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It was four years ago that Infinity Ward split to create an independent studio. Its first game was a little known shooter called, ‘Call of Duty’ on the PC. The developers harnessed their previous experience from Medal of Honor titles and melded it into a new game. The original Call of Duty was one of the best ever FPS to ever hit the PC. It took the adrenaline filled MoH and turned the action-factor up to eleven. The game took the player through World War 2 which such sublime execution that it was immensely engrossing. The epic set pieces, (the Russian levels in particular) made the player believe that they were in that precise moment of warfare. Accompanying the single player experience, was an addictive and rewarding multiplayer mode that kept me entertained for hours at my local LAN cafe.

Since then, the game has had multiple sequels, some on PC and some exclusively to consoles. They’ve all taken place in World War 2 and while many were good games, none of them achieved the authenticity and fun factor of the first. There was always something lacking, a missing component to the experience. As well as that, the use of World War 2 in every single one of the games meant that the experience was slowly becoming stale. The series that once sat proud in the world of FPS was nearing generic. It needed a breath of fresh air, and that’s exactly what the developers have done.

It was only a few months ago that Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat was showcased to the world, but its revealing had such a huge effect. The game had dropped the setting of WW2 and had flashed forward to the modern day. It had rid itself from M1 Garands and Thompsons and had replaced it with RPG’s and M4 Assault Rifles. And it looked gorgeous. It looked like the game had returned to its roots, with chaos breaking out around the player. The question was whether the game could actually fulfil its potential. Yesterday I finally got an answer to that question with the release of the Single Player Demo for PC and I can safely say that any doubters should be ashamed.

The first thing to get out the way, because it’s the factor that most people will be interested about, is how the game looks and runs. With everything maxed out and all the effects turned on, it ran absolutely brilliantly. Through the whole demo there wasn’t one single stutter, crash or bug. It looks amazing, a term I barely use lightly. I felt in the moment. There was heat haze from guns, sparks flying, smoke, explosions, gun-fire, and grenades. All this going on at one and I didn’t get one case of slowdown. Textures are sharp and realistic and the sound effects are realistic to a tee. The only thing that would look better than this is real life, and considering the danger of war in real life, I think I’ll stick to CoD’s simulated kind.

With the visual side out of the way, how does the game play? Often developers spend too often on the graphical engine that the gameplay is often lacking, but in CoD4’s case, it runs to the same pedigree as the visuals. Controls are easy to master and feel extremely secure. You sprint at a realistic speed and jump a realistic height. The gunplay is solid and it gives the player a good feeling of power. You feel like part of a unit, with men covering your back, shouting to you and running alongside you. The enemy AI is creative and deadly. I played through on normal and often found myself pinned down, being grenaded and quite often shot at. They react realistically which along with your teammate AI, creates an authentic sense of combat.

The worse thing about the demo is the fact that it is only one level. I want more and its release date cannot come soon enough. It’s looking like it’s going to be rivalling Crysis for my playing time. All I can say is welcome back Call of Duty, we’ve missed you.

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