Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a 2007 first-person shooter video game, developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. A handheld game was made for the Nintendo DS. The game was released in North America, Australia, and Europe in November 2007 for video game consoles and Windows. It was released for the Mac in September 2008, then released for the Wii in November 2009, given the subtitle Reflex Edition. It is the fourth installment in the Call of Duty video game series, excluding expansion packs, and is the first in the Modern Warfare line of the franchise, followed by a direct sequel, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as well as the first game in the series to have a Mature rating. The game breaks away from the World War II setting of previous games in the series and is instead set in modern times. Call of Duty 4 was in development for two years. It uses a proprietary game engine. On September 10, 2009, it was re-released in Japan by Square Enix.
The story takes place in the year 2011, where a radical leader has executed the president of an unnamed country in the Middle East, and an "Ultranationalist" movement starts a civil war in Russia. The conflicts are seen from the perspectives of a U.S. Force Reconnaissance Marine and a British SAS commando, and are set in multiple locations, including the UK, the Middle East, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Ukraine. The multiplayer portion of the game features various game modes, and contains a leveling system that allows the player to unlock additional weapons, weapon attachments, and camouflage schemes as they advance.
Critically acclaimed, the game received an aggregated score of 94% from both GameRankings and Metacritic. The gameplay and story received particular praise, while criticism targeted the failure of the game to substantially innovate the first-person shooter genre. The game won numerous awards from gaming websites, including IGN's Best Xbox 360 Game. It was the top-selling game worldwide for 2007, selling around seven million copies by January 19 and over thirteen million by May 2009.
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Gameplay
As opposed to earlier games in the Call of Duty series, the game features modern equipment and new features, many exclusive to the multiplayer part of the game, such as "killstreaks"; killing a number of enemies without the player dying in between kills allows access to various assets including airstrikes and helicopter support. A character can be positioned in one of three stances: standing, crouching, or prone; each affecting the character's rate of movement, accuracy, and stealth. Using cover helps the player avoid enemy fire or recover health after taking significant damage. As such, there are no armor or health power ups. When the character has taken damage, the edges of the screen glow red and the character's heartbeat increases. If the character stays out of fire, the character can recover. When the character is within the blast radius of a live grenade, a marker indicates the direction of the grenade, helping the player to either flee or toss it back to the enemy.Campaign
The player takes on the role of various characters during a single-player campaign. The characters' involvement in the plot occurs simultaneously and overlaps the events in the game. As such, the player's perspective changes from one character to another between missions. Each mission features a series of objectives; the player is led to each objective with the heads up display, which marks its direction and distance. Some objectives require that the player arrives at a checkpoint, while other objectives require the player to eliminate enemies in a specified location, stand their ground to defend an objective, or plant explosive charges on an enemy installation. After the credits, a special epilogue mission is unlocked for play, featuring a four-man squad retrieving a VIP from terrorists who have hijacked an airliner. The SAS rescue the VIP and escape before the plane is destroyed.[3]Multiplayer
The player's performance in the multiplayer mode is tracked with experience points, which can be earned by killing opposing players, completing challenges, completing objectives, or by completing a round or match. As the player gains experience, they advance in level, unlocking new weapons, perks, challenges, and gameplay modes. The highest obtainable level is 55, but on the console versions of the game, the player has the option to enter "Prestige" mode, which returns their level to one and removes all accumulated unlockables. This process can be repeated up to 10 times with a different insignia being given each time.[5]
Completing a challenge grants experience points and may unlock weapon attachments. As a player's level increases by gaining experience points within online games, it unlocks new weapons, perks, or challenges. As the player advances in levels, they earn the ability to customize their classes; this includes selecting their main weapon, side arm and special grenade type. Additionally, the player can select 3 perks, one from each of the three "Tiers", that can customize their character further. Perk effects include, but are not limited to, extra ammunition, increasing bullet damage by the player, or dropping a live grenade when the player is killed. The player is also given the choice to complete challenges in order to receive even more experience points; challenges include achieving a certain number of kills with a specific weapon, shooting down a helicopter or performing a number of head shots. Additionally, when the player attains a certain amount of headshots with a specific weapon, excluding sidearms, the player unlocks extra weapon "camos", or camouflage, to use for that specific weapon.[3]
Synopsis
Characters
Main article: List of
characters in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
During the single player campaign, the player controls six different
characters from a first-person perspective. The
player assumes the role of recent British Special Air Service recruit Sgt. John "Soap" MacTavish
for most of the game, starting with his enrollment in the 22nd SAS
Regiment.[6]
Sgt. Paul Jackson is part of USMC 1st Force
Recon deployed to the Middle East, and the player controls Jackson's
character during five levels of Act 1. Cpt./Lt. John Price (voiced by
actor Billy Murray) is an SAS officer who is
playable in two flashback missions from 1996. Yasir Al-Fulani is the president
of the unnamed Middle Eastern country in the game, and is playable only
in the game's opening credit sequence before he is executed. The player
also assumes the role of an American thermal-imaging TV operator aboard
an AC-130 gunship during one level, and a
British SAS counter-terrorist operative infiltrating a hijacked airliner
to save a VIP in the "Mile High Club" level.[4][6][7]The game's non-playable characters (NPCs) feature prominently in the story: Captain John Price (in his NPC capacity) and his right-hand man, Gaz (voiced by Craig Fairbrass), serve as mentors to Soap. Jackson's USMC platoon is led by Lt. Vasquez (voiced by David Sobolov) and Staff Sergeant Griggs (voiced by and modeled after Infinity Ward lead animator Mark Grigsby); Griggs later accompanies MacTavish in Russia. Sergeant Kamarov leads the Russian Loyalists that ally with the SAS and USMC forces. "Nikolai" is a Russian informant who helps the SAS. Captain MacMillan is Price's mentor and commanding officer during the flashback to the assassination attempt on Zakhaev.
The antagonists in the story are: Imran Zakhaev, the leader of the Russian Ultranationalist party and the main antagonist of the game; Khaled Al-Asad, the commander of the revolutionary forces in the Middle East and an ally of Imran Zakhaev; and Victor Zakhaev, the son of Imran Zakhaev and a priority figure in the Ultranationalist party.[4]
Plot
Russian Ultranationalist leader Imran Zakhaev, who plans to return his motherland to the times of the Soviet Union, draws international attention away from his plans by funding a coup d'état in an unnamed Middle Eastern country, organized by a local separatist leader named Khaled Al-Asad. Discovering the plot, the American government starts a police action to stop the uprising, while the SAS continues to operate in Russia. After President Al-Fulani of the Middle Eastern country is executed on live TV and Al-Asad takes control, the SAS rescue their compromised informant, Nikolai, from Ultranationalist forces.
During the American invasion of the Middle Eastern country, a platoon from the USMC 1st Force Recon, led by Lt. Vasquez, searches for Al-Asad but are too late and only secure a television station broadcasting Al-Asad's plan. They then proceed to aid other American units who are fighting a battle against the separatists. During the final stages of the operation, United States Central Command learns of Al-Asad's position in the capital but is also notified by SEAL Team Six of a Russian nuclear weapon nearby and sends the Nuclear Emergency Support Team to disarm it. Meanwhile Vazquez's squad stays behind to rescue the pilot of a downed AH-1 Cobra that was providing them with fire support. Despite being able to save the pilot, the nuclear device suddenly detonates, leveling most of the city, killing most of the US invasion force. Jackson's squad's helicopter is caught in the blast, killing everyone on board.
The British then learn that Al-Asad fled the country before the American invasion and is hiding in a safe house in Azerbaijan. With the help of Nikolai's intel and assistance from Loyalist Russian soldiers, the SAS clear the village of the Ultranationalist forces, then capture and interrogate Al-Asad at his safehouse. Shortly into the interrogation, Al-Asad's phone begins to ring. After hearing the voice of the person calling Al-Asad's phone, Captain Price executes Al-Asad, now knowing that Zakhaev is Al-Asad's backer. Price then tells the story of a mission to eliminate Zakhaev in Pripyat, Ukraine, 15 years earlier.
In the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Zakhaev took advantage of the turmoil to profit from nuclear proliferation, and used his new wealth to lure soldiers from the Red Army to form his Ultranationalist Party. In 1996, Price was paired with Captain MacMillan, a Scottish SAS captain, to carry out a black op assassination of Zakhaev. After sneaking into Pripyat and hiding in an abandoned hotel, Price shot Zakhaev with a Barrett M82 sniper rifle, but Zakhaev survived, losing his left arm. MacMillan was injured by a crashing helicopter after he and Price shot it down. Price then carried MacMillian to the exfil point, defending it from attack by Ultranationalist soldiers until the evac helicopter arrived.
Back in the present day, a joint operation is conducted by Price's SAS unit, a USMC Force Recon unit led by SSgt. Griggs, and Loyalist Russian forces led by Sgt. Kamarov, to stop Zakhaev. They attempt to capture his son Victor in an unnamed Russian city, to learn of Zakhaev's whereabouts, but as they corner him on the roof of an apartment building, Victor commits suicide to avoid being captured. Zakhaev becomes enraged, blaming Western nations for the death of his son, and plans to retaliate by launching ICBMs armed with nuclear warheads at the East Coast of the United States, with predicted losses of over 41 million people. When the operatives arrive at the facility in Russia, Zakhaev manages to launch ICBMs towards the United States. However, the squad successfully seizes the silo command room and remote detonates the missiles over the Atlantic. They then escape the facility in military trucks with Zakhaev's forces in hot pursuit.
Before the squad can escape across a nearby bridge it is destroyed by an Mi-24 Hind, leaving them trapped. Zakhaev's forces arrive and engage the remaining members of the strike force. Gaz receives a call from Kamarov informing him that his forces are on their way to help. On the bridge a gas tanker behind them explodes, incapacitating everyone, except Griggs, who is killed while trying to pull Soap to safety. Zakhaev, along with two of his soldiers, walks through the squad executing them, killing Gaz and several others. Before he reaches Soap and Price, however, he is distracted by the destruction of his gunship and the arrival of the Loyalist helicopters. As Zakhaev fires at the Loyalist helos, Price slides his M1911 pistol to Soap, who shoots and kills Zakhaev and his two guards. When Sgt. Kamarov and his team arrive Soap is evacuated to safety, while a Russian medic attempts to resuscitate Price.
Development
| [show]System requirements |
|---|
The development team designed the online multiplayer component to be balanced and rewarding for new players while still offering something for experienced players. An early idea to implement air support (air strikes and attack helicopters) involved players fighting over special zones to access a trigger for air support against enemies. This idea was discarded because it discouraged the type of deathmatch gameplay they intended. The kill streak reward system was put in its place to encourage the improvement of player skills. Players were allowed to select weapons before matches to get accustomed to weapons more easily and minimize weapon hunting. Maps were designed primarily for deathmatch games—the developers felt such designs suited other types of gameplay as well. Map layouts were designed to minimize locations players could hide from enemy gunfire.[10]
Audio
Most of the music for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was written by British composer Stephen Barton, who had also contributed to film scores by Harry Gregson-Williams. Gregson-Williams also composed music for the game, such as the main theme. Several music tracks from the game are available on Infinity Ward's "7 Days of Modern Warfare" website, and some are available at Barton's own web site.[11] The rap song played during the end credits is performed by Call of Duty 4's lead animator, Mark Grigsby.[12]Game engine
Certain objects, such as cars and some buildings, are destructible. This makes distinguishing cover from concealment important, as the protection provided by objects such as wooden fences and thin walls do not completely protect players from harm. Bullet stopping power is decreased after penetrating an object, and the decrease is dependent on the thickness and surface type of the object. The game makes use of a dynamic physics engine, not implemented in previous Call of Duty titles. Death animations are a combination of pre-set animations and ragdoll physics. Console versions of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare run at a consistent 60 frames per second, and the Wii version runs at 30 frames per second.[13] Code was included to determine spawning points based on the nearby weapons and the relationship between enemy positions and line of sight to the points. The various criteria are meant to minimize players dying immediately after rejoining a match, or being "spawn-killed" due to players simply waiting for others to "respawn".[10] However, enemies may still respawn infinitely, a notable feature in Call of Duty game engines. [15]
The game engine has also been used for the development of two other Activision games. An enhanced version of the original engine was used in Call of Duty: World at War, the fifth installment in the Call of Duty series after Call of Duty 4,[16] while a slightly altered version has been used for the James Bond video game Quantum of Solace as well as GoldenEye 007 using a heavily modified version.[17]
Marketing and release
On April 27, 2007, the day before the release of the game's official trailer, Infinity Ward launched a website called "Charlie Oscar Delta" to provide information on the game. Charlie Oscar Delta features a ranking system that allows users to complete missions to increase their rank and compete for prizes. Charlie Oscar Delta is derived from the NATO phonetic alphabet and the initials of Call of Duty.[18] The first Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare trailer featuring game footage was released on April 28, 2007.[19] An Xbox 360 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare public beta test was announced on August 30, 2007. 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 US, but was later available to other countries. The beta concluded on September 30, 2007.[20] The maximum rank for the beta was initially level 16,[21] but was increased to level 25 towards the end of the beta. Three multiplayer maps were available for play: Crash, Vacant, and Overgrown.[22] A single-player demo for the PC was released on October 11, 2007 as a Yahoo! exclusive download, and is now available for free download. The demo includes one level, "The Bog," which showcases the advanced night vision and associated graphics capabilities.[23]Retail versions
The game was released as a standard version and a collector's edition. The Collector's Edition contains the standard retail game and a DVD containing a documentary film entitled "Great SAS Missions," which consists of archive footage of the SAS in action and accounts from former SAS members. The DVD contains a "making-of" featurette and a level walkthrough by the developers. Also included is a limited edition poster and an exclusive hardcover art book featuring never-before-seen concept, development, and final artwork. These elements were packaged in a larger cardboard version of the standard retail box. The collector's edition was originally only available in the U.S., but was later released in other countries.[24] A "Game of the Year" edition was later released on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. The PlayStation 3 version included the Variety map pack on the disc, and while the Xbox 360 Game of the Year edition initially included an insert in the packaging which could be redeemed on Xbox Live Marketplace to download the Variety map pack, later releases did not contain the inserts, and so were no different from the original release of the game.[25]Call of Duty 4 was released for consoles and Windows in North America on November 6, 2007, in Australia on November 7, 2007, and in Europe on November 9, 2007.[26] The Mac OS X version of the game was developed by Aspyr and released on September 26, 2008.[27] It was released on the Mac App Store on or Around January 16, 2011. It was rated 15 by the BBFC,[28] M for Mature by the ESRB, MA 15+ by the OFLC,[29] 16+ by the PEGI,[30] and 18 by the USK.[31] The Wii port of the game, titled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex, was developed by Treyarch and released on November 10, 2009, alongside Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized.[1]
Downloadable content
Infinity Ward released the Variety Map Pack for the Xbox 360 on April 4, 2008. It includes the multiplayer maps "Killhouse", "Creek", "Chinatown", and "Broadcast". The same map pack was released for the PlayStation 3 on April 24, 2008. The Variety Map Pack was downloaded by over one million people in its first nine days of release, a record for paid Xbox Live downloadable content, valued at US$10 million.[32] It was released as a free download for Windows on June 5, 2008, sponsored by NVIDIA, along with patch 1.6.[33] A further patch for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game was announced over a year later in August 2009; the patch primarily addressed online multiplayer exploits.[34] Patch 1.7 was released in June 2008. This patch can be applied to the Game of the Year edition directly with no prior patches. Earlier versions must have patch 1.6 applied first.[35]Reception
| [hide] Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | (X360) 94.08%[36] (PS3) 93.54%[37] (PC) 92.29%[38] (Wii) 78.50%[39] |
| Metacritic | (X360) 94/100[40] (PS3) 94/100[41] (PC) 92/100[42] (Wii) 76/100[43] |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Eurogamer | 9/10[44] |
| Game Informer | 10/10[45] |
| GamePro |  [46] |
| GameSpot | 9/10[47] |
| GameSpy | [48] |
| GameTrailers | 9.4/10[49] |
| IGN | 9.4/10[7] |
| Official Xbox Magazine | 10/10[50] |
| X-Play | [51] |
The game's story has received a considerable amount of acclaim from reviewers. GamePro notes that "the intense single-player campaign offers up an action packed experience that features a tremendously compelling narrative; there are moments in the game that will send chills down your spine."[46] GameSpot mentioned that the fact the "single-player campaign is over in a flash" as the only major flaw.[47] While IGN described the campaign as "still very linear" like that of its predecessors, "eschewing the concept of sandbox gameplay," it noted that this resulted in "a much richer, more focused experience" with "beautifully scripted set pieces."[71] IGN's Voodoo Extreme similarly remarked that it "virtually plays on a rail, but that’s part of its charm."[72]
Call of Duty 4 has also received criticism. Xbox World 360 stated "It's smoke and mirrors and a host of cheap tricks," commenting on the fact that the game did not revolutionize the genre.[73] Pelit also remarked that "the structure of the single player game should ... have been updated" and that "barging from one invisible checkpoint to the next throughout the whole campaign just isn't good enough anymore."[74]
Awards
Modern Warfare received awards from various gaming sites and publications. Both GameSpot and GameTrailers gave the game the Best Graphics of E3 2007 award, and the Best PlayStation 3 Game of 2007 award,[53][55][56] and later ranked it as the third best first-person shooter on its "Top 10 FPS Games Ever!" list.[75] It gained high praise from both video game magazine GamePro and GameSpy, having been named the Best Overall Game of 2007 by the former,[57] and Game of the Year by the latter.[61][62][63][64] Game Critics also named the game "Best Action Game."[52] From other authorities such as IGN and X-play, and the Spike Video Game Awards, the game won awards for areas such as Best Sound Design, Best Shooter of 2007, and Best Military Game. From the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, Call of Duty 4 won Console Game of the Year, Action game of the Year, and Overall Game of the Year.[67] From the British Academy Video Games Awards, Call of Duty 4 also won Best Gameplay of the Year, Best Story and Character of the Year, and People's Choice Game of the Year.[76] Modern Warfare was awarded with the Academy of Video Games Awards Game of the Year 2007 Award. The readers of PlayStation Official Magazine voted it the 7th greatest PlayStation title ever released.[77]Sales
Before Call of Duty 4 was released, it was predicted to sell even more copies than the highly successful Halo 3; it had received reviews as high as Halo 3's, it was launching on three systems as opposed to one for Halo 3, and demand for the game led to a wide range of retailers only having enough available to satisfy pre-orders.[78] It fulfilled the prediction and the Xbox 360 version became the best-selling video game in the United States from November 2007 to January 2008 according to the NPD Group. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions would go on to sell 1.57 million and 444,000 units, respectively, in the United States in November 2007.[79] 1.47 million units of the Xbox 360 version were sold in December 2007;[80] the game sold 331,000 copies for the Xbox 360 and 140,000 copies for the PlayStation 3 in January 2008.[81] The Xbox 360 version was the third best-selling video game of 2007 in the U.S. with 3.04 million units sold, behind Halo 3, which sold 4.82 million units, according to the NPD Group.[80] By January 2008, Call of Duty 4 had sold more than 7 million copies worldwide, and was the best-selling game of 2007.[82] On June 3, 2008, Infinity Ward reported that Call of Duty 4 had sold over 10 million units.[83] During a May 2009 conference call, Activision announced that the game has sold 13 million copies, surpassing Super Mario Galaxy as the best selling game released that week of November 2007.[84]Call of Duty 4 is a target of piracy, which has resulted in multiple copies of the game being illegally distributed online. Robert Bowling, Community Manager at Infinity Ward stated, "We pulled some disturbing numbers this past week about the amount of PC players currently playing Multiplayer... What wasn't fantastic was the percentage of those numbers who were playing on stolen copies of the game on stolen/cracked CD keys of pirated copies."[85]
