Life Through a Killcam

I have a confession to make, I am an addict.

And I need help...

Call of Duty 4's online play has me hooked and this is an odd thing for me as I came into the 360 ownership club a tad late. It was last year in fact, when Bioshock came out. I simply had to own the game and because my PC is a paperweight at best, Xbox seemed like the best way to go. I still have never played an original Xbox (how shocking is that for a game journalist?)

Admittedly, I was a bit of a Sony fan-boy, now I love all formats, aren't love and peace crackin' things?

Because of this, online play was relatively new to me back then and I didn't see it as a necessity. Now, some 9 months later, I can't get enough of it. It started with Halo 3, but I quickly realised how gawdawful it really is. Hey, shoot me, it's a blog!

No, Call of Duty 4 is where it's at, and if you haven't taken your console online yet, this is the best reason to do so. As an offline experience, it's short, but virtually flawless. Online, it's a whole new game.

I'm on level 49, just about to max out my character and it's been a hell of a ride. Looking back, this is perhaps the only FPS I've played for such an extended period of time and yet, there hasn't been a dull moment yet. I've played many rounds with my good friends, even started a stupid clan called MPOS with my best mate (the clan name is an in-joke we are sworn to secrecy over, sorry) and been shot to bits more times than I have returned the favour.

I'm a crack shot with the M4 Carbine, yet pretty shit with the G3. It's amazing how different each gun feels and, as a result, there is a weapon of choice out there for every style of player. Oh and the new map packs - simply amazing! Check out my Fidget review of the pack here

I have to say, even though I still only have 9-months online gaming experience (it's not long compared to most admittedly) I fully understand and appreciate its appeal, plus I'm becoming better and better at CoD4 each day, however, the news that the next game in the series is going back to a WWII setting is a tad confusing.

What will mulitplayer be without radars, night vision goggles and airstrikes? Who knows? I'm behind new developer Treyarch for now however, as the mess that was Call of Duty 3 is forgiven due to the impossibly small time-frame they had to make it in. Development pressure like that never bodes well for a game so everyone should give them a bit of slack, or else...

Now they've had a full two years to make CoD5 so I think it may kick the preverbrial arse, fingers crossed! I leave you now with some sweet moments in my time with the CoD4 multiplayer.

-Planting a claymore at the top of a ladder and seeing an enemies' wee head popping up only to get blown to high hell.
-Throwing back a grenade an enemy has just lobbed at you and killing them with it
-Completing the challenge where you have to 'suicide bomb' some hapless fool by pulling the pin out of a grenade, running up to them with it still in hand and blowing you both to pieces.
-The first time I got a 7-kill streak and called in a chopper
-Completing the sprinting challenge - How LONG did that take!!

Much love,

Dave