Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Preview

Those of you expecting to see visual traits similar to that of CoD 2 or 3 can think again. In the past two years, the developers concentrated on perking up the game's technology as well as its overall visual appeal. For that matter, every environment and character model has been furnished with enough detail to make the game seem believable and better than earlier editions of CoD. Apart from enhancing all the usual effects such as explosions and smoke, they also incorporated a variety of cool new elements to increase the realism. So, while rushing through a war zone, players can watch the sun setting or rising. Beyond the authentic transition from dusk to dawn, there's the newly fitted damage model, in addition to highly realistic shadows (Infinity says shadows never looked this good in any CoD game). Returning to the level of detail, one of the aspects that should really make an impression on players, is the presentation of character models. Each character looks and acts convincingly. Also, standing close to a trooper, you'll be able to see every single detail, from the time on his watch to the very sweat on his skin.

Put that out, man! It stinks! Thank the God I have this mask on.

Shit, wouldn’t want to be on that bridge right now!

All of this is packed in a hectic war-stricken environment, with AI Marines rushing into action, screaming the inevitable moral booster "hoorah," as bullets whiz by from all sides. Believe it or not, with all this happening, the game promised to run smoothly with at 60 fps (we'll see...).

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will come with a multiplayer, supporting 32 players on the PC and between 12 and 16 players on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Cross-platform multiplayer between PC and Xbox 360 owners was considered, but abandoned in the end due to the nature of CoD, as revealed by the developers. (Yeah, console dudes would be annihilated by the mouse and keyboard combo. - 2Lions)

To recap, everything promised by Infinity Ward and Activision indicates another cool-looking PC/console action game. Regarding the visuals, Call of Duty 4 is pure next-gen material. We only hope all the fresh elements will fit well into the picture, resulting in another FPS classic.