Call of Duty 4 - Xbox 360/Playstation 3

[MJ]

Am I the only one who thought they used enemy respawns a lot less in 4?

In the TV station I fell back a couple of rooms and let them come to me until they stopped and then cleaned up the last few in the main room.

Escaping the barn I used two airstrikes on two waves of enemies before I exited the barn and sniped one or two in the distance and then moved forward to the smaller building which spawned two or three more enemies and that was it for that part.

This was all on Veteran too.

[prinnysquad]

One bit I did really enjoy was the

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gunship level. The grainy greyscale footage was straight off CNN, with smartarse comments from your crew. Thing is, it was such a calm and relaxing mission compared to the rest of the game that it felt all-too real.

Blasting realistic-looking targets through the gun-cam was a tad unsettling, it made me realise how cold and dislocated that method of warfare is. When you see real-life footage of this, blowing up little abstract figures, it always feels unreal, almost like a game. Whereas playing this level on an actual game felt like the most realistic part of the game.

Weird.

[Revolution6000]

Love it or hate it, I think the respawns are what makes this game what it is.

I'd agree, it makes the game feel dated and show how other FPS are trying to advance the genre, while others are happy to stick to the game design of five years ago. With constant respawning, and no AI, it really reduces the enjoyment from the game, all you do is run forward over invisible lines to stop the enemies from spawning behind you, and then repeat.

There is no risk factor in the game, your health just regens so if you're getting hurt you just hide behind a wall or something and then push forward.

And just because it appeared in other CoD is no excuse for them to keep repeating it. Another example that certain games can get away with repeating the same mistakes and no one cares.

[Spatial]

Weird.

Not totally weird. I got a lot of that during certain parts of the game.

The series has always tried its best to press home the reality of war and 4 certainly does that better than ever, mostly because it relates more to the world as we know it.

That's why for the first time the actual death info snippets of stuff like "A single Stinger missile / Helicopter cost $XXXXXXXX" meant something to me. It's kind of sad because there you are at certain points firing stuff around or taking them out left right and centre and all the while at the furthest depths of your mind is the sound of the cash till ringing up at the monetary cost of it all, let alone the human cost.

Of course the game doesn't always get this right (particulalry the human cost) and of course it's certainly not going to stand up as any serious type of subversive anti-war statement, but it does have something to say underneath it all about the futility of modern conflict.

Perhaps the message is "Can't we all just get along?"

[Eight Rooks]

Perhaps CoD itself wouldn't stand up as any kind of serious anti-war statement - it's really far too popcorn for that - but I would like to see a similar game do it. I think you could definitely bring something out that'd feel rewarding to play - a test of skill, of resilience under pressure, of improvisation etc., etc. and still have it really go to town on the whole war is hell thing, at least in a way we haven't seen in gaming already. Something with the atmosphere and tone of Three Kings, say. Or even Stalingrad. You can do games where there's not going to be a happy ending - why not take it that little step further?

It's a difficult one to call, especially after reading something like Gabe's recent newspost on Penny Arcade where he interviewed his own grandfather, who was basically "They're all sick and wrong, and no-one should ever be playing them or making them and anyone who'd been anywhere near a war wouldn't want to even acknowledge they existed, let alone participate in these things' development". I freely admit I've never done military service - more than likely never will - so I can't speak from experience. But as far as I'm concerned playing through CoD 1, the mission pack, 2, part of 3 and all of 4 has to a significant degree strengthened my perception of war as meaningless, pointless chaos, senseless waste of human life, something I don't ever want to have to go anywhere near and suchlike, so...

Such a game might well never happen, I know, but it's nice (relatively speaking ) to dream.

EDIT: And I also really liked the C-180 mission, inasmuchas you could actually like it. Edge's review mystified me in that they said that didn't come across as "noble" enough for them, or something - good to see I'm not the only one who didn't necessarily feel CoD was solely about making you feel "whoo, justice and righteousness, yeehaw!" or the like, WWII or otherwise.

[k0pp0]

Had my first play on this last night. Pretty much blew me away completely, and I've only completed the F.N.G and The Leap (jump?). I literally can't wait to get back to it. Online is awesome as well, lovely lovely balance. I was playing deathmatch against a fair few folk, one of which was very good, but I held my own and ranked 3rd in all the games I played.

I now have too many good games to play.

[jim g]

I love this game online, so far I have clocked up 1day 11hrs, (35hrs!) I have never played that long online.

Every game is like a new game and is great fun.

[Spatial]

I might be a bit slow here but I've only just found out that Captain Price is voiced by Johnny Allen from Eastenders / D.I. Don Beech from The Bill.

So obvious when you know it.

Plus there's obviously Richard `Eastenders / Cliff Hanger` Fairbrass as Gaz.

[Welrain]

I'm playing through again on Hardened. Just completed "Heat" I think it was called. Defend the LZ and then run like hell down the hill? Its a lot more fun on the higher difficulty levels..and flash bangs are the best thing ever.

[SubparMario]

Apologies for being too lazy to read the thread, but what's the opinion on 360 vs PS3 for this game?

Are they much the same? Is the PS3's online multiplayer fully featured in light of not having the solid XBOX Live underpinning?

[jim g]

Apologies for being too lazy to read the thread, but what's the opinion on 360 vs PS3 for this game?

Are they much the same? Is the PS3's online multiplayer fully featured in light of not having the solid XBOX Live underpinning?

I have both cos my brother has it on 360 and my son has PS3. PS3 plays perfect with no problems.

[MikeF]

I also have both versions and both run perfectly for me, hardest thing is trying to balance the MP side of things

[peeveen]

Got this for xmas ... and while I can appreciate that it is a fantastic game, I'm not really enjoying it QUITE as much as the WW2 versions, mainly just because of the setting. For some reason, battling the Nazi's through muddy European fields, with fairly rudimentary guns and stuff, dragged me into the scenario a bit more ... I was a bit more sympathetic to the plight of the protagonists. I'm not even sure WHO I'm fighting against in this version, or why, and the SAS/Marines sound like a bunch of mouthy twats.

Other than that minor niggle, top stuff, and I think I'm only about a quarter of the way through.

PS: Apologies for all the game invites I declined over xmas ... I was just getting totally slaughtered, so figured I should get a bit more accustomed to the game via the SP mode first.

[jim g]

Anyone got problems with PS3 stats. I finally got to Level 50 today, which shows up when I play online, but in the Barracks all my stats are level 48. My score, kills etc are all static.

Any ideas?

[dvdmike]

Really stuck now

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taken the shot with the .50 cal in the flashback bit now doing the escape, what happened to the diff. level ? I cannot get past the two bus bit right at the begining