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Call of Duty 4 is a squad based tactical first person shooter. Unlike all previous installments of the series, CoD4 is set in the present day making full use of all the nifty gizmos and gadgets available to the modern combat specialist. Players alternate controlling a flashy, guns-blazing US Marine and a stealthy, ninja-like SAS while trying to regain possession of terrorist-controlled nuclear weapons. A typical level involves mowing down waves of enemies rushing at your team while attempting to dislodge entrenched enemies giving suppressive fire. In addition to the “normal” FPS style levels you are given a curveballs including an entire level where you control the gunner position in an AC-130 Gunship helicopter. Three to four dozen characters both friendly and enemy can be involved in just one fire-fight. Unfortunately this large number of active participants swiftly develops into absolute chaos as teammates run across your line of fire as you are attempting to put down cover fire for those same teammates. This is more of an issue as firing on a squadmate can instantly end the mission.

While friendly fire was a little bit of an issue the AI of both friendly and enemy troops is much improved from previous installments of Call of Duty. Friendlies throw back enemy grenades and intelligently use the environment to provide maximum cover. The enemy has an amazing ability to strike even the most carefully orchestrated movement from cover to cover. Cover is another situation worth mentioning... even behind full cover a soldier is not completely safe from enemy fire. Bullets can and will travel through almost every obstacle a soldier could possibly use for cover. No more hiding behind cars, wood, or brick walls to avoid that entrenched Squad Automatic Weapon. Good tactics, prodigious movement and quick elimination of threats are the best items of cover in Call of Duty 4.

Unfortunately the amount of time it takes to complete the single player game was almost laughable. Taking my time in a relaxing playthrough on Easy difficulty I was able to complete the game in just under seven hours. Bringing the difficulty up a notch or two does increase the time it takes to complete CoD4, but not by a considerable length. What makes up for this shortcoming is the Online play. While Co-operative play is not available, Player vs. Player (PvP) and Team Vs. Team play ate up more than its fair share of this reviewers' spare time. The longer you play online the more weapons, weapon upgrades, and perks you can use. Up to three perks are allowed on each character and each of these perks modifies the play of the character somewhat. Some perks allow for augmentation of your explosives such as an undermounted grenade launcher others make your harder to kill by increasing your health or making you invisible on enemy radar. A favorite among newbies is Martyrdom which allows you to drop a live grenade (assuming you have any left) when you die and Deep Penetration allows your bullets to continue further through objects before stopping, obviously allowing for kills to enemies in cover.

Beautifully orchestrated introductory videos for each level set the tone for the graphics of the entire game. From excellent textures, character animations, and particle effects to exceptionally accurate lighting, shadowing, and weather effects seemingly stolen from a Hollywood blockbuster Call of Duty 4 is almost definitely the best use of the Xbox 360 graphics to date. Uniquely accurate representations of the weaponry existent in CoD4 actually caused me to pause my game when I received a new weapon in order to call a sharpshooting friend of mine to come over to identify any inconsistencies. Both he and I were dumbfounded when he could not find a single issue with any of the myriad weapons represented in CoD4.

The audio for CoD4 is beyond compare. Never before has a game so completely engrossed my sense of hearing. The soundtrack is outstanding, every bit a cut above the rest of the FPS genre's lack of musical finesse. The sound effects actually made me feel that I was in the middle of the battlefield. The whiz of bullets speeding by inches from the player's helmet. The rhythmic thumping of helicopter blades. The calling out of enemy positions by friendly troops. The icing on this very rich cake is the voice acting. The dialogue is delivered in such a way as to actually bring the main characters to life within the game.

Overall Call of Duty 4 is by far the best FPS I have ever played. From the extraordinary sound and visuals to the heart-pounding action CoD4 envelopes the player in the world of extreme modern combat. With only three drawbacks to speak of (short campaign, no co-operative campaign, and friendly fire) Call of Duty 4 deserves to be in the running for Overall Game of the Year. While the realistic represented blood and gore should deter parents from purchasing the title for those too sensitive for such horrors as warfare I am fairly confident that gamers in their teens or older will all enjoy CoD4 as much as I do.