Call of Duty 4 Review

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Genre: Shooter
R.R.P: £40 - £50
Age Rating: 15
Release Date: Out Now
Publisher: Activsion
Developer: Infinity Ward
Format: Xbox 360, PS3, PC.

The Call of Duty series has undergone a huge change with its latest incarnation not only has the developer of COD 1, and 2 returned in order to make us all forget COD 3, the game's setting has moved from the ever familiar WW2 Europe, to the a slightly more risky setting.

Also unlike previous games the plot is complete fiction, which "regretabley" enables me to tear it to shreads, right? Well no actually it dosen't, the plot although fictional is entirely concievable, so much so that on occaision I almost forgot that I wasn't fighting in Iraq (Oops! Infinity Ward insist that the game dosen't bear any similaritys, oppurtunity missed really.) until a slightly concievable plot device kills one of my characters (Oops! I'm on a role today!) and I'm sent back to my main man, who brilliantly (I think) is part of the English special forces, the SAS.

The plot does have some memorable moments, but all this is really irrelavant in a Call of Duty game. The single player campaign shouldn't take you more than 10 hours even on the hardest difficulty, although those 10 hours are possibly some of the most tense in gaming history.

Gameplay wise Call of Duty 4 hasn't really changed. Everything works as you would expect it to, for those new to the series the COD games are all about getting a clean, professional kill; whether that means nailing the headshot or knifing guys in the head is entirely upto the player. I don't like talking about graphics nowadays, what with every looking better than reality, but I feel it's fair to mention that Call of Duty 4 is beautiful.

Ultimatley no-one is going to buy COD 4 for the single player, and those aiming for hours of online fun will not be disapointed, as COD 4's multiplayer mode is incredibly moreish. This mainly due to amount of unlockables on offer, after each kill, the player gains EXP, this contributs to his/her level, and once leveled up new equipment is unlocked. This is complemented by the challenge system, which dares you to do things like jump off buildings etc. while rewarding you with exp. On top of this weapons can be leveled by getting a certain number of kills or headshots, this rewards you with exp and scopes, colour schemes etc. There are 55 levels in total, but once level 55 is reached the player can decided to use prestige mode which sets them back to level 1, but rewards them with a pretty icon... addictive?

CoD 4 is an outstanding release which rewards constant play with items and more play. It won't be game of the year, but it's certainly close.

9/10

The Golden Compass Review

The Golden Compass

Genre: Action & Fantasy
Age Rating: PG
Release Date: Out Now
Format: Film

"His Dark Materials" is one of the most succesful fantasy series in exsistance, even I must admit that it is one of the best trilogys I have ever had the pleasure to. The depth and charisma displayed when discribing even the dullest of the things is incredible. The books come close to Tolkien's Middle Earth in depth yet never suffer from the over description, or overly complicated language that made LOTR such a torment to read.

So of course it was inevitable that Hollywood would get its evil life draining claws into Pullman's world, and of course it was inevitable that they would change it so that some things were deemed inoffensive and unconfusing to the American public in paricular. The magisterium has been changed so that it no longer represents the chatholic church within Pullman's world, and without giving to much away I must say that if the Hollywood demons wish to continue making movies based on "His Dark Materials" this will cause some huge problems later.

Originally I had a few issues with the cast, I still do but not in the places I thought. Dakota Blue Richards was what I originally thought of as bad casting, yet she manages to give a very good performance an is never once annoying or out of place. Now I must say I originally thought that Daniel Craig (James Bond in the Casino Royale remake) as Lord Asriel, and Ian McKellen (Gandalf) as Iorek Byrnison was very good casting yet both of them sound out of place. Daniel Craig has quite an American accent and Lord Asriel is british, thats part of his character, and its damn important, and McKellen has an old booming voice yet it dosen't suit Byrnison, mainly because he's a bear. No matter how you look at it big names aren't always perfect for the part.

Cinematically the film is outstanding rivaling LOTR in special affects, landscape shots and generally breath taking beauty. Yet this has obviously been the focus of the film, and it shouldn't have been, Lyra's struggle both emotionally and physically should. LOTR was great because of the acting and the script, not because of the special effects, this is why it was seperated from Harry Potter which focused upon special effects sadly "The Golden Compass" has fallen into the "Potter trap".

Characters should always be the focus of "epic" films, as those who do focus upon characters have been hailed as some of the greatest films of all time. LOTR should have been inferior to this film in every respect, time has passed making special effects even better, Pullman makes a point with his novels (a point which will apparently offend the church if made into a film), and Lyra's naive outlook upon battles she cannot possibly win should have made this film brilliant, instead Hollywood's magic pulls down Pullman's ruining all that could have been.

6/10 - Unfortunatley a sure fire hit this christmas.