I've just played two hours of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and so far, so good. I was a bit hesitant when I first saw the game's trailer earlier this year, ditching the Second World War for modern day guns, Middle East scenarios and WMDs.
War games have been part of my gaming diet ever since North and South on the Amiga, moving onto Desert Strike on the Megadrive, check out this geek, and more recently the Medal of Honor series and Call of Duty.
The game kicks off with a training mode, set on a military camp where you get to learn how to fire guns, rappel, etc. Then it's onto the first mission, where you drop onto a ship in rough seas and high winds, trying to find the package deep in the bowels of the ship.
The cargo ship tilts and dives with the churning sea, and it's up to you to blast your way across the deck and then into the other rooms to find said package. It's a great start and ends with a smart cinematic finish to get you in the mood for what's to come.
Cut to you as President of a unnamed Middle Eastern country, rather brutally thrown in a car and taken through a lawless city before you're kicked in the face and shot at point-blank range to open the game. It's brutal.
I'll have more on the next few levels, including the classy night-vision effects, and TV studio shoot-out, in another installment.