This post contains spoilers, but Infinity Ward has released enough footage from the scenes in the game which I'll talk about that if any experience is "spoiled" by reading my post, they live in a cave.
Like all Call of Duty games COD4 shifts perspectives between several soldiers, one of whom is US Marine Paul Jackson. In one level, you are entering a pretty messy situation, trying to locate and capture the enemy head-honcho, all the while having full knowledge that a nuke is in the area.
After harrowing gun battles and a heroic rescue of a downed pilot, you ship off to safety, only to view a nuclear explosion in the distance as the shockwave hits the helicopter, causing a tailspin and eventually crashing.
The screen turns black. It is silent as the screen shifts towards the loading screen, an aerial view of what had just happened. The view comes back down to Jackson, barely able to move. We must crawl out of the helicopter to see the decimated city, only to drop to the ground below to his death.
His death.
At the next loading screen is a list of the casualties from the explosion, with Paul Jackson's name highlighted in green. The scrolling list pauses and clarifies Paul's position in it, then just moves on with unrelenting monotony.
As gamers we use the word "Death" and all its variants pretty loosely. Because of that, the characters we control are so far removed from us that their sometimes gruesome death is merely annoying. So when this moment happened, I sure as hell was glad for the silence. I needed some time to think.
I really have to give it to Infinity Ward for this sole moment in the game. They could've made the same tired old story with random assortments of heroic (read: shooting lots of evil dudes) moments but they didn't. They made us care for the characters before we knew we did. And the only time we made that connection is when one of them dies.
After Paul goes towards the light (literally, the screen fades to a blinding white light when he dies) comes the part that is just downright disturbing, the list of casualties. Yes, it's fictional. Yes, none of these people actually died. But that's not the point. They aren't trying to trick you, but rather put some of these moving images into context. While that was personal for you, there's an ever growing list of people who unfortunately had the same fate, and an ever growing list of families American flags are sent to.
It's a moment that probably won't be usurped by any other gaming moment anytime soon. It truly moved me in a way I wasn't expecting, and made me more emotional that I thought I could be while playing a video game. I couldn't give a damn what happens to the likes of Gordon Freeman, Master Chief or any other FPS protagonist. And after playing COD 4, I must ask, could any of you?
Is something that I've been yearning for, and that is a game to be the kind of game Tomb Raider wants to be. The realistic(ish) gun-toting platforming title that has enough moxy and quirk to make a lasting impression with just 20 minutes of gameplay.
I've been excited about this game for a while, but until now I never really knew why. From a distance it looked so generic and meh, you know? But now I understand and appreciate what hype has been brought to it.
The attention to detail is something that I really enjoy. Drake has a slew of animations that really make the character feel like a person, an object in a real world. As bullets whiz by, he ducks his head. He leaps with such of a struggle that it looks and feels like he's really trying, and not just making it some standard jump motion that you messed up.
The A.I. is adequate with some bright spots, although we'll see what they do with the other enemies in the game. For example if you shot but barely miss a baddie, he'll react, duck to cover and come on the other side. They also move with an amateur style, flaling about, so it makes it quite challenging to hit them.
It's also pretty.
I wasn't expecting much from this demo, but at the same timeI was definately anxious to try it out. After a few go-arounds I can confidently say I am buying this game, lest it is criminally short *Cough heavenly sword* which would make such an experience moot to purchase. Otherwise, it's a rental.
