I don't care about game length, right? If a game is 6 hours, then I'd rather they keep it at six hours rather than pad it out with artificial length-boosting crap or boring, rushed gameplay. I mean, everything is really well made and shows that so much time has been put into every part.
But after some of the fights in
and
, i just wanted more and more and more. The AI isn't perfect, sure, on either side of the firefight, and the more scripted moments can feel claustrophobic (I'm talking the first level, the
), but when the game gives you freedom, it feels like such a first class FPS.
In the same way that Rainbow Six works perfectly when its a series of enclosed rooms, COD4 strives to almost perfection when you have a mix of indoors and outdoors, a mix of ground level and rooftop combat, the ability to:
hold your position and pop off fools who go in the open
flank the enemy by busting through a side building, bundle out the window, shotgun some fools
take a high viewpoint and snipe some dudes
But the game doesn't show it off enough! It's too concerned with amazing explosions, set pieces and funny dialog. I'm all for that stuff, but COD4 also has a brilliant combat system, that isn't shown off to its full potential. You're too often pushed into fighting a certain way or forced to speed through levels at the bidding hands of a timer, but when IW finally loosens the shackles, and give you free roam on a small arena, its absolutley brilliant. I could of stayed in
or
for hours longer, but alas, I'll just have to replay the game again and again!
It also reminds me of STALKER, which is a very very good thing.
wish i luck