Call of Duty 4

[Trippy]

Exchanged for another copy and it's gotten past that file I was stuck on before (it's still installing as I type). On my first copy I could never get Autoplay to work properly but on this one it worked. Not sure if that was the difference.

[schild]

Sounds like a bad press. Happens.

[Azazel]

What's in the box?

The cheapest local price I can find is ten bucks more than Steam's price, though Steam doesn't make the game available for another week for some reason (retail exclusive period or something?)

On one hand, Steam = no fucking with discs. On the other hand, I hate the idea of shit being tied to my Steam account and no longer mine to do with as I please.

So, um, I'm wondering what's in the box to see if there's anything making the hard copy more worthwhile...

[Trippy]

Box has CD jewel case with DVD and (I kid you not) a 9 page printed manual. The "real" manual (all 18 pages of it) is in PDF form on the DVD.

[Sky]

I hate that. I haven't even opened the Witcher manual because it's pdf and when I want to look at it...I'm playing the Witcher. I excuse it in this case, because I bought it via download, but for a retail box, that's fucking cheap.

[HAMMER FRENZY]

Man i have to admit that another reason I don't buy PC games is cause I pay full price and get shit packaging and install silliness. I like nice packaging and nice manuals in color and extra goodies. Damn the Guilty Gear Accent core release was epic when it came to packaging and stuff. so nice...VF5 online also has a wonderful manual as well.

[Cory Jacobs]

FYI: Shoddy packaging aside,  the Vatican has issued a warning stating that CoD's graphics and frame rates have been known to produce miracles, mainly in the form  stigmatas and what I call "Schild silencings." TRULY EPIC MIRACLES!

I myself only cried blood,  I think that meant I was impressed.

[schild]

There are many good things about Call of Duty 4. This is the best. Throughout the game, you collect various pickups, in the guise of laptops containing enemy intel. Collect enough and you can unlock hugely silly cheat modes, such as grenades becoming cluster bombs or the colours being inverted (which is really not pretty).

The real prize is ragtime mode, which turns everything sepia, speeds the game up by 20%, mutes all the sound and then adds a frantic 1920s plinky-plonk piano soundtrack. Modern Warfare becomes Buster Keaton movie:

Apologies for sniper-o-vision: this is just a particularly well-suited moment for this most wondrous of cheats. It’s not entirely clear, but it’s me finally firing a bullet that makes everyone scarper. Be sure to watch the jeep as it leaves to the right near the end of video.

You can play the entire game like this. And oh, I will.

[Trippy]

Single-player game is very short.

[Azazel]

COD4 report:

EB has it for $90. Heywood JaBlowme.

Friendly local indy gameshopwarehouse that sells via eBay and has their own retail store in town has closed/moved the local warehouse that was 15mins away from my house. It wasn't really a retail place anymore but the guys there knew me so I'd go in and buy stuff. Leaving their city store and the eBay. Bleh. Their retail place is cheaper than EB, but more expensive than the other place listed below.

Friendly indy gamestore in the city that has it for $10 more than steam is out of stock. Rang them, and their standard retail is $15 more than steam anyway. He always matches his ebay price for me though, but fuck, OUT OF STOCK TILL MONDAY.

Steam. Still on offer, cheaper by $10. Not available for a fucking week.


Looks like I won't be killing brown people in glorious glory this weekend.

fuck.

[Trippy]

Multi-player is silly.

[LK]

Multi-player fucking rocks.  I have never had more fun with a game, and also never done so well.  I did spit milk out my nose at prestige mode, but, hey, max level won't be a problem for some time.  Still, nice to see something hearken back to the days of MUD past.

[Trippy]

I need to find a game mode and map(s) that isn't akin to playing with crack monkeys armed with death ray weapons. The normal domination maps are so small and the random shooting/grenade/air support/helicopter spam so great that my life expectency is shorter than in an UT instagib game unless I'm intentionally hiding myself in a corner somewhere. On a seriously unbalanced team I can't even get out of our spawn area(s) much of the time.

[schild]

Multiplayer is pretty perfect. It's not anywhere near as streamlined as TF2 though. Much as we want to set up a server. There's a hell of a grind in this game. And I don't know if people will stick with it.

[Fabricated]

I need to pick up a 8800GT after I get paid again.

edit: and when they're in stock anywhere that I trust will actually send me one...Jesus, they're sold OUT.

[schild]

Jesus Christ.

That single player campaign is a fucking monster. Loved it.

[Trippy]

Too scripty for my tastes but there were some good moments in it. I loved the sniper mission except for the end where it turned into an arcade shooter. Bonus mission would've been better if there were civilians around.

[NiX]

I don't know if any of you stuck through the credits. Every CoD game has had some kind of thing through the credits and at the very end. If you stick through all the bombing stuff in the credits there's a mini-mission at the end of the credits on a plane.

[Azazel]

Wife picked one up for me tonight. Got it for $5 more than Steam for the boxed version (AU$59, which is pretty amazing compared to AU$90 standard RRP).

It's on it's way home to meet me.

[Ookii]

Best. FPS. Ever.

[schild]

Guys. So it's 1am right. I'm like gotta go to sleep at around 2. I hope into COD4 multiplayer Free For All...


Best FFA I've played since Unreal Tournament (the first one). Now I liked UT2k4 more, but it felt like the logical progression of UT. This, this is a new fucking animal.

[LK]

I can't get enough of Sabotage.  It is so ridiculously good.  The +10 serves such a double-meaning ... that I'm leveling, and the mother-fucker I was shooting at just got wasted.  Best kill confirmation evah.

I'm horrible at Free-For-All though, or at least not specced right, cause people spawning behind me even though I already cleared that corner is so damn realistic.  The spawning behavior in team games is much better.

Yet to try Hardcore or Old School, which are more variations on the theme.

Single Player campaign has its moments of "JESUS FUCK" but it ended perfectly.  You should check out the Youtube videos of a guy doing Mile High Club on Veteran.

[Teleku]

Ok, can you guys describe what makes the multi-player so fun?  I haven't touched the game, so I don't know.  But in the past, I didn't really like the previous CoD or MoH games due to the arcady feel (run around and empty full clips of tommy guns into people, still not dead).  Always seemed fairly shallow compared to other shooters.  Battlefield 2 was ok, but still didn't think it was that very fun.

Is it like any of those games I mentioned, or is there something special about it?  What makes you praise it so?

[Trippy]

I can't comment on the fun part but emptying a clip and not having somebody die is not a problem in this game -- it's actually the opposite. Even Counter-Strike isn't as deadly as this game is. It's most similar to Battlefield 2 except it has no player-operated vehicles (you can call in air and helicopter strikes if you kill a certain number of enemies in a row) and the maps are much much smaller.

[Azazel]

The game is absolutely gorgeous, but the MP is twitchy-kill to a lever that's quite similar to Quake Wars. I'm not loving it, quite frankly. And it'll only get worse as the catasses/hardcore/truly dedicated whatever learn the maps backwards.

I prefer BF2's pace, actually. Fast, but not to the point of being a confusing mess.

SP is fun so far. The autosave system is a bit consoley, and the health system is a new style of doing it for me. I usually play in short sessions, so I'll see how long it takes for me to complete. I fucking love playing as the SAS though. US Marines are so played out in comparison.

Fucking gorgeous looking game, though.

[schild]

Guys, I really really like this game. And I'm pretty fucking good! I consistantly top 5, even on maps I've never played. On maps I've played 3-4 times it's typically a top 3 affair, even if I'm outgunned by people with MUCH better weapons.

[MrHat]

You get it for PC schild?

If so, I might pick it up just to bring you down a notch.

 

[schild]

You get it for PC schild?

If so, I might pick it up just to bring you down a notch.

 

Yea, I only play FFA though.

The team play doesn't compare to TF2. But the FFA is as good as any of the Unreals IMO.

[Sky]

Jeez, after reading the GH3 thread where someone finished it in a day, folks are ripping through this one, too.

Am I the only person who finds games you can finish in a day (or even a week) a rip-off?

[schild]

Am I the only person who finds games you can finish in a day (or even a week) a rip-off?

No, but thinking that actually devalues games. And is patently stupid.

Examples of games that can be finished in one day:
New Super Mario Bros.
Shadow of the Colossus
Half-Life 2 Episode 1 & 2 (yes, both, together).
Portal
Heavenly Sword
God of War 1
God of War 2 (seperated because you couldn't beat both in a day unless you played 16 hours straight)

Basically, No. You're completely wrong.

Remember though, quality comes before gameplay length. Which is to say, if a crappy game is short. Complaining about it being short is a silly thing since the game is ALREADY CRAPPY.

Edit: I can not think of a single non JRPG that can't be beaten in under a week investing less than 8 hours in a day into it over 5 days. Or 5-6 hours each day over the course of 7 days.

[MrHat]

Am I the only person who finds games you can finish in a day (or even a week) a rip-off?

No, but thinking that actually devalues games. And is patently stupid.

Examples of games that can be finished in one day:
New Super Mario Bros.
Shadow of the Colossus
Half-Life 2 Episode 1 & 2 (yes, both, together).
Portal
Heavenly Sword
God of War 1
God of War 2 (seperated because you couldn't beat both in a day unless you played 16 hours straight)

Basically, No. You're completely wrong.

Remember though, quality comes before gameplay length. Which is to say, if a crappy game is short. Complaining about it being short is a silly thing since the game is ALREADY CRAPPY.

Edit: I can not think of a single non JRPG that can't be beaten in under a week investing less than 8 hours in a day into it over 5 days. Or 5-6 hours each day over the course of 7 days.

Other than God of War 2 (which i bought for my brother) and Heavenly Sword (no PS3), I bought all those games for less than $30.

[schild]

Aren't you a pretty princess.

They're still worth whatever was paid for them. $20, $30, $40, $50, $60 doesn't matter.

[Trippy]

Jeez, after reading the GH3 thread where someone finished it in a day, folks are ripping through this one, too.

Am I the only person who finds games you can finish in a day (or even a week) a rip-off?

If it was single-player only I would definitely be annoyed that I finished it in around 6 hours (and I take forever when I play FPSes).

[MrHat]

Aren't you a pretty princess.

They're still worth whatever was paid for them. $20, $30, $40, $50, $60 doesn't matter.

Yup.  Totally worth $30.  $59.99? Not so much. 

[SnakeCharmer]

Stunning game.  Exposed just how bad my mouse is in need of upgrading. 

Or I just flat out suck at FPS with a mouse these days.