Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

I started this one last night and finished it this morning. It couldn't have taken more than six hours to complete. I won't go on and on about how awesome and realistic it was, as it's two years old and nearly everyone beat me to playing it; you've heard (or even seen firsthand) how great Modern Warfare is. I guess I'll finish up this entry by talking about some of my favorite levels. I'd say "spoiler alert," but, again, everyone's already heard all about this game. Anyway, I really loved the level where you provide air support in Eastern Europe at night with an infrared camera. The whole concept was really cool and the lax style with which the guys in the plane converse and joke about their kills was surprisingly enjoyable. Another totally enjoyable level was the one set in Chernobyl in 1996 when you're a sniper in a ghillie suit. I usually dislike stealth missions where you need to sneak around, but this one was totally cool. I credit a lot of that to the Scottish superior who accompanies you throughout the level. That guy was the man, huh? When he got pinned by the helicopter in the following level and broke both his legs and I needed to carry his ass around, I thought I'd be upset. Instead, I was happy to aid such a noble video game character. And damn, could that guy snipe! Usually in video games, if you have to lug somebody around, they're a burden. (Specifically, think of that blue bitch in Ocarina of Time - right?) But not this Scottish guy. He was a blessing! Other levels were fun too, or at the very least, interesting. The nuclear warhead explosion caught me totally off guard, as did the ending of the very brief "level" that followed. The last level was pretty cool too - a very epic and movie-like conclusion to an epic and movie-like game. And I'm not talking about the epilogue where you rescue a VIP from a hijacked plane - although that was pretty awesome as well. I suppose my favorite levels were the unique ones. This was the case with World at War as well. The Call of Duty games aren't afraid to reshape the FPS mold, but I wish they'd just take the extra step and break it altogether. Why bore (or at least not excite) me with mundane "shoot 'em up on the way from point A to point B" levels? Hopefully, Modern Warfare 2 will do just the opposite: blow me away with every level in a unique and innovative way. We'll see, but not until after Christmas.