Hooah! Happy new year!!! Welcome 2008 and farewell 2007. 
2007 was a year of FPS bliss. We have a bunch of blockbuster titles: Team Fortress 2, Half Life 2: Episode 2, Portal, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Crysis, Bioshock, etc. Among these titles, the 2 that clashed head to head are Crysis and Call of Duty 4 (COD4). As from my earlier review of COD4 demo, it is clear that in terms of gameplay, replayability, multiplayer community; COD4 has, no doubt, won my vote for Best Game of the Year (GoTY) 2007. It was in fact awarded GoTY07 by numerous gaming sites like
Gamespot and
Gamespy, to name a few.
My most favourite gun, the P90 with Red Tiger camourflage (150 Headshots to unlock RT camo) 
High RoF (rate of fire), high damage, low recoil. I'm a freakin' frag machine!
Crysis on the other hand, was just another graphical showcase. Make no mistake, Crysis's graphics are jaw dropping and amazingly beautiful. The trees, the foliage, water effects, etc are the most realistic eye candies in games to date. The catch: You will need a Quad core and triple SLI 8800 Ultra to run those
barely smoothly in highest settings nonetheless. It is sad to say that with superior graphics (if you could get it to run smooth), the game was not backed up by good AI and realistic physic engine. In short, the AI is dumb even in hard mode, and the physic is fake.
Crash map. Left: P90 zoomed with red dot sight. Right: The golden Desert Eagle.
Okay, back to COD4. The single player is quite linear and consists of around 6-7 hours of game length. However, the gem of this game lies in its Multiplayer mode. It is by far the best online FPS I've played, successfully replaced my all time favourite, Counter Strike: Source. Be warned, it is addictive!
You won't notice a sniper in this thick foliage.
There are over 20 plus weapons to choose from an arsenal ranging from sub machine guns, assault rifles, shot guns, light machine guns to sniper rifles. Not forgetting some handguns like the M9, M1911, USP and Desert Eagle. The gameplay mode might look simple from the papers which consist of team deathmatch, free for all, domination, sabotage, etc. With a little twist by introducing a nice ranking system, where players could gain experience and level up to max of level 55 by killing enemies, completing objectives to unlock new weapons, weapon mods and perks along the way. Perks are abilities or powerups that add bonuses to your gameplay, example the Martyrdom perk enables the player who are shot dead, to drop a live grenade, killing whoever nearby. Sometimes the killer himself. A good revenge method. Or the Bandolier perk which gives you more ammunition for your spray and pray shooting habit.
Weapons & perks selection and customization.
The weapon mods once unlocked after completing certain challenges, allowing the players to customize/add attachments to their weapons. Eg., nade launcher for one shot kills, the red dot sight which increases accuracy, add a silencer that makes you a stealthy killer and the ACOG scope for long range shooting. There are also Headshot challenges for you complete in order to unlock weapon camourflage skins. Too bad the highest level you can max out is level 55. I wished more, and more weapons to unlock, but now, I play for fun and trying some other weapon challenges.
Finding a nice sniping spot with sniper's ghillie suit.
Prone and blend into the wilderness. Hunting for tangoes.
The multiplayer gameplay requires good team work if you are in hardcore mode. Whereby a single bullet from any guns in hardcore kills. And there's no radar, friendly fire on, no grenade indicator and no ammo counts on your screen. Nade spammers will find themselves frequently killing allied team mates. While in TDM (team deathmatch) with hardcore mode off, you could just run and gun all the way. I find this is the most effective method to gain kills and complete challenges for the weapons. Of course, if the team works properly, it would be even better. It is just that team work element isn't emphasized in TDM and FFA (free for all) compared to other modes which are objective based.
Bragging rights: Level 55 Max makes you a Commander.
The scoreboard: My random frag results.
GAMENiAC's Verdict:
Gameplay:
MP mode is addictive. When you are leveling up, you can't stop playing. Keep telling yourself, just one more kills and I'll get that scope! The game settings are top notch where you really feel like you are in the middle of the battlefield with AA guns and scattered gunshots in the background, enemies' grenades everywhere. You have to keep your eyes peeled every moment in the game. It is the most intensive shooters I've ever played. Once you've reached certain kill streaks, you get the ability to call in UAV scanner (no more hide & seek, you sneaky bast*rds), Air Strike and Attack Helichopter to help boost your kills further. This is indeed, a nice touch.
Graphics:
Even though it is not the best jaw dropping graphics as seen in Crysis, it isn't bad either. With every settings maxed out, the environment, gun models, dynamic lightning, effects, etc are still very convincing. The snipers' ghillie suit made them really hard to spot in "grassy" maps. Which is just as realistic in real life. I personally loved the guns' light reflections. With all these features, you don't even need a RM2K graphics card to run it smoothly. The requirements for this game is very modest for today's standard.
Sound FX:
The sound effects in the game are superb. I've yet to test the surround mode, but it has already performed very well in 2.1 systems. Constant bullets whirled by your ears, foot steps, explosions, background SFX, are of very high quality sound effects found in the game. The sound positioning is accurate and I'm able to tell where the enemies' nades have landed. I'm gonna get myself a 5.1 surround just to "hear" this game alone!
Lasting Appeal:
Is this game gonna last? With enough fast, low ping singapore servers and competitive players, I would say this game is gonna last for at least 2-3 years to come. Until Infinity Wards comes out with new COD series, the current game experience could keep most of us occupied for a long time. I just hope that IW will include more unlockables, maps and weapons in the next patch to add in more variety of gameplay styles.
Wish List:
More weapons, mods, maps and perks. Remove the huge friendly indicator icon on top of team mate's head for further realism.
Get Original. COD4 deserves it.
Last but not least,
... Marines! Pick up your puny mouse guns and hop into any servers to join the addictive fun right now! Semper Fi! Hooah!
