Call Of Duty 4 Preview

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare emerged from the recent E3 Media & Business Summit as one of the best games of the show, and with good reason. The game combined fast-paced first-person shooter action with a new setting; instead of World War II era conflicts in Europe, the combat has moved to modern times. Players can server as either a U.S. Marine or British SAS soldier in regions such as the war-torn Middle East or terrorist-infested Russia. The smooth, polished demo version of the game left many E3 attendees impressed about the forthcoming sequel. Here's a look at five reasons to love the newest installment of the Call of Duty franchise.

View the Call of Duty 4 Slideshow (16 images)

5. Infinity Ward Is Back!

The original Call of Duty developer has returned, and it definitely shows. Infinity Ward achieved critical acclaim with the first Call of Duty, which earned a plethora of awards following its release in 2004. The series then expanded from the PC (and Mac) to the consoles in 2005 with the best-selling sequel Call of Duty 2, which became a huge multiplayer hit for the Xbox 360. To a certain degree, the franchise became a victim of its own success: a console-only Call of Duty 3 was quickly developed by new CoD developer Treyarch for a 2006 release and designed for the consoles to build off the series' previous success with the Xbox 360. Now Call of Duty 4 is back in the hands of Infinity Ward, and the series looks as good as ever.

4. New Weapons

More than 70 weapons and high-tech combat gear, to be more precise. Call of Duty 4 will feature assault rifles with laser sights, claymore mines, .50 caliber sniper rifles, M-249 SAW machine guns, M203 grenade launchers and accessories like night-vision goggles and ghillie suits.

3. Coordinated Attacks And Support

This is a new feature to the Call of Duty series, and the details a bit murky. Players will be able to call in air strikes and reinforcements during missions and even take enemy targets in aerial gunships such as Blackhawk helicopters. It doesn't appear that players will have control over their fellow squad members, they will have the ability to influence more than just their own character, which is a capability that had been sorely lacking in previous Call of Duty sequels.

2. New Multiplayer Features

If there's one thing that the recent sequels have been strong on, it's multiplayer features. Players will be able to use a "create-a-class" feature that allowing them to customize gear (though create-a-class is only unlockable after a certain number of hours are played). Accumulating experience points will also give players the ability to unlock different "perks" or special abilities like "Last Stand," which allows a wounded player to draw his pistol and either go out in a blaze of glory or commit suicide (which denies the opposing player credit for a full kill).

1. Call Of Duty Returns To The PC!

After getting hosed with Call of Duty 3, which was made into a console-only title by Activision, the series returns to its roots. With Windows Vista and DirectX 10, Activision is promising realistic depth of field, rim-lighting, character self-shadowing, texture streaming and physics-enabled effects. Expect Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare to be the best looking game of the series.

Click on the slideshow for a look at what's to come with Call of Duty 4.

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