Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare // Xbox 360
Not your granddaddy's WWII shooter

// The skinny: Something bad is happening in the Middle East, so you play as an American and British soldier to blow things up real good and spread democracy with lots of bullets.

// Review: The Call of Duty franchise finally crawls out of the trenches of the tired WWII quagmire into present day glory. It's a very welcomed move that Medal of Honor and Brothers in Arms for some reason haven't caught on to. But with COD4's incredible success, here's to hoping this becomes a trend.

/ I usually like to give a brief synopsis of the games I review. But like with the other COD's, the story is so forgettable or non-existent I can't even remember it fresh off of playing the single player campaign through twice. Some Middle Eastern extremist stages a coup or threatens to launch a nuke (or insert your generic plot here), and you are tasked to stopping them with extreme prejudice.

/ If you are a veteran of the Call of Duty franchise then the controls and game play will feel very familiar. Storm a building, clear the rooms, rinse and repeat. But in COD4 they have added some nice new wrinkles. In one of my favorite levels you get to pull the trigger in a flying gunship. It's a top down satellite-esque black and white perspective where you give aerial support to ground troops. The only problem with it is that I wish it were longer.

/ The graphics are impressive and the sound design is top notch as well. Like I said, there is very little story and the single player mode clocks in at around 6 hours.

/ But as with Halo 3, don't be surprised if most people haven't even played the campaign because the multiplayer is the main attraction here. Other popular FPS games like Halo and Gears of War have a lot of the fire fights taking place close enough where you actually can see the whites of their eyes. In COD4, expect to be suddenly killed by unseen assailants.

/ There is a leveling mechanic where you increase in rank by acquiring experience for kills, wins and accomplishing several challenges. This gives you more access to weapons, upgrades, challenges and perks. The perks are a great innovation. You get to customize your character with things like dropping a live grenade when you die and getting a few extra seconds as you're dying to try and avenge yourself before embracing the eternal night. My biggest gripe is that there is no skill based match making. That means newbs are tossed in with veterans that start off with better equipment.

// Wrap up: COD4 is the first real Halo killer with more people playing it on Xbox live. The game just looks and plays great with some truly intense combat.

Entertainment rating: 5