A Great Melding of Genres

Since the inception of the original Halo, my love for console shooters has slowly dwindled, day by day, game by game. Sure, I've continued to purchase them, but my interest and satisfaction with them was slowly declining. Call of Duty 4 was no different, at first. While the single-player campaign was enjoyably cinematic, it was tough to hold it higher than the campaigns of other, more prominent shooters, such as Halo or Half-Life. Still, for a story based around modern-day scenarios, it was pretty damn good.

I'm going to cut to the chase and say: the multiplayer, hands down, was the sole reason for me to buy this game. I acquired a code for the muliplayer Beta and was utterly impressed. And when I finally got my hands on the retail version, my feelings were no different. The cross-breeding of fast-paced, twitchy, edge-of-your-seat FPS gameplay and RPG depth broke some sort of simple mold that should have been broken years ago.

With games like God of War and Devil May Cry, it was quite obvious that the addition of RPG elements into the most unlikely genres adds noticeable amounts of depth. I've been saying it for years: it's unarguable that finding RPG elements in your favorite game series will be quite common. Games like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare take two polar opposites, shooters and RPGs, and combine them for an experience that will have you coming back for more, time and time again. The upside: the outdated grinding of typical RPGs is replaced by the tooth-gritting action of an FPS.

This game is a blast to play. If you haven't picked it up yet, then do yourself a favor and leave, now. Go to your local retailer, pay the price that the game is well worth, take it home, and see just what in the Hell you're missing out on. If it's "bang for your buck" you want, this game will make your entire wallet go nuclear.