Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare [PS3]

After several impressive releases that focused on historical events, Activision bring their military First-Person Shooter series into the modern age, upping the ante for both the genre and cross-platform development in the process.

Starting out as a new British S.A.S. soldier, players run through a short training course and are then given a recommendation from the four skill levels available. Throughout the game, you'll play as S.A.S. Sergeant "Soap" MacTavish, and also as Paul Jackson, a U.S. Marine Sergeant. The story involves terrorists and renegade nuclear missiles, and takes place mostly in Russia and Azerbaijan. As you progress, you mission objectives will range from typical hostage extractions and infiltrations to more diverse tasks such as sniping specific targets or sneaking past enemy patrols in a ghillie suit. The game is divided into three acts, with the latter two each being about half the size of the first one. Overall, the game is noticeably short, but still manages to pack in a lot more bang for your buck than most FPS titles.

Graphically, the game is impressive and, aside from the facial animation, is likely the best-looking game on the system so far. The environments are exceptionally detailed, and smoke, fire and water effects are all top-notch. The game also has an impressive soundtrack, with well acted voice work, though at times you can hear the sound booth acoustics when characters are outdoors. The music is fairly typical, but doesn't interfere or get too over the top. It's also the first cross-platform game of this generation to be truly top-notch on both systems.

Naturally, There are multiplayer modes as well, with the ability to play split-screen on one console, over a Local Area Network, or online. Free-For-All and Team Deathmatch modes are joined by Domination (capture three flags), Sabotage (grab the bomb and destroy the enemy objective), and several variants of each. It's unfortunate there's no Co-Operative story mode though, as the game's substantial difficulty and excellent presentation would make for an ideal Co-Op experience.

Some players will likely be put off by the series' departure from historic battles, but this game is implemented so well that it's simply a must-buy for even casual fans of the genre. It's definitely a short game, but the diversity of missions and high replayability, as well as the multiplayer modes, keep the game interesting for longer than most.

9/10