codeh4x0r has 7 chronicles

1. Call of Duty 4
   

   Player Chronicle -- Posted on Nov 29 2007

   I will give this game the fictitious award of "Most unanticipated hit ever"! I'd played a little bit of the older Call of Duty games, and was never really impressed with them. Given the series' past track record, I wouldn't've given this game a second look in a bargain bin, but I was at a friend's house and he was playing it on XBox Live, so I didn't have much choice there.
   
   
   
   Watching my friend play (in glorious 1080p), I was truly amazed at the level of detail not only in the graphics, but in the level design as well. Many places to hide, snipe, countersnipe, flank and take cover. These may have been present in the previous versions, but in my opinion they didn't seem to be as natural.
   
   
   
   After seeing a couple rounds of carnage, I asked to take a turn. I'm more than fair at Halo 3, so I should go in there and kick some ass! That was the plan, anyway. Unfortunately for me, it turned out a complete disaster as I was cut down by sniper, SMG, and assault rifle alike in record time. It was quite humbling and frustrating.
   
   
   
   For a good week I was determined that I would never touch the game again. The next weekend, however, I was hanging out with my friends again and they started up CoD4. Just lovely.
   
   
   
   Every time it was my turn I would pass until they "peer pressured" me (it doesn't take much! ) into playing. So, here I am, round 2 with a game I really didn't care for or want to play. It was a repeat of the previous bloodbath. Not one kill for the entire first half of the match. It was at this time that my friends started giving advice. I tried various things they suggested, but the one thing that struck a chord with me was that "I need to camp more". Camp more? That's lame. I tried it anyway, and got my first kill, and my second, and my third! I knew what a UAV was from watching my friends play, but actually calling it myself felt much different. Maybe it was just the adrenaline rush I received from actually not dieing.
   
   
   
   Naturally, the enemy figured out where my position was and fragged me to smitherines. The point, however, was driven home: This is NOT Halo! Once I *stopped trying to play Halo* and opened my experiences to learning a new game, my results drastically improved. This resulted in a HUGE boost in fun-factor.
   
   
   
   I'm not saying that I became a CoD4 god overnight, but at least I can put up a fight! Well, most of the time anyway. But I digress...
   
   
   
   The level-up system in multiplayer is very nice. A good balance of carrot-on-a-stick and making your tools available to you. I do have a complaint, however, that it will be very easy to achieve max level (55) and not have 1/2 of your stuff unlocked. There's a "prestige" rank that re-locks everything you've earned and gives you a special rank insignia that states you've started over on purpose that's available at lvl 55. If you haven't even unlocked 1/2 of your stuff, why would you want to re-lock it all and start over? I guess I'll just have to burn that bridge when I get there.
   
   
   
   I do, however, like that fact that while you need ranks/levels to unlock weapons, you unlock weapon attachments simply by using the weapon, and this will lead us into Challenges.
   
   
   
   Challenges are a "mostly optional" aspect of the multiplayer experience that are new (at least to me) for a multiplayer FPS game. Various categories of challenges exist that require you to perform various tasks to complete them. All challenges will reward you varying amounts of experience for them, and most (all?) of the weapon-specific challenges will unlock either attachments (silencer, scopes, etc) or skins. Some of the challenges (which get unlocked as you progress) can get quite specific in your task, such as "Kill an enemy, steal his weapon, then kill him again with his own weapon." I've actually seen this one done and it's totally hilarious.
   
   
   
   In addition to unlocking weapons and attachments, there's also something called Perks. This concept is also new to FPS games (at least from the ones I've played). Each "class" (more on this later) may choose 1 perk each from three independent lists. These can range from an RPG launcher to extra bullet damage to dropping a live grenade every time you die (this one is great fun in crowded rooms/corridors!). Each perk is unique, and perks in the same list are mutually exclusive, meaning that you can't pick two perks from the same list. This allows for great customization with greatly reduced risk of being cheap.
   
   
   
   With all of these possible combinations of weapons, attachements, and perks, how is one going to keep track of their favorite equipment loadouts? Enter the Class system, yet another new feature for FPS games (that I've been exposed to). While this one isn't as new as some of the other features (Star Wars Battlefront would let you choose your "class" when you respawned), it is highly valuable when coupled with the other new systems. Each player will have 5 "slots" (unlocked at lvl 4) to create custom weapon/perk configurations and to name each of them. So far I've only used three of my five, but I haven't unlocked hardly any of the weapons either. I should probably mention that there are 5 *stock* classes in addition to your custom created ones, but I don't really like the stock classes all that much. I keep an "all purpose" class for just killing, a stealth based class equipped with silencers and the perk that makes you invisible to radar, and a sniper class for the rare times when I think a sniper would be prudent. (I have problems sniping in Halo also - just can't snipe very well.) When I have more things unlocked, I'll probably make a couple of more, but I digress again.
   
   
   
   While I haven't played the campaign mode (and doubt I will - I don't think it will compare to the multiplayer mode), I have to give the online mode 9/10. The only thing that prevents a 10/10 (or more? ) in my book is that if the "host" of a game drops, then the entire lobby is disbanded. It's mostly just annoying unless the host quits during the match, in which case the match is immediately over. This really sucks when they quit within the first 10 seconds. Worst of all, noone knows who the host is, so every time you quit, you might be kicking everyone else also.
   
   
   
   Thanks for taking the time to read my review of CoD4 and listening to me babble on about something you've probably already played.
   
   
   
   Code

   
   

   ---

   Send To A Friend

codeh4x0r has 6 comment s on this chronicle.

1. xROOSTERx
   Posted On Jan 02 2008

   I love you work you got here.. And you are right your not playing halo..

2. Kupo_Cakes
   Posted On Dec 17 2007

   you have great chronicles. very informitive.. very amusing to read.. doesnt make me bored have way through. ive yet to play this.. but hoping to soon. although ill probably be playing just as it was a halo game like u did. lol

3. The Antagonist
   Posted On Dec 03 2007

   Hey great review look forward to reading the rest.

4. neily
   Posted On Nov 30 2007

   I LOVE YOU. I am working on a PC to be able to run this bad boy at full.

5. codeh4x0r
   Posted On Nov 30 2007

   Thanks for the ego boost. No, I don't have an external blog - this is it!

6. BEN
   Posted On Nov 29 2007

   Like I said in the forum, great work once again! Your complete video game reviews are great and it provides this gaming community with alot of great content.
   
   
   
   Keep writing and if you have an external blog, let me know and maybe we can develop some inbound links into The GoG using your writings...