All it means is that you have to stop running before entering places. But it sucks. Throwing grenades takes way to long, way way way to long. No matter if you just tap the button or hold it. Some times you feel like you are in slow motion. When you are not running the game seems really slow compared to a game like quake or unreal. But i think that is this game’s charm honestly, and what sets it apart and makes it unique.

I bought cod4 over assassin’s creed. Definitely the way to go, i wont even review ass creed because the game is so crappy. This is the best first person shooter on the market, it’s better than halo 3 etc.. What sets this apart from everything else is the graphical quality, the environments, the story telling, the frantic pace, how it really feels like you are in a war. COD4 is a very intense experience that has you riveted from the minute you sit down, till the very end of the game(single player).

Mutliplayer is like CRACK. It is easy to get on the net and play games, log in, pick the style you want to play, then it finds a server for you and connects. It’s easy to start your own private game server but it doesn’t advance your level points. Easy to invite your friends to come and play, on your server, or any. One thing i have noticed about the online part of this game is that it’s like all the xbox live games, someone must be hosting it, when they decide to leave the game, the game abruptly ends, but the good thing is it will tally up the points you earn while playing even if the host quits. But come on, this is the ps3, where are the dedicated servers for this, in warhawk this never happens. Another annoying thing to note is if you have a head set, it is all ways on, in warhawk there is a button to press while you talk, when you let go of the button it turns off the head set mic. In cod4 if the tv is loud it picks it up and crates tons of background noise and makes it so you cannot understand a damn thing. This makes it so confusing sometimes. There have been times when i am playing and i hear another player’s children screaming in the background the whole time, or pestering daddy to take them to the store or something, this is so damn annoying i cannot even put it into words. I didn’t have kids so i wouldn’t have to listen to that crap. Here i am playing a game with someone’s kids in the background crying and being ultra annoying, because cod4 doesn’t have an on off switch for the head set mic. FOR THE LOVE OF VIDEO GAMES. I hope they fix this. ANNOYING!

There is no capture the flag but, there is a mode called sabotage that is even better in my honest opinion. It is very similar to capture the flag with more bang and even more strategy, you must protect the bomb carrier to the enemy base and guard him while he plants the bomb. Then guard the bomb so no one can defuse it. VERY COOL. Also there is this leveling up system that is really cool, but it makes for some severely lop sided skirmishes. Being able to throw 3 grenades vs 1, being crippled on your weapons and scope in the beginning really hurts you when you are fighting against level 40 + players. UNFAIR. In WARHAWK the game doesn’t allow advanced players to play with the beginners. I wish that were the case in this game as well. But don’t let any of these negative points detour you. This game is amazing in all most every aspect regardless of its small shortcomings.

9.9 Presentation
The story, acting, cut scenes, everything is seamless, load times show relevant information while you wait so you don’t get board, It’s Tight, all most perfect.

9.5 Visuals
60 frame per second, hardly ever slows down. photo realism. amazing lighting, textures, explosions, smoke, rain, weather, wind, animations, photography, camera work, the whole thing kicks major ass!

7.0 Audio
All most perfect. Especially on the covert missions, you really notice the details. The music changes at the right times, creates tension, and really gets you into it. Mixing is great, levels are great, voice recordings are great. But i have to subtract points for the head set issues online, this ruins the online audio experience.

8.9 Game Mechanics
I would of given this a 9.5 if it wasn’t for slow grenade throws, no shooting while running, no huddling against walls, no drivable vehicles. But besides that, it is the best out there, aiming is rock solid and easy. Aiming is the focus of this game. There are so many weapons in the game, and the upgrade path in multiplayer is genius.

9.9 Replay
Easily, i will play the single player game 3 times, it’s that damn good. Multiplayer will kick ass for years and years, i have a feeling this is one of those titles that will have online games for the next 4 years with out any let down. I expect there to be downloadable content in the near future, like game modes, new maps etc. maybe even weapons.

9.2 Total Score.
(out of 10 / not an average)

Buy this, despite it’s flaws, it is super fun, engaging, and the best first person shooter game on the market. It doesn’t try to be anything but a shooter. It’s based aiming and using your brain to handle situations. The story, i feel like it shows both sides very well. Something the real life media fails to do. I love how it gives a fictional take on something that could happen in real life and throws you in the middle of it.

Oh and one last thing. Watch the videos on this site at the bottom of their page: CLICK ME to go to that page now. Call of Duty 4 is better on the ps3. Now watch the videos closely, especially the first one, when they are in the helicopter, watch the rain out side, notice how there is way more rain on the ps3 version. I mean its really noticeable, the weather fx are superior on the ps3 through out the game. But other than that they are all most identical. So slight edge to the ps3 on this one, the videos clearly show it. Oh and let’s not forget that that the analog sticks on the ps3 controler are the best on the market.

Music Listened to while writing this review: First and Last and Always & Floodland - Sisters Of Mercy.