Call of Duty 4 - Multiplayer Beta impressions
The leap to modern warfare may have sparked apprehension amongst some, but the COD series has never been one to disappoint. The good people at Activision were kind enough to hook us up with keys to COD4’s Xbox360-only multiplayer beta, and we soon got our teeth stuck into a multiplayer FPS that will soon keep members of the wider public awake till the wee hours of the morning and beyond.
At first glance, a few things could be ticked off the checklist with little hesitation – visual presentation, for one, is more than decent. With only a few things stripped down from singleplayer, we were still treated to excellent textures and detail, plenty of debris and a very smooth 60fps experience. The three maps included in the beta flaunted some impressive diversity in the environment. More on those later.
But what will keep the Modern Warfare servers packed is the depth involved in its multiplayer gameplay. By choosing to play in Ranked matches (as opposed to the plain Player matches), you’ll get about with other players earning Experience Points. Typically, killing opponents in most game modes will earn you 10 XP’s. And as they begin to accumulate, XP’s will help you level up, unlocking new features, perks, customizations and game modes.
If you’re thinking these merely sound like cosmetics for your character, you are quite mistaken. The entire setup of COD4 is such that the progression through character development becomes a tightly integrated part of the action. You start off limited to four different classes (assault, heavy, support and sniper), but once you hit the 4th level of Private, you’re able to easily create and tweak your own class to take your own style of play into whatever direction you so desire.
You’ll get the choice of a primary weapon (Sniper Rifles, Shotguns, SMGs, Assault Rifles, and Light Machine Guns), which you can trick out with various attachments and even camo design. Your trusty sidearm will also be able to be fitted out with a silencer, which preventing any of its kills from showing up on a lurking enemy’s radar (shots fired will always show up as blips on the radar). Special grenades also allow you to sample something a little more varied than your average frag grenade. You can also pick up a downed enemy’s souped-up weapon to replace your own until you die.
But things really begin to get interesting when you begin fitting out your perks. There are three levels of perks, with the first opening up more options with explosives and the next two concerning your combat abilities. C4 is extremely useful, without conferring too much of an advantage over others. You are able to plant and shoot, instead of running around with your hand on the detonator. RPG’s, Claymores, and Bomb Squad (enabling you to easily detect C4) are other perks in this explosives category.
Combat perks generally increase your abilities in combat. You’ll be able to boost your bullet and explosive damage, increase your health and similar basic things at a lower level. The more advanced perks however, truly add some class to the multiplayer scenario – “Last Stand” is a nifty perk that allows you to whip out your pistol and keep shooting once you have been downed. While taking one more hit will cause you to die proper, if it is a one-on-one situation you have a strong chance of taking out the other guy too. Similarly, “Martyrdom” makes you drop a grenade once you are dead, causing major annoyances for a group of opponents who think they have secured the position you were holding.
COD4 also rewards one’s loyalty toward a gun, in the form of Weapon Challenges. So for example, if you’re a shotgun enthusiast like myself, blowing away 25 opponents with it will earn you some XP and a shotgun-specific reward. Boot Camp Challenges takes this a step further, rewarding XP for unique feats such as killing five people in prone or falling fifteen feet without dying.
In combat, if you manage to survive long enough to take down three opponents, your side will deploy a UAV. This gives your team full radar for 30 seconds. Five kills in a row will allow you to call in an air strike. Their bombs will only be effective in outdoor areas, so this is when you’ll get plenty of scrambling for cover. Seven kills will unlock the devastating assault chopper. This is AI-manned and will fly around the map attacking any enemy in sight. An RPG, or a large amount of gunfire, is required to take down this beast. Well executed teamplay will bring out the best in these features – for example, deploying a UAV to check that most opponents are indoors, then letting rip with an airstrike.
With all these fancy perks and features, you’d think that jumping in to a server full of experienced players will leave you constantly dying and frustrated. But this is not the case, for a few reasons. IW’s classic killcam allows you to see exactly how you where killed, from your opponent’s perspective. When you respawn you have a rough idea of their movements, and also makes camping and sniping riskier options. It also allows you to see exactly what perks he is holding, so you can avoid succumbing to his strongpoints in the future.
Although COD4 has a progressive health system, dying is a highly common occurrence. It only takes 2-3 hits to down an enemy, and usually if you’ve survived a couple of hits, you’ll be finished off quickly with splash damage from explosives. This does however, have the positive effect of encouraging players to move around and use cover well. But even so, you’re never 100% safe hiding behind cover. Thanks to IW’s ballistic physics, bullets will penetrate objects, the extent varying according to the gun, distance, type of material, and thickness of cover. The combat perk “Deep Impact” also becomes particularly effective when shooting through cover, allowing greater bullet penetration.
When you respawn, you are always in a safe area, but never too far away from the action. This ensures that you’ve constantly got some opportunities to make some kills and rack up that XP. Respawns also place you next to a teammate, and effectively promotes more teamwork.
The three maps featured in the beta were a great selection to showcase COD4’s features, none of which deserve to be pulled for the full release. Overgrown is an open map with the odd abandoned building to hide in. If sniper is your class of choice, you’ll get the chance to sample the ghillie suit (grass camo) in the thick grass fields that surround. Vacant is a predominantly indoor map, and sees plenty of shotgun and MP5 action as you run around an abandoned office building. The office’s drywall and storage containers make it the perfect place to see COD4’s ballistic physics in full effect.
Crash is the most well-rounded of the maps, with a good balance of indoor, outdoor and elevated elements. Set in a small town, there are plenty of buildings to provide corridor shootouts and vantage points to scramble to. In the center of town there is helicopter wreckage which can provide some amount of indestructible cover.
The guys at Infinity Ward have done an impressive job of weaving together invaluable multiplayer elements into a game that delivers some seriously flowing combat. The balance has been hit right on the head, with experienced players are able to earn their right to dominate, and the small fish left with a decent chance. If there’s one multiplayer I’ll be playing aside from Halo 3 these next few months, this would be the one.
