Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)

Genre: FPS | Players: 1, 2, Multi | Developer: Infinity Ward

The close out entry in the Modern Warfare trilogy finds the player controlling several protagonists during a full on breakout of World War 3 between Russia and pretty much everyone else. Players control soldiers fighting the actual war and the covert ops specialists trying to bring the actual masterminds of the conflict to justice.

The gameplay formula is still in place with the same frantic action set-pieces. Though it seems to be trying very hard to top previous ones and is reaching a bit as they have already done nuclear weapons and civilian massacres. They have wrung it dry apparently as the campaign can be finished in a short 5 hours. The "why actually play the game yourself" snap aiming is still there doing the work for you as is the great Spec Ops co-op missions. One bright spot is the characters themselves as they have gained some actual gravitas to them throughout the trilogy and the voice actors have gotten the hang of doing them, so that is at least convincing. Keith David is switched out for William Fichtner which is still cool among a few other big names.

The multiplayer was handled entirely by separate studio Raven Software and that has at least paid off as it is still fast-paced action with some tweaks and much less prone to bugs. Killstreaks are replaced with different Pointstreaks which makes it easier for less skilled players to get rewarded as they are now awarded points for things other than kills. Also some new modes and tweaks too. Overall, feels a bit strained, but still likely has what players came for.

Buyer's Guide:

Available on PC, PS3, 360 and Wii. Comes in standard and collector's "hardened" editions.

3 Victory Cigars out of 5

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)

Genre: First Person Shooter | Players: 1, 2, Multi | Developer: Infinity Ward

Continuing some time after Modern Warfare 1, the Ultranationalist rebels have seized control of Russia despite the best efforts of the USMC and SAS operatives. Now terrorist plots are in motion to take advantage of the growing anti-West sentiment and players take control of several protagonists, old and new, to try to keep tensions from boiling over.

Gameplay is just as frantic with new weapons and perks and new "snap-to" aiming that will jump to an enemy if it is in the general vicinity of the crosshair when players aim down the sight. It works, to it's credit, almost too well and makes the single player almost insultingly easy even on harder difficulty settings. It is somewhat less of a problem in multi-player with human players that can move and act dynamically. Multi-player is also ramped up with a bevy of new additions, some cool, some stupid like the instant "I Win" button that is the tactical nuke killstreak reward. It can also be insanely glitch prone at times. Single-player is still filled with thrilling set-pieces, but is criminally short. What is there is very polished and even has some big name actors doing voices (Bonus points are always awarded for the awesome Kieth David) and a soundtrack by Lorne Balfe with collaboration from Hans Zimmer. That shit couldn't have been cheap.

Very polished and sticking to formula, with some new tweaks. Some are cool i.e. the Spec Ops co-op missions. Others not so much i.e. the hand-holding auto-aiming. Thrilling at times, ridiculous at others.
The controversial No Russian mission is kind of fucked up, but that was the point, I imagine.
Not bad. Not as good as the first.

Buyer's Guide:

Available on the PS3, 360 and PC. All 3 versions are more or less identical.

3½ Ghost has a sweet balaclava out of 5
The extra ½ is for Kieth David

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007)

Genre: First Person Shooter | Players: 1, Multi | Developer: Infinity Ward

Infinity Ward revamps the Call of Duty franchise by naturally pulling it out of the well-worn World War 2 setting into an action packed near future story from the viewpoints of several protagonists. Players mostly assume the roles of new SAS recruit "Soap" McTavish and US Marine Sgt. Paul Jackson in the unraveling of a terrorist plot and an invasion of an unspecified middle eastern country respectively.

There are several weapons to choose from, but gameplay is less focused on shooting then it is on gaining ground. Players will find it more to their advantage to strategically push forward rather than just sit on a perch and pick off enemies as they will seemingly spawn endlessly unless players go forward. Though shooting is still a major part of the game and there are many choices of modern weapons to choose from to suit all play-styles from automatic shotguns and sub-machine guns to sniper rifles and heavy machine guns. Play style becomes increasingly important in multiplayer as players can outfit their classes with custom weapons, attachments and perks which are abilities that enhance your skills like extra penetration, more health and stopping power among several others. Added on top of the super fast paced action makes it quite exhilarating.

One downside is the limited map sizes. Several seem to get crowded with just 8 players which is a far cry from some older Call of Duty titles with maps that comfortably fit 40+ players. While the single player story is nothing particularly original, it is done competently with some genuine "holy shit" moments and some likeable characters. Teammate AI also switches from super soldier to helpless retard at a whim, but the important ones are also invincible so it is mostly just an inconvenience. And for better or worse, it is the template for almost all shooters that follow it and not just Call of Duty games.

Buyer's Guide:

Widely available on multiple platforms though the PC version has one advantage in that they didn't remove the "lean" function. That's the only difference I could find between versions that aren't the Wii version. Can be bought off Steam for $19.99.

4½ Dogs tearing out your throat out of 5