Over 30 Review: Call of Duty 4

The First Person Shooter (FPS) is one of my favorite game genres.  I played Wolfenstein 3D in college and even bought a brand new 486 PC system in ’93 just so I could play Doom II.

I read plenty of buzz on Call of Duty 4 in Game Informer magazine and saw the commercials on TV.  I didn’t wait long to buy this game after its release after checking that it got positive reviews at GameSpot.

This is a great game for the over 30 crowd.  The campaign is long and involved.  It follows the adventures of a British SAS soldier and a US Marine as they hunt down a terrorist faction.  The story is eerily ripped from the headlines as you conduct operation in the middle eastern desert and in Chernobyl.

The game play is action packed with a variety of weapons at your disposal.  The game maintains a sense of realism by only allowing you to carry two weapons at a time, with a complement of grenades.  A nice trend in the better FPS games now – I never understood where the marine in Doom kept all those weapons!

The graphics are outstanding – as they should be for the next-gen games.  Also, the soundtrack keeps your heart pumping and raises the suspense level at the appropriate times.

If you get Call of Duty 4 for the single-player campaign, then you are only getting half the benefit (more like 10%).  The multiplayer is where COD4 really shines and keeps the game infinitely playable. 

The online multiplayer requires a broadband connection, which shouldn’t be a problem for you older gamers.  COD4 has a robust ranking system based on XP. As you get more kills and complete tasks in the multiplayer games – you earn XP – Get enough XP and you get a new rank – and with higher rank comes better weapons and more challenges!

I was surprised to get on multiplayer and see some many highly ranked players – but then I realized these are the kids with no jobs and no responsibilities.   Since I only have a few hours a week to play, Call of Duty 4 gives me plenty of action to keep my attention and keep me motivated to earn XP and rank.  Just don’t get discouraged when an 8 year old puts a sniper bullet through your head.