Two games this week – I did promise you a review of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Tombraider: Anniversary – so here goes. I’ll try to be as thorough as I can. **Possible spoilers!**
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
The game follows US and British modern infantry as they combat international terrorism. The main focus is on the ultranationalist Russian Imran Zakhaev who seizes a stockpile of nuclear weapons and funds a coup d’etat in a middle eastern country. The game is seen from the viewpoint of British 22nd SAS operative Sergeant “Soap” MacTavish, operating under Captain Price throughout Eastern Europe, and the viewpoint of USMC 1st Force Recon Sergeant Paul Jackson in the Middle East.
First Impressions
All I can say is wow! Within the first few hours (time goes so quickly!) i’d escaped from a sinking ship, lived through a public execution and seen a nuclear detonation first hand. An article in Edge recently said “Call of Duty 4 avoids storyline in favour of action” which I feel is unfair. In Call of Duty 4 the action tells the story, making you experience every plot twist, rather than telling you in a briefing.
Gameplay
The action is fairly standard FPS fare but with a few nice touches. If a grenade lands beside you, pressing the ‘G’ Key or the middle mouse button (tricky with a Mighty Mouse!) will make your character toss it back. You have to be quick and as I played the first few levels in tandem with my flatmate I took the role of grenadier while he was playing, exclaiming ‘Shit!’ before hammering the ‘G’ key.
When you are shot (and you will be – alot) you breathing becomes heavy and successive shots cause a red blood vessels to grow across the screen – like bloodshot eyes I think. After about three shots or one grenade its game over. What happens next is one of the things I really like about the Call of Duty series in general. Each time you die you are presented with a war-related quote.
Some are humorous: “Incoming fire always has right of way” – Anon, “Cluster bombing from a B-52 is extremely accurate, the bombs are guaranteed to hit the ground”, “It is generally inadvisable to eject over the area you just bombed” – US Air Force Marshall, while some are sobering: “Cost of a single Javelin Missile: $80,000″, “Whoever stands by a just cause cannot possibly be called a terrorist” -Yassar Arafat. While other FPS are all about action, Call of Duty is what I would call ‘the thinking man’s FPS’. There is a great sense of camraderie and loss in COD games and the subliminal anti-war messages in COD4 are a refreshing change.
The game allows only two weapons to be carried – I believe the original Halo did this – and although I didn’t like this at first, it really does force you to choose a preferred weapon. There are plenty of weapons to choose from, including my old Tombraider favourite the Desert Eagle, but these you have to source from the bodies of enemies you’ve killed. There is however no shortage of guns (especially AK-47s, a terrorists weapon of choice) around as there are huge numbers of enemies to kill. You also have fragmentation grenades and flashbangs.
Certain levels allow you to use C4 and another weapon I cant recall the name of (it reminds me of the LAW (Light Anti-Tank Weapon) from Delta Force 2) and in these levels these are added to your inventory temporarily.
The action is mostly first person but sees you clambering over obstacles a la Killzone and in places rapelling down cliffs. In one mission you take control of the thermal imaging camera of an AC-130 Gunship (Just think of those top-down police videos on tv and you’ll know what I mean). In what has to be one of the greatest sniping levels I have ever played, you accompany an elite SCOTTISH sniper through a deserted Pripyat, Ukraine (Within the Chernobyl Zone of Alienation), silently dispatching enemy troops and, in one very tense section, lying still in a field while hundreds of enemy soldiers walk past. It is in this level that you end up having to carry your mentor after he is injured and this just adds to the tension as you are pursued by extremely pissed off enemy forces. There are also some fast-paced driving sections where you ride shotgun.
I can’t help but draw parallels with my other favourite shooter, Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear. Some of the missions such as the first mission, the cargo ship, remind me of Rogue Spear and the use of “Tango Down” seals it. This is a different game though, which is not a bad thing, and I have to say, except for the kit customization in Rogue Spear, COD4 is my new favourite shooter.
Artificial Intelligence
I haven’t played many of the other modern shooters but I have to say I’ve been very impressed with the AI in COD4. Enemies will seek a mix between offense and cover. Some times they will fire blind by putting their gun above their hiding place and firing erratically. They can also toss grenades back (Remember Medal of Honor folks?) and can be lethal at close quarters if your not quick enough (smashing the butt of their rifle into your face). My arch enemy in COD4 though has to be the attack dogs. They are super fast and unless you kill them from distance they will knock you down and rip out your throat, lol. Your only defense is to hammer the melee attack button ‘V’ to snap the dog’s neck, but a few times I miss-timed it and became dog food, literally.
What most impressed me was the allied artificial intelligence. COD4 is not a quiet game, there are constantly shouts and commands from you team mates and for the most part this is intelligent. Aside from the usual stock phrases, in some sections your team mates will shout “enemy beside the green car” or “behind that dumpster” which can be really helpful when your making a mad dash through enemy lines.
In some missions you can also call in air strikes if you can paint an area and there is nothing more satisfying than seeing your hard work pay off. Unlike other games this is free-form so you can paint any target. It’s hard not to smile when your helicopter gun ship wipes out the forces that a minute ago had your team pinned down.
The action in COD4 is a mix of the adrenaline rush fast-paced firefights and the more tense slow infiltration. Your team usually consists of only three or four members pitted against a deadly number of enemy forces. It is this small, team focused attitude that make the Call of Duty games so emotional.
Graphics
Again this is where I feel many people would disagree with me but I was really impressed with the graphics in COD4. Again, this is probably due to my inexperience with more high-spec games but i’m not the kind of gamer who concerns himself with graphics and upgrading my machine all the time. In COD4 the explosions, kills and water effects are all suitably beleivable for my liking. I particularly liked the cigar flame visible in the helicopter approach to the cargo ship.
Sound
As mentioned previously, COD4s theatre of war is a noisy chaotic place and, owing to the cinematic stylings of the game, has an appropriate accompanying soundtrack. The game also includes subtitles and hints about which keys to press in context-sensitive locations (rappelling, using a mounted gun, tossing back a grenade etc) are prevalent throughout the game.
Level Design
This is also an area that really impressed me. The environments, while linear, are huge so you never really feel like you’re being told where to go. There are often
many ways to accomplish the same objective and in some sections, especially in the sniping level, your commanding officer leaves the choices up to you: “Take him out or let him pass, it’s your call”.
There’s always a different route you can take and varying levels of resistance depending on the terrain. In one level, you have to fight your way from a farm at the top of a hill to your extraction helicopter at the bottom of the hill, with a whole platoon of enemy forces standing in your way. You can choose your own way down the hill and repeated attempts will teach you what to expect at different parts of the descent. In some levels the objective is simply to defend an ally such as a downed helicopter and this is where you can really use the environment to your advantage. Do you sit tight beside the helicopter and risk being hit by an RPG or do you move further out, possibly to lie in wait for the attacking force in one of the surrounding buildings?
The game uses a checkpoint system to record progress and missions are played out from beginning to end, from the first helicopter drop to the final extraction point, with the US and UK missions insterspersed to move the action around the globe.
Interface
This really sets the scene for me. While the in-game interface is typical ammo counters and weapon icons, the between level animations involve a world map with a satellite style pan and zoom and scrolling information about the next area. The zooming style reminds me of Full Spectrum Warrior with its stepped levels of detail. I this this modern military style suits the game perfectly.
Conclusion
Reading around the web, i’m sure many will disagree with my opinions. Some reviews have stated COD4 has a lot of the “same old same old” in it, and maybe it seems so refreshing to me because I’ve come from COD2: Big Red One (I completely skipped COD3). Graphics purists will no doubt find fault but from a gameplay point of view I think the game is one of the most immersive available.
I have not had a chance to sample the multiplayer so can’t talk about that here. The only downside to the game is that the single player game is a little short but I think there is replay value on different difficulty settings and in user-created levels.
The combination of a modern story, recognisable locations (at least, they look like those on Sky News a lot!) and the sense of camaraderie is an intoxicating mix and worthy of any shooter fans collection – especially if you like sniping as much as I do!!
Oh and bonus points for the nice little extra after the credits;-)
Tombraider: Anniversary
Summary
Lara’s back in a reinvention of her original outing. Crystal Dynamics have served up the familiar and the new in this reimagined tomb raiding adventure that sees the athletic explorer seeking the mythical Scion in dangerous locations across the globe.
First Impressions
Baffling to be honest. The very first FMV movie is a short explosion of a small town and a quick glimpse of a flying creature that emerges from the radioactive crater. I can’t recall this from the original but it has been many years.
On to the main menu and I’m pleased to find the Croft Mansion area has been kept. I load this up expecting a similar training level to the original and find myself very surprised. Strangely, there is very little training in this level, instead the training takes place in the first proper level of the game, the Mountain Caves in Peru. The mansion level sees you, prompted by a note left by your butler Winston, to fix the alarm that has been triggered in one of the display rooms and turn on the water supply. It’s not as easy as it sounds and Crystal Dynamics have made full use of the entire house and garden.
The layout bears little resemblance to the original as it features a medieval style and far more rooms than the original. The doors leading off the main chamber lead to near identical corridors which in turn lead to various rooms. This can make it confusing to find the right room and is important as at one point you end up in a locked room. I have to admit after a couple of hours of reloading the game I was stumped as to how to escape this locked room and had to Google an answer – when Lara says “furniture” she doesn’t just mean the stuff on the floor!!
Gameplay
It’s still Tomb Raider and plays how you would expect. Lara has all her original moves plus a few from the later games, such as climbing ropes and shimmying around cornered ledges, but she’s much more flexible and can make some surprising lunges and grabs. Anniversary is similar to Legend I think, although I’ve only played the Legend demo so couldn’t say for sure. The grappling hook returns and can be used in places where applicable. The square icon will appear on screen to highlight the feature but as you become accustomed to the game you’ll start to expect it in some areas. The grapple can be used to swing across large gaps, run along walls, rapell and even pull some objects such as gates and wire crates.
A welcome return is Lara’s infinite ammo on her pistols although, more realistically, she will reload when each clip is depleted. Targeting is accomplished with the L1 button and fire with the R1 button. Targets can be switched by pushing the right analog stick and pressing the R3 button enables a manual targeting mode. A new feature (at least new to me as I didn’t see it in Legend) is the Adrenaline Dodge and Headshot. If an enemy performs a rage attack, highlighted by a blurring of the area around the enemy, Lara can dodge the charge by pressing a direction on the left analog stick and the Circle button. Two targeting reticles will cross paths and, if you time it right, Lara can perform a headshot by pressing the R1 button. I found this especially useful in The Lost Valley when surrounded by raptor-like dinosaurs (remember those?).
Fans of The Lost Valley in the original like me will also fondly remember the T-Rex section. The angry fellow makes a return here although I didn’t have the shotgun this time around. I’ve picked up some ammo so I possibly missed it somewhere previously. This section is actually not that difficult thanks to the Adrenaline Dodge but it still takes some time to bring the beast down.
This section was my favourite in the original thanks to the T-Rex and the big waterfall and both are present here. Lara can still perform her swan dive by pressing a direction then X and Circle in quick succession. It doesn’t always work for me though. Among Lara’s other abilities are being able to perch on the top of columns, climb columns, and swing around poles as in the modern Prince of Persia games.
Lara’s inventory has return to the familiar ring system and consists of two rings – one for Items and one for Gear. Items consists of objects collected on her adventures and Lara’s Journal which notes Lara’s thoughts on her current situation and can provide hints if your stuck (hence my mention of the unhelpful “furniture” quote). Gear consists of Lara’s weapons and medipacks aswell as the grappling hook.
Lara doesn’t have the headset or LED light she has in Legend and I don’t believe she can use flares as in TRIII so the sense of isolation is maintained in Anniversary. Furthermore, there are artefacts to find just as in the original and in Anniversary these secrets unlock bonus content such as outfits for Lara and concept art.
Artificial Intelligence
The enemies I’ve encountered thus far are those from
the original: flying bats, bears, wolves and dinosaurs. These behave like they did in the original, simply charging in for an attack, but so far the game has more of a leaning towards exploration as in the original which is what I prefer.
Lara herself does pretty much what you tell her and will try to grab a ledge if she falls off. The grip meter has thankfully been removed so Lara can climb some dizzying heights. Their is a safety grab/balance button (Triangle) to strengthen Lara’s grip when she doesn’t quite catch a ledge and to rebalance on columns. Also a walk button (R2) although I don’t beleive this stops Lara from walking off edges.
Graphics
It looks like Tomb Raider. Lara herself wears her trademark green t-shirt and brown shorts, although the t-shirt is more believeable than her luminous original. Everything has been updated to Legends standards so the original is chunky in comparison but Anniversary doesn’t have the gothic stylings of Angel of Darkness. The Water and fire effects are good and the lighting in particular is very impressive, casting rays of sunlight across underground tombs.
Sound
Just as in the original, Anniversary features a background soundtrack that changes depending on the situation. The old feeling of two parts nervousness and one part curiosity is always inspired when exploring a new area and the in-game music complements this. Lara is voiced again by Keeley Hawes, star of Spooks and Tipping the Velvet and the accent soon becomes suitable. Lara still says ‘No’ when you try to put the wrong object in the wrong lock!
Level Design
It is Tombraider but the levels are so upgraded and in some ways different that it’s difficult to know what to expect. The original details are all there but there have been changes so you are always kept on your toes. Anniversary could be seen as a different game and as an upgraded original so I think the developers have found the right mix.
As with all Tomb Raiders, some sections will infuriate as a mis-timed jump will send Lara plummeting to her death numerous times, but on the whole Lara is very able and it is not always necessary to be pixel-perfect when jumping as she can twist her body to catch most ledges. The developers are a little perverted in their use of traps, some sections seeing you avoiding poisoned arrows, swinging axes and crumbling floors only to be attacked by a dinosaur.
The game uses a checkpoint system so that when you die you restart from the last checkpoint passed. Saving the game will again mean starting from the last checkpoint passed so I find it better to think of checkpoints like the blue crystals in the original and save at most checkpoints where appropriate. Restarting from a checkpoint sees you granted full health which is a nice touch – I haven’t used a medipack yet.
Interface
Lara’s life bar returns, this time a blue colour as opposed to the originals brown colour. Other items such as equipped weapon, ammo count, enemy rage metre etc appear as appropriate. I need to confirm if the game is subtitled but due to the exploratory nature of the game, little attention needs to be paid to the plot to complete the levels.
Conclusion
This game is fantastic! I was in two minds about getting it purely as a grapically enhanced original but I was pleased to receive this for Christmas. It’s a refreshing trip down memory lane for any Tomb Raider fan and I’m finding constant surprises to keep me entertained. I’m nowhere near finished (I only started playing yesterday!) and there are still all the rewards to collect so the replay value is high. If you’ve never played Tombraider, or even if you have, I’d recommend this as a must-buy!
