Answering the Call... of Duty

I rented, played, and beat Call of Duty 4 this weekend. I'm not usually a big war game kind of guy, but when a title gets such raring reviews, I'm hard-pressed not to stand up and take notice.

Really, it's a grand game, even coming from someone who's not a fan of the genre. The gameplay is absolutely rock solid, the story is engrossing, the cinematics are decent, and the ending is fulfilling and even a tinge sad. There are many, many heart-pounding moments throughout, like carrying your stealth teammate through a warzone and waiting near a ferris wheel as dozens of the enemy come hurtling at you while you cling to life as the rescue chopper makes its way to you. Or using smoke screen grenades to create cover while you sneak up behind a BMP and strap some C4 to it to make it go BOOM.

This is not a game that you "relax" with, this is a game to let loose some frustration with. Few shooters give such an exhilerating look at what military combat might be like. I was almost thankful when the end credits ran after a measly 5 hours of play. The bulk of COD4 is meant to be experienced online, I'd bet. But if there's one thing I know, it's that I don't feel like getting "WTFPWND" by folks who will insist on calling me any deragatory remark their feeble minds can think of. I know I suck, I don't need them reminding me in oh-so-clever ways.

Still, for anyone who has yet to experience COD4, I'd say it's a definitely rental/buy depending on whether or not you want the online competition. For me, it was a very fun run through the offline campaign, and one I will likely rent again or pick up on the cheap down the road.

Good stuff. Next up on my Gamefly list is John Woo's "Stranglehold". Looking forward to getting my Chow Yun Fat on.