COD4 First Review

DirtyDog

I've been playing the actual game for the past two days (states side) and I have to say the game is just def worth getting. Graphically the game looks fantastic, and is very fast paced.

Single player - It starts so quickly into the action you forget your part of a team and not the leader of the team but you get use to it quickly, the action scenes are fantastic and it has a real part of a movie\real life feel to the game. Downsides I think are 1) Gun sounds are crap, I like to know when I take someone out either up close with a shotgun or far away with a rifle, but the sounds are so very very weak you feel robbed of the kills, def sounds just used from the previous COD's. Also I picked the hardest setting of the game and I still feel like I am flying through it....my only hope is that it isnt a short game!

Favorite bit so far is gunner of the A130, the talk over from the pilot and team on the ground is very realistic and also very funny, had me wanting to start the level just for the fun. Also love the shooting through walls and the way some of the bad guys dont die fully and keep shooting from the ground till you finish them off.

The MP is very fast paced, in my mind the game fits in nicely between BF2 & CS. Its for sure one I want to get into more and more.

projectmayhem

DirtyDog wrote: »

my only hope is that it isnt a short game!

you'll find very quickly that it indeed is very short, and that a lot of the levels are repeated a few times through the game, in different scenarios (night time, going the other way from last time, etc.).

MP is where this game wins

Ludo

That is fair enough though. Most poeple will probably just have a quick run through of the SP missions and then never go back to them once they get into the MP side of it. I know that is what always happened to me (and most people I know) with COD1 and 2.

People buy it for the MP game mostly.

Dcully

MP for me

Skinfull

Not for me! I'm all about the SP. If I wanted to play a multiplayer game it wouldnt be COD.
Dang! Is it really short? As short as MOH Airborne?
Crud. Well I'll still play it.

Steffano2002

MP FTW!!!

When I got CoD2, I played the SP for the first time 4 months after getting the game because my broadband was down!

K!LL!@N

Picked this up last night( States-side also ).

Primarily got this for the multiplayer as I really enjoyed the beta.
Multiplayer is great, my only gripe is that there are already people with really high ranks.
I would have liked some kind of game filtering based on ranks the way Halo 3 does.
It's not a deal breaker though.

So obviously when I started playing I just right into multiplayer.
Played for over an hour, then decided to try the singleplayer.
Really pleasantly surprised.
You get a short tutorial at the training facility and then you're straight into the thick of things.
As mentioned by the OP, you quickly realise that you'll be left behind by your team if you don't keep up with them.

It's really well paced so far.
I love the way the action and the cut-scenes flow.
It doesn't feeling jarring, keeps you engrossed in what's going on.

Killian

Ludo

I think I will be sticking ton unranked servers myself. If I understand it right, the best players get more perks and therefore more of an advantage. Seems a bit crap to me to be honest. I prefer a level playing field where skill alone makes the difference. Of course I could have read it all wrong as I only scanned the perk stuff briefly.

I will stick to my clans server and only venture out to others every so often to check out other game types.

Dcully

the best players get more perks and therefore more of an advantage.

More like those who spend more time playing.

ZeRoY

Guys i have been playing all evening, great game !!!

The only downside so far are:

- DeathMatch: Sprayfest if more than 12 players, dont like that :mad:
- Sniper rifles: pace of game is so fast its somewhat useless

Gfx are superb, Sabotage/Domination the best gametypes for me!

ZeRoY

Ludo wrote: »

I think I will be sticking ton unranked servers myself. If I understand it right, the best players get more perks and therefore more of an advantage. Seems a bit crap to me to be honest. I prefer a level playing field where skill alone makes the difference. Of course I could have read it all wrong as I only scanned the perk stuff briefly.

I will stick to my clans server and only venture out to others every so often to check out other game types.

Man if you play for a bit you will have perks unlocks, ranks are very easy to get, just need playing time and not be a complete noob

humanji

I got it for the SP as I know the MP is going to get crap after about a week because I don't have the time to devote to is, and it just saps the life out of it. The SP is excellent though, but horrifically short. But that's not too bad, I've got The Witcher to last me til Crysis comes

Ludo wrote:

I think I will be sticking ton unranked servers myself. If I understand it right, the best players get more perks and therefore more of an advantage. Seems a bit crap to me to be honest. I prefer a level playing field where skill alone makes the difference. Of course I could have read it all wrong as I only scanned the perk stuff briefly.

I always thought that everyone should have everything unlocked to start with, and as they get higher up the rankings, weapons are taken away from them. It's make things fairly level and exciting when the guy at the top is defending his position with only a knife.

Ludo

humanji wrote: »

I always thought that everyone should have everything unlocked to start with, and as they get higher up the rankings, weapons are taken away from them. It's make things fairly level and exciting when the guy at the top is defending his position with only a knife.

Now that would be hilarious to watch!

jasonbourme.cs

you could always up the stakes even more by just giving them a spork instead of a knife ... now THAT would be hilarious

jonski

Dcully wrote: »

MP for me

And I will wait a week or two to see what you think of it before I invest in another game for MP and find out it doesn't quiet cut it .

it does seem to have DOM mode though , so that is a plus .

Sephiroth_dude

How many missions or levels in the single player campaign?I hear its very short :-/.

Skinfull

Oh man I was playing last night and I finished the English guy's missions already...and the was in about 40 mins (Had a quick game after getting in from Dara O Briain in vicar Street!)...and don't get me wrong! I'm cannon fodder! Moving target at best in the FPS games! I fear I will be bitterly disappointed with this game!

Sephiroth_dude

:eek:

any idea how many missions you have left?

Silenceisbliss

oh my freekin god! most anoying game ive played in a while... TAKE IT TA FCUK EASY WITH DA FREEKIN GRENADES! its worse than playin a multiplayer online with grenades only!! ffs, u cant do anythin without gettin fragged every two bloody seconds.

/end rant

humanji

Silenceisbliss wrote: »

oh my freekin god! most anoying game ive played in a while... TAKE IT TA FCUK EASY WITH DA FREEKIN GRENADES! its worse than playin a multiplayer online with grenades only!! ffs, u cant do anythin without gettin fragged every two bloody seconds.

/end rant

Well if you were faster you could throw them back

Silenceisbliss

and if i had 10 arms. the point is theres no bloody let up, its like the AI dictates that they should be squirtin grenades outta their little pixilated arses instead of usin their guns

humanji

I actually like the frantic nature of it. It's not very realistic, but I find it fun

Ludo

Silenceisbliss wrote: »

and if i had 10 arms. the point is theres no bloody let up, its like the AI dictates that they should be squirtin grenades outta their little pixilated arses instead of usin their guns

It probably does. It is to be expected that when they add a new feature like the ability to throw back nades, then the AI will be tweaked to add more nades to the game just to show off this feature.

From what I have been reading so far, I expect most clan servers to be modded in some way shape or form which will result in them all becoming unranked. Fair enough. If the nade issue is a big problem in MP games then play on a server which limits them. One per person or something and no pick-ups.

jasonbourme.cs

Silenceisbliss wrote: »

and if i had 10 arms. the point is theres no bloody let up, its like the AI dictates that they should be squirtin grenades outta their little pixilated arses instead of usin their guns

definately agree with you on that one silence !! gotten as far as the storming the TV station part on veteran , the central area where you have to get upstairs literally rains nades :mad:

Silenceisbliss

jasonbourme.cs wrote: »

definately agree with you on that one silence !! gotten as far as the storming the TV station part on veteran , the central area where you have to get upstairs literally rains nades :mad:

oh yeah, there jus poopin grenades there.

sniper mission UNREAL!!...its very cool!

thehomeofDob

Been playing non stop since 10 o'clock today! Beaten the campaign (only on regular), then been playing T-DM ever since. Bloody awesome!

Silenceisbliss

MULTI ROCKS THE FREEKIN BOAT!!!

ranks...customizable kits....unloackable weapons....in game bonuses.....urgggggggggggggg:D

Dcully

Havent touched SP at all,MP is just brilliant.

José Alaninho

Just played first four levels of SP, simply AMAZING, hooked already! GFX unreal, gameplay unbeleivably intense! On par with CoD2 so far.

Won't be touching MP cos I've no broadband :(:(

Ah well!

Binomate

I find myself running out of ammo for the M16 in multiplayer. On some of the larger team deathmatch servers they really need to limit the amount of airstrikes and stuff that are allowed. Some of the servers I've been on, you can't live any longer than a minute with out dieing to an airstrike. That's pretty ****ing stupid.


The nades don't bother me so much. I don't mind the ranking system. I think the way in which S&D works with the weapons and stuff in comparison to the ranked experience ladder system in other game types is a clear definiton given to us by the developers of what a public game should be. The S&D will be more competative.

Ludo

Not played SP yet. MP looks great BUT it isn't COD. In fact it sucks. Maybe it is a grower but it just doesn't grab me like COD1, COD:UO and COD2 did. I got bored after ten minutes and went to the pub

And what is with the "team" uniforms? To me they look way too similar. You end up shooting at your own team mates or as I found, You end up NOT shooting at people you are meant to!

It is very obviously designed primarily as a console game. It is NOT COD.
Now maybe as I said it is a grower but I have honestly for the first time in YEARS no inclination or desire to load uo COD right now and have a blast.

Sorry folks but nice graphics do NOT make a game...gameplay does.

ShaneU

This is brilliant online, no idea why you're disappointed. Far better than cod3, or halo3 for that matter.

ShaneU

jasonbourme.cs wrote: »

definately agree with you on that one silence !! gotten as far as the storming the TV station part on veteran , the central area where you have to get upstairs literally rains nades :mad:

That part is pretty annoying, they keep respawning unless you move forward.

Ludo

ShaneU wrote: »

This is brilliant online, no idea why you're disappointed. Far better than cod3, or halo3 for that matter.

I was talking about the PC version...it SUCKS. I assume you are a console gamer. COD4 is designed totally for a console and that is VERY obvious. WTF is that experience points crap that appears when you kill someone....it is for 13 year olds.

It does NOT FEEL like a COD game anymore which is a huge disappointment. The clan I am in (and another one we are affiliated with) are thinking of abandoning it already as it has lost all association with what COD is about.

Dcully

After spenging about 6 hours playing it online lastnight i couldnt disagree with your more.
I havent touched SP yet so cant comment.

I was talking about the PC version...it SUCKS. I assume you are a console gamer

Im a PC gamer and am loving it online as are all the guys from our community and clan.
We have 3 other clans who we are friends with and all are loving it too.

WTF is that experience points crap that appears when you kill someone....it is for 13 year olds.

The unlocks and perks you get from experience points are great for customising your class.

And what is with the "team" uniforms? To me they look way too similar. You end up shooting at your own team mates or as I found, You end up NOT shooting at people you are meant to!

I dont have this problem and your the first ive seen comment on it.

COD4 is designed totally for a console and that is VERY obvious.

Again totally disagree with you,the console version has a subtle auto aim feature,the pc doesnt.
I read on one of the dev interviews that the pc version had a different team working on it than the console team.
How true this is i dont know but what i do know is im playing online pc fps games for many years and this game feels great to me.

It does NOT FEEL like a COD game anymore which is a huge disappointment

Modern Warfare COD doesnt feel like old COD ie WW2 because its exactly that "modern warfare".
The whole theme and game setting is different so ofcourse it wont feel like old COD,what were you expecting?

The clan I am in (and another one we are affiliated with) are thinking of abandoning it already as it has lost all association with what COD is about.

and what would that be about?

Each to their own however

jonski

I am sure it is on the web somewhere but I can't find it ( with my first limited lazy arsed search ) , is there cheat protection ? pb ?

Dcully

Yeah jonski it uses PB.

Ludo

I know what the exp points are for...my point is why flash it up so big. Makes it feel like an 80s arcade game after being ported to a console.

Scoreboard interface looks cheap and tacky...consoley...

Of course it is modern warfare. But if you don't understand what I mean by it not feeling like COD and what COD is about , then I can't explain it any better.

They even limited the player names to 15 chars or something...wtf like. How are you supposed to put clan tags and colours on? Again...consoley.

To me COD was always head and shoulders above other games for sheer online playability and experience. That seems to be gone...ah well.

Dcully

I know what the exp points are for...my point is why flash it up so big. Makes it feel like an 80s arcade game after being ported to a console.

Its not big for me m8,what res you running?
Im running 1650X1050,text and scoreboard etc look lovely.

heebusjeebus

Ludo wrote: »

They even limited the player names to 15 chars or something...wtf like. How are you supposed to put clan tags and colours on? Again...consoley.

Eh, you can do all that the same as CoD 1/UO/2. Nothing has changed there like.

Why not give it a fair shot before flaming it FFS.

Silenceisbliss

@heebusjeebus, totally agree with ya! cant judge and criticize until uv given teh game a fair run. personally.....for me and the lads i play lan games with, its the new css

0ubliette

I hate this game. The SP is woeful. Its a perfect example of last gen gaming with a lick of next gen paint. And i do mean 'lick', as it barely looks any better than cod3. The best level in the game, 'all ghillied up' is ruined by the ferris wheel secion at the end. That part successfully destroyed my good memories of the entire level. As for MP, its all been done before. Yay i got exp and unlocked a new gun whoo hoo..is this 2004? Am i playing BF2 with stat whores again??
Cod has been goign downhill since cod2, this game is no better. The gameplay for both SP and MP could be lifted directly from any cod game...bleh. Mediocrity, COD is thy name.

humanji

Why were you expecting them to change the style of the game? It keeps the same mix of stealth and action that the other 3 games had. It's what made the games so popular.

muletide

Rented it for the weekend purely for the multiplayer - some nice touches but for me there is only one decent Multi player shooter out there GRAW 2. It is fuppin awesome

GRAW 2 ftw

Branoic

0ubliette wrote: »

Its a perfect example of last gen gaming with a lick of next gen paint. And i do mean 'lick', as it barely looks any better than cod3.

Opinions are all well and good, but that's just crazy talk.

BKtje

Not played SP yet. MP looks great BUT it isn't COD. In fact it sucks. Maybe it is a grower but it just doesn't grab me like COD1, COD:UO and COD2 did. I got bored after ten minutes and went to the pub

I agree it doesn't totally feel like COD but thats probably because of the non ww2 action. I disagree with you completly however that it sucks, i and my old cod clan buddies are loving the game. (cod:uo however did suck .
I just hope it has more staying power than cod2 as i got bored of it fairly quick (ie a few months). Cod1 though was epic.

And what is with the "team" uniforms? To me they look way too similar. You end up shooting at your own team mates or as I found, You end up NOT shooting at people you are meant to!

I had the same problems with cod2 initially (dont ask me why ). You get used to it very quickly.

The unlocks etc are good but i expect a lot of servers to go unranked fairly soon after newness has died down.
The only gripe i have thus far is with S&D and that they have gone the way of cs with a bomb carrier that has to be protected instead of classic cod where anyone could plant. I'm sure i'll get used to it however.

I dunno where the same game with new lick of paint reference comes from. It feels completly different what with being able to shoot through walls, nightvision (useless so far in mp tbh), flash bangs (new to cod at least) claymores, c4 etc etc. They may not be new to experienced bf2 heads but to cod players it is.

0ubliette

humanji wrote: »

Why were you expecting them to change the style of the game? It keeps the same mix of stealth and action that the other 3 games had. It's what made the games so popular.

I wasnt expecting them to turn cod into a rhythm action game or something, i was just expecting them to move with the times, and not release something that plays exactly like its predecessor did almost 4 years ago. CS:S has better physics than cod4 does and its 3 years old at this stage. The physics in cod4 make it feel like a Q3 engine game.
I thought the game was good at first but nothing special, the more i played it the more it annoyed me. The respawning enemies jsut feel cheap. And the graphics really arent that much of an improvement over cod3. Just look at any indoor environments, blank walls and blank floors, the boat level is the worst offender for that, its like walking through a level completely devoid of textures.
I just think its a shame as the potential is there, the DOF effects are lovely, and some of the animations are stunningly lifelike, but everything else feels so last gen it hurts.
EDIT:
Just to say to BKDZr, shooting through walls isnt new either, you can do that in CS:S too

ZeRoY

Ludo wrote: »

I know what the exp points are for...my point is why flash it up so big. Makes it feel like an 80s arcade game after being ported to a console.

Scoreboard interface looks cheap and tacky...consoley...

Of course it is modern warfare. But if you don't understand what I mean by it not feeling like COD and what COD is about , then I can't explain it any better.

They even limited the player names to 15 chars or something...wtf like. How are you supposed to put clan tags and colours on? Again...consoley.

To me COD was always head and shoulders above other games for sheer online playability and experience. That seems to be gone...ah well.

When COD2 came out we could see the same childish comments, then everyone got hooked -- Ludo: whatever man.

ZeRoY

0ubliette wrote: »

I wasnt expecting them to turn cod into a rhythm action game or something, i was just expecting them to move with the times, and not release something that plays exactly like its predecessor did almost 4 years ago. CS:S has better physics than cod4 does and its 3 years old at this stage. The physics in cod4 make it feel like a Q3 engine game.
I thought the game was good at first but nothing special, the more i played it the more it annoyed me. The respawning enemies jsut feel cheap. And the graphics really arent that much of an improvement over cod3. Just look at any indoor environments, blank walls and blank floors, the boat level is the worst offender for that, its like walking through a level completely devoid of textures.
I just think its a shame as the potential is there, the DOF effects are lovely, and some of the animations are stunningly lifelike, but everything else feels so last gen it hurts.
EDIT:
Just to say to BKDZr, shooting through walls isnt new either, you can do that in CS:S too

lol - what gfx do you have? and yeah you can Shoot through walls in CS:S and blow up cars/barrels - I am running the game with full gfx settings @ 1280*1024 and I get over 70 FPS, never seen a game looking so good and be so fast. (8800 GTS 320Mb)

Edit: My mistake, you can shoot through wall in CS:S, nevertheless I still think COD4 gfx/engine is way better!

humanji

0ubliette wrote: »

I wasnt expecting them to turn cod into a rhythm action game or something, i was just expecting them to move with the times, and not release something that plays exactly like its predecessor did almost 4 years ago. CS:S has better physics than cod4 does and its 3 years old at this stage. The physics in cod4 make it feel like a Q3 engine game.
I thought the game was good at first but nothing special, the more i played it the more it annoyed me. The respawning enemies jsut feel cheap. And the graphics really arent that much of an improvement over cod3. Just look at any indoor environments, blank walls and blank floors, the boat level is the worst offender for that, its like walking through a level completely devoid of textures.
I just think its a shame as the potential is there, the DOF effects are lovely, and some of the animations are stunningly lifelike, but everything else feels so last gen it hurts.
EDIT:
Just to say to BKDZr, shooting through walls isnt new either, you can do that in CS:S too

Sounds like you were looking for it to be a little more realistic like GRAW2. I liked the COD games because of the arcady feel, so I guess I wasn't going to be disappointed with this.

Although that COD rhythm action game sounds pretty cool...

Ardent

Currently playing COD4 on the PC with an 8800 GTX gfx card. Looks and plays beautifully.

Absolutely loving it so far, love the variety of missions and characters you take on, the fire-fighting is insane! Best game I've played in ages.