Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for the PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows|Windows, and the Xbox 360. It was released on September 30, 2008 for Mac OS X. It is the fourth installment of the Call of Duty (series)|Call of Duty video game series, excluding expansion packs. The game breaks away from the World War II setting of previous games in the series and is instead set in modern times. The game is the first in the series to be rated Entertainment Software Rating Board|Mature in North America. The title and game details were announced on April 25, 2007, and the game was released worldwide between November 6, 2007 and November 9, 2007. It became available on Steam (content delivery)|Steam on November 6, 2007 for pre-purchase, and was available to play on November 12, 2007. The game was in development for two years. It uses a proprietary game engine, and includes features that include true world-dynamic lightning, HDR lighting effects, dynamics shadows, and depth of field.

The story is centered around a fictional near-future conflict involving the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia, who are fighting against Russian ultranationalists in civil war torn Russia, and rebels that have staged a coup d'état in a small Middle Eastern country. It is told from the perspectives of a United States Marine and British SAS operative, and is set in multiple locations, including the Middle East, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Prypiat, Ukraine. The Multiplayer video game|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.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare received considerable praise and has won numerous awards from gaming websites, including IGN's "Best Xbox 360 Game." It was the top-selling game worldwide for 2007, reaching over seven million copies as of January 2008.

Gameplay
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a first-person shooter similar to previous games in the Call of Duty (series)|Call of Duty series, but set in the present-day instead of World War II.

The game's move to modern warfare introduces new weapons and technology to the Call of Duty franchise, including the M203 grenade launcher, M4 Carbine|M4A1 carbine, the AN/PEQ-2 Target Pointer for use in conjunction with Night vision device|night vision goggles, the Heckler & Koch MP5|MP5SD submachine gun, and the FGM-148 Javelin portable anti-tank guided missile. The player gains access to these over the course of the game, but may only carry up to two weapons in addition to grenades. Weapons from fallen foes can be picked up to replace weapons in a player's arsenal. Players also have additional abilities, including a grenade launcher attachment, night-vision goggles, and the ability to call in airstrikes.

The gameplay of Call of Duty 4 shares several features with previous iterations of the franchise. Once again, players fight alongside AI-controlled teammates. They help during the game's missions by providing cover fire, shooting down enemies, and clearing rooms for entry.

A character can be positioned in one of three stances: standing, kneeling, 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 there are no armor or health powerups. 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
Similar to previous games in the series, 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 can change from one character to another between missions.

Each mission features a series of objectives; the player is led to each objective with the HUD (video gaming)|HUD, 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. The player is often accompanied by friendly troops, who cannot be issued orders. Laptop computers containing enemy intelligence appear throughout the campaign, and can be collected to unlock game bonuses.

After the credits roll, a special epilogue mission is unlocked for play, featuring an anonymous four-man squad of SAS troops retrieving a VIP from terrorists who have hijacked an airliner. The SAS rescue the VIP and escape before the plane is destroyed.

Multiplayer
Image:Call Of Duty 4 MP Screenshot.jpg|thumb|right|A player completes the objective of a Domination multiplayer game by capturing a flag. Call of Duty 4 features team-based and Deathmatch (gaming)|deathmatch-based Multiplayer video game|multiplayer modes on various maps. Each game mode|mode has an objective that requires unique strategies to complete. Players can call in Unmanned aerial vehicle|UAV reconnaissance scans, air strikes, and attack helicopters, either an AH-1 Cobra for Special Air Service|S.A.S. or United States Marine Corps|USMC or an Mi-24 for OpFor or Spetsnaz, when they achieve three-, five-, and seven-enemy kill streaks respectively. A game ends when either a team has reached a predefined number of points, or the alloted time expires in which case the team with the most points wins. However in the rare case the points are even when the time expires, Sudden Death mode is activated in which there is no re-spawning and the team who either has the last man standing, or achieves the objective first are the winners.

Online multiplayer also tracks the player's progress and score in the online leaderboards. Players can compare their standing in Overall Score, Accuracy, Win & Loss and Kill & Death ratio with other players in their friends' list or around the world.

The player's performance in the multiplayer mode is tracked with experience points, earned by taking down other players, completing objectives, or by being a member of a winning team. 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 play "Prestige" mode; this resets their level back to 1 and all earned bonuses are lost in exchange for a special in-game insignia. This process can be repeated up to 10 times with a different insignia being given each time, giving the player a total of 605 levels to achieve.

Completing a challenge grants experience points and may unlock weapon attachments. When a player's level increases, it may unlock new weapons, perks, or challenges. At lower experience levels, the player only has access to five pre-determined classes, and cannot create a custom class with the weapon of their choosing. However, 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 a limited number of "perks" that can customize their character further. Perk effects include increasing damage by the player, being able to take more damage, or detonating a grenade after being killed in an act of martyrdom. The player is also given challenges to attempt, including achieving a certain number of kills with a specific weapon or shooting down a helicopter or performing a number of head shots.

Characters
During the single-player campaign, the player controls several characters from a First-person narrative|first-person perspective. The player assumes the role of MacTavish for most of the game, starting with his enrollment in 22 SAS. Sergeant Paul Jackson is part of the USMC United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance|1st Force Recon deployed to the Middle East, and the player controls Jackson's character during five levels of Act 1. Captain/Lieutenant Price is an officer of 22 SAS who is playable in a flashback. Price is voiced by actor Billy Murray most famous for playing Don Beech in The Bill. Yasir Al-Fulani is the president of the unnamed Middle Eastern country mentioned in the game, and is playable only in the game's opening credit sequence before he is executed. The player assumes the role of an American thermal-imaging TV operator aboard an Lockheed AC-130|AC-130 gunship during one level, and a British SAS counter-terrorist operative infiltrating a hijacked airliner to save a VIP in the epilogue level.

There are several non-playable characters (NPC) who feature prominently in the story. Captain Price (in his NPC capacity) and his right-hand man, Gaz (voiced by Craig Fairbrass), serve as mentors to MacTavish. Jackson's USMC platoon is led by Lieutenant 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. Captain Macmillan is Price's (then a lieutenant) mentor and commanding officer during the flashback to the assassination attempt on Zakhaev. The villains 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.

Plot
The game begins with Sergeant "Soap" MacTavish, Captain Price, "Gaz," and a small group of other SAS members infiltrating a cargo ship with Estonian registration numbers in the Bering Sea. After eliminating the crew and confirming the presence of a nuclear device onboard, the vessel comes under attack from hostile Mikoyan|MiGs. The team manages to evacuate the sinking ship with the cargo manifest, which provides evidence of ties between a Russian ultranationalists group and a rebel faction in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Russian ultranationalist Imran Zakhaev is set on returning his homeland to the times of the Soviet Union by revolting against the government and seizing a nuclear weapons stockpile. In order to draw international attention away from his plans in Russia, Zakhaev funds a coup d'état in an unnamed Middle Eastern oil-producing nation, organized by local rebel leader named Khaled Al-Asad. It begins with the televised execution of President Yasir Al-Fulani. The British and American governments discover the plot while monitoring Zakhaev's recent activities, and initiate a police action to stop the uprisings in both regions. After President Al-Fulani is executed, SAS is deployed to rescue their informant within the Russian ultranationalist group who has been compromised and held in ultranationalist territory in the Caucasus Mountains, with help from a force of Armed Forces of the Russian Federation|Russian military led by Sergeant Kamarov. Following the rescue of the informant the SAS team intends to fly him to safety in Hamburg, Germany, but on the way their helicopter is shot down over Central Russia. An Lockheed AC-130|AC-130 gunship is dispatched to provide fire support for the team until they safely manage to evacuate from ultranationalist territory.

Soon after Al-Asad's coup, the United States invades the Middle Eastern country, using United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps air cavalry to secure a local harbour. A platoon from the USMC 1st United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance|Force Recon led by Lieutenant Vasquez searches the city for Al-Asad, securing the television station broadcasting rebel propaganda, but failing to find the revolutionary leader. During the night, while the main USMC forces push Al-Asad's forces back to the capital city, Vasquez's men secure a disabled M1 Abrams|M1A2 Abrams main battle tank and escort it back to a highway. They are then airlifted to take part in what appears to be the final stages of the conflict, when United States Central Command is notified by the SAS of a Russian nuclear weapon nearby, and sends a team to disarm it. With Command ordering the evacuation of U.S. forces as a precaution, Vasquez's platoon helps to extricate an advance team pinned by enemy fire. The nuclear device nevertheless Effects of nuclear explosions|detonates, leveling large parts of the city and killing U.S. forces in the area. Vasquez and his squad were delayed from escaping the blast radius due to a last-minute rescue of a downed AH-1 SuperCobra pilot, and are aboard one of the helicopters caught in the blast radius. Jackson survives the crash of the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter but dies soon thereafter.

Al-Asad is revealed to have fled the country before the United States-led invasion. However, with the help of Nikolai, who the SAS rescued earlier from Russian ultranationalists, the SAS is led to one of Al-Asad's safe houses in Azerbaijan. After interrogating Al-Asad and learning Zakhaev had supplied the nuclear bomb, Captain Price executes him.

Image:Pripjat Panorama.jpg||thumb|right|400px|Prypiat, Ukraine Price then has a flashback of his mission to eliminate Zakhaev in Prypiat, Ukraine, 15 years ago. In the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster and the History of the Soviet Union (1985-1991)|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|Soviet Army and form his Ultranationalist breakaway faction. Price, who was a lieutenant with the SAS, was paired with Captain MacMillan to carry out the black op assassination on the British government's orders. While Zakhaev was engaged in an arms deal, the SAS commandos used the opportunity to target him with a sniper rifle. Zakhaev survived, however, but lost his left arm. The Ultranationalist forces tracked the shot and pursued the snipers across the Zone of alienation|Zone of Alienation. During the chase, MacMillan was injured by a crashing helicopter they shot down, and Price was forced to carry him to the evacuation zone, narrowly escaping the enemy.

Returning to the present, the ultranationalists launch a counterattack against the SAS. From the village where the safehouse is, Captain Price's men briefly hold out against the assault with the aid of close air support from Marine AV-8B Harrier IIs before they are extracted by American forces, led by Staff Sergeant Griggs, who recently served alongside Sergeant Jackson in the USMC campaign in the Middle East. A joint operation, comprising of an SAS Regiment under the command of Captain Price, a USMC Force Recon unit led by Staff Sergeant Griggs, and forces from the Russian military led by Sgt. Kamarov, is undertaken to stop Zakhaev. They attempt to capture his son Victor to learn of his whereabouts, but the mission ends in failure when Zakhaev's son commits Suicide#Military suicide|suicide after being cornered.

Zakhaev becomes enraged, blaming Western forces for the death of his son, and plans to retaliate by launching a series of RT-2UTTH Topol M|SS-27 Topol M ballistic missiles with Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle|MIRV warheads at the East Coast of the United States from a missile base held by the ultranationalist forces. The ultranationalists are well-entrenched in the missile launch center, having earlier eliminated a group of Spetsnaz from the Russian military trying to retake the facility. The SAS/USMC operatives launch yet another joint mission to retake the facility, and starts off with the rescue of Griggs, who parachuted too far from the landing zone and was captured by enemy troops. They then disable the power to the facility, allowing a squad of USMC to breach an electrified fence. The squads meet up, but are shocked when Imran Zakhaev successfully launches two missiles (which would kill over forty million people). The operatives fight their way through the main gates, destroys a few BMP's, and enter the underground missile facility through a few air vents. The player now follows Cpt. Price to retake the missile control center, while the rest are told to capture the security center, which allowed Cpt. Price and his squad through a big reinforced blast door. The squad successfully deactivates the missiles before they reach their targets. Zakhaev's reinforcements, however, surrounds the missile silos and the joint force commandeers jeeps to make its escape.

During the escape, an enemy Mil Mi-24|Mi-24D Hind gunship destroys a bridge the soldiers are attempting to cross, leaving them trapped. Zakhaev's troops arrive soon after, and begin engaging the remaining members of the strike force. A wrecked gas tanker on the bridge explodes, incapacitating everyone except Griggs. Griggs is then shot while trying to pull Soap to safety. Zakhaev himself arrives on the scene accompanied by two soldiers. Gaz and many other surviving members of the strike force are executed by Zakhaev and his men, and Zakhaev is on the verge of killing Soap too, but is distracted by the destruction of the Mi-24 Hind followed by the arrival of a Russian military Mil Mi-28|Mi-28 helicopter. At this moment, a heavily wounded Captain Price slides his M1911 pistol to Soap, who then shoots and kills Zakhaev and his guards. Russian military forces arrive on the scene shortly afterwards. As MacTavish is medevac airlifted from the battleground on a Mil Mi-8|Mi-8 helicopter, a Russian medic is seen desperately attempting to resuscitate Price.

After these events, news reports mention "nuclear missile tests" in Central Russia, "leadership struggles" arising in the ultranationalist party, and the attempt to locate a cargo ship lost in the Bering Strait has been called off, implying that the recent police actions in Russia were conducted in secret, and were not public knowledge.

Development
Call of Duty 4 was developed by a team of a hundred people, over the course of two years. After Call of Duty 3, the Infinity Ward team decided to move away from the World War II environment of previous games in the series. This resulted in two game concepts: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and an unnamed game set to be released in the future. While developing the story for Call of Duty 4, Infinity Ward chose to avoid referencing current, real-life wars, and keep the series' common theme of two opposing forces of similar strength. To enhance the realistic feel of the game, the development team attended a live-fire exercise at 29 Palms, a Marine Corps training facility in the California desert. This helped the developers to simulate the effects of being near an Abrams tank when it fires. The team also talked with United States Marines who were recently in combat to get a feel for the background, emotions, and attitude of Marines in combat. Veterans were also recruited to supervise motion capture sessions and the artificial intelligence design of the game.

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.

Audio
The music for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was mostly 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. The rap song played during the end credits is performed by Call of Duty 4 ' s lead animator, Mark Grigsby.

Image:Cod4-graphics2.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The lighting, shadow, and weather effects of the game can be seen in this screenshot.

Game engine
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare runs on a proprietary Game engine|engine and with features that include true world-dynamic lighting, High dynamic range rendering|HDR lighting effects, dynamic shadows, and depth of field. "Bullet Penetration" is calculated by the engine, taking into account factors such as surface type and entity thickness. Certain objects, such as cars and some buildings, are destructible. This makes distinguishing Cover (military)|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 speed and stopping power are 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. Code was included to determine Spawn point|spawning points based on the nearby weapons, and enemy positions and line of sight. The various criteria are meant to minimize players dying immediately after rejoining a match.

The game engine is also being used for two upcoming Activision games. An enhanced version of the original engine is being used for the next game in the Call of Duty series, Call of Duty: World at War, while a slightly altered version will be used for the James Bond video game Quantum of Solace: The Video Game|Quantum of Solace.

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.

The first Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare trailer featuring game footage was released on April 28, 2007. An Xbox 360 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare public Software release life cycle#Beta|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. The maximum rank for the beta was initially level 16, but was increased to level 25 towards the end of the beta. Three multiplayer maps were available for play: Crash, Vacant, and Overgrown.

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.

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 (168 minutes) 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 in-game 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 US, but was later released in other countries.

Downloadable content
Infinity Ward released the Variety Map Pack for the Xbox 360 on April 4 2008. It includes the stages "Killhouse", "Creek", "Chinatown", and "Broadcast". The same map pack was released for the PlayStation 3 on April 24 2008, as the PlayStation Store was undergoing an update the previous two weeks. 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. It was released for Windows on June 5 2008, sponsored by Nvidia, along with patch 1.6.

Reception
All three versions of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare have received favorable reviews from Video game journalism|video game publications. The Xbox 360 version received an average score of 94% based on 72 reviews on the review aggregator Game Rankings, and an average score of 94 out of 100 based on 69 reviews on Metacritic. The PS3 version received an average score of 94% based on 43 reviews on Game Rankings, and an average score of 94 out of 100 based on 43 reviews on Metacritic. The Microsoft Windows|Windows version was also received favorably, achieving an average score of 93% based on 39 reviews on Game Rankings, and an average score of 92 out of 100 based on 37 reviews on Metacritic.

The gameplay has been cited by reviewers to bring the genre to "a new level of immersion and intensity that we had never seen before." Official Xbox Magazine said about the multiplayer, "it’s the multiplayer mode that solidifies the game’s instant-classic status" and that "the campaign never lets up." GameSpot gave a favorable review for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, saying that the "high quality of that campaign and its terrific multiplayer options make Call of Duty 4 a fantastic package". X-Play commented that "while it may not have revolutionized the genre, it comes damn close to perfecting it." GamePro claims that "the amazingly deep multiplayer rivals Halo 3's in terms of reach and scope."

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." GameSpot mentioned that the "single-player campaign is over in a flash" as the only major flaw. 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."

Call of Duty 4 has also received criticism. Xbox World 360 disliked the game, stating, "It's smoke and mirrors and a host of cheap tricks," commenting on the fact that the game did not revolutionize the genre. Pelit also remarked that "the structure of the single player game should ... have been updated" and that "barging from one invincible checkpoint to the next throughout the whole campaign just isn't good enough anymore."

Awards
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare received awards from various game sites and gaming authorities. Both GameSpot and GameTrailers gave it the Best Graphics of E3 2007 award, and the Best PlayStation 3 Game of 2007 award. It gained high praise from both video game magazine GamePro and GameSpy, having been named the Best Overall Game of 2007 by the former, and Game of the Year by the latter. Game Critics also named the game "Best Action Game." 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: Modern Warfare won Console Game of the Year, Action game of the Year, and Overall Game of the Year.

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 as high reviews as Halo 3, 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. 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. In the US, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions sold 1.57 million and 444,000 units, respectively, in November 2007; 1.47 million units of the Xbox 360 version were sold in December 2007; the game sold 331,000 copies for the Xbox 360 and 140,000 copies for the PlayStation 3 in January 2008. The Xbox 360 version was the third 2007 in video gaming#United States|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. As of January 2008, Call of Duty 4 has sold more than seven million copies worldwide, and was the best-selling game of 2007.

Call of Duty 4 is a target of Copyright infringement|piracy, which may affect the game's sales. One of the game's developers 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..."

On June 3, 2008, Infinity Ward reported that Call of Duty 4 had sold over 10 million units.