Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

For the Nintendo DS game, see Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Nintendo DS).

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Cover
Developer(s)	Infinity Ward
Publisher(s)	Activision
Series	Call of Duty
Platform(s)	Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Release	November 5, 2007 November 9, 2007
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer (Internet/LAN, Xbox Live, Playstation Network)

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a first-person shooter developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. It will be the eighth installment in the Call of Duty video game series (including expansions), the first not to be set during World War II, and the first to be rated "M" for Mature by the ESRB. It was announced on April 25, 2007, and will be released worldwide in November 2007.

Gameplay

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will introduce a variety of game play styles into the single player campaign completely new to the Call of Duty series. The game moves away from the standard three country-specific campaign style, and allows the plot to play through more like a film style plot with interlaced story lines from the perspective of the player as a member of the US 1st Force Recon and a member of the British 22nd SAS Regiment. There is also a variety of cameo-style missions where you play as various other soldiers such as an AC-130 Spooky Gunship gunner, or as one part of a two man sniper team behind enemy lines in a flashback style mission.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will focus on the variation of modern warfare as an infantry soldier by allowing the player to control soldiers in a vast amount of different scenarios, straying away from the constant "at eleven" action of previous Call of Duty titles and allowing for both heavy intensity fire fights and slower paced drama styled intensity. The developer, Infinity Ward, has so far told about a handful of such levels including where the player will be the gunner of an AC-130 gunship and the pilot of a AH-1 Super Cobra helicopter providing air support.

The series' move to modern warfare has also introduced a variety of new modern weapons and technology to be introduced to the Call of Duty franchise. Such showcased weapons and attachments include M203 grenade launchers, IR laser pointers for use in conjunction with night vision goggles, silenced MP5SD submachine guns, and the FGM-148 Javelin portable anti-tank guided missile among many others.

Plot

A Russian nationalist by the name of Zakhaev is set on returning his homeland to the Soviet times. Zakhaev knows the United States would never allow this to happen, thus he funds a coup in the Middle East, organized by his ally Al-Asad, to draw attention away from Russia. The two men and their seconds-in-command gain the nickname The Four Horsemen. However, the British and US governments have been monitoring Zakhaev's activities and discover his real intentions. The story is told from a perspective of a British 22nd SAS Regiment operative in Russia and American 1st Force Recon in the Middle East.

The game also features a flashback mission set 15 years ago in the Chernobyl Zone of Alienation, which features a new incarnation of Captain Price from 22nd SAS Regiment, the only character to appear in both of the first two games of the Call of Duty series. He needs to assassinate Zakhaev, but his mission fails because his Captain gets wounded and he has to get out him of the Zone of Alienation. Whether this new Price will be confirmed to be a relative of the WWII era Price remains to be seen. It is also believed that the assasination attempt had left Zakhaev with only one arm.

The game features following as playable characters:

• Lieutenant Price, 22nd SAS Regiment (15 years ago)
• Sergeant John "Soap" MacTavish, 22nd SAS Regiment (present)
• Sergeant Paul Jackson, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment (later Sergeant as part of 1st Force Recon Co., U.S.M.C.) (present)

Their names are seen in mission info which is seen in published gameplay footage of the game. Further characters are unknown.

Multiplayer

For multiplayer, it has been confirmed that Call of Duty 4 will include a class system which has five preset classes with default weapon load outs and perks assigned to them as well as allows users to create five custom classes where the user can customize their weapon load out and three perks to assign to their soldier. The five default classes include Assault, Spec Ops, Light Machine Gunner, Demolitions, and Sniper class. Create a class will be unlocked when the user gains enough Experience Points (XP), earned by killing his/her opponent, and becomes a Private (level 4), and will increase rank with more XP earned. XP will also vary depending on the type of match the user is playing. Only two of the classes are available to a first time player; the rest are unlocked as the player gains more experience online and gains higher rank. The highest known level as of now is level 65., which unlocks Prestige mode. You'll be able to save and name your custom classes for quick access in multiplayer matches. Most of the new weapons and perks that you can use to outfit your custom class will be unlocked as you gain experience ranks, but there are also a separate number of challenges associated with each weapon that will subsequently open up new add-on gear as you complete them.

Game Modes

• Free-for-All - Every man for himself.
• Team Deathmatch - Use teamwork to kill opposing players and reach score limit.
• Team Objective - Domination and Search & Destroy. Capture flags in Domination, with respawning. Destroy and defend objectives in Search & Destroy, no respawning.
• Team Tactical - Small team Deathmatch and Search & Destroy.
• Capture the Flag - Try to steal the enemies flag and return it to your base.
• Search and Destroy - Much like Counter-Strike, there are two teams: attackers and defenders. Attackers try to plant a bomb at one of two bomb sites, and defenders try to defend the bomb sites. If explosives are planted, defenders must defuse. Players only have one respawn per round. A round is over when all players on one team are killed, or when the bomb explodes or is defused.
• Headquarters - A radio spawns somewhere on the map. Your goal is to capture the radio for your team. If Team A captures the radio, they must defend it from being destroyed by Team B. Team A will only have one respawn until the radio is destroyed or the max time limit for the radio is reached. Team B will respawn at set intervals. Team A earns points for every second the radio is held. To capture/destroy a radio, you must stand in the area of the radio. The more players, the faster you destroy it. New radio spawns when time limit is reached or the radio is destroyed.
• Domination - There are flags at certain points around the map. All flags start neutral. Teams battle to hold the most flags. Game ends when the time limit is reached, or the score limit is reached.

Game Engine

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will run on a proprietary engine, and has next generation features such as true world-dynamic lighting, bloom effects, dynamic shadows and depth-of-field. "Bullet Penetration" is calculated by the engine, taking into account things such as surface type and entity thickness. Certain objects, such as cars, will be destructible (it should be noted that the environments are still indestructible). This makes distinguishing cover from concealment important, as meager protection such as wooden fences, thin walls and such will no longer provide sufficient protection. The bullet's speed and stopping power will be decreased after penetrating an object, and this decrease is calculated realistically depending on the thickness and surface of the object penetrated. The game also makes use of a physics engine, which was not implemented in previous Call of Duty titles for the PC. Death Animations are a combination of pre-set animations and ragdoll physics. Some mistook the game's graphics to be DirectX 10 based, but it is stated that the graphics use DirectX 9.

Pre-Release Marketing

Trailer

The Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare trailer showed some game footage was released on April 28, 2007. In the background you can hear a speech given in Russian: Сегодня, одной нацией мы воспрянем перед лицом предательства и оккупации, or translates as "Today, one nation we shall rise before the person of treachery and occupation." Additionally, a final voice at the end speaks the Russian translation of a quote by Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War: "Every war is a lie" (Всякая война враньё). Also, in Arabic, one hears the statements "Enemy Forces Sighted" and "American Forces Nearby."

Public Beta

On August 27th a Call Of duty 4 public beta test was announced. The Beta test was designed to test the servers, find glitches, and help balance out the weapons. It was originally only for residents of the United States of America but later was available to numerous other country's. The beta concluded on September 30th.

Demo

A single-player demo for the PC will be released on the October 11 2007. The demo is about "The Bog Rescue" which showcases the nightvision.

External links

• Call of Duty website - Call of Duty franchise website
• Charlie Oscar Delta - Official Call of Duty 4 website
• Official Infinity Ward Community Forums
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on Gamespot
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on Gaming.Wikia
• Call of Duty 4 Launch Central at Yahoo