One word sums up this game: finally. Finally the FPS franchises are stepping out of the Dark Age of Endless World War II Scenarios. Finally there is substantial participation in the modern world. Finally, something different, thank God.

Not that I'm not a fan of the COD games. I was originally, like everyone else, a Medal of Honor fan, but I since lost faith in the franchise. But, like everyone else, I was hoping eventually someone would decide that World War II wasn't the only war ever fought, and make something more Tom Clancy-ish. And finally, the modern wars have started.

In Call of Duty 4, you play as one of a few different characters, all involved in a war against a conveniently-unnamed middle eastern nation that just happens to be placed between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (no implications here). In a very realistic portrayal of a nationalist uprising, the West and our mystery state begin a drawn-out war that includes many cinematic segments that are Hollywood quality and extremely well done. Among the most nerve-wracking missions is one involving sneaking into the ruins of Pripyat as a sniper, which includes passing through a sentry line of armed troops and armored vehicles. I lay in a clump of high grass as two men passed within four feet of me, and never saw me. It was...indescribable. In another mission, you get to star as the gunner of an AC-130, complete with 105mm howitzer. I cannot describe how fun this mission is, you need to play it to understand.

That leads me to the next part: the game engine. I love it. Everything looks great, everything behaves the way it should. Rarely do I find a glitch that is more than insignificant, and the collision is solid. One of the more interesting additions is the ability to fire through thin barriers like sheet metal at targets on the other side. Grenades bounce very well, bullets go where I want them to go, and the vehicles are extremely satisfying to drive.

The only part better than all this is the online play. Like its archnemesis, Battlefield, this game offers a pseudo-RPG element in its online play, with points awarded for kills and achieving objectives, from important ones such as winning certain matches to the mundane like killing 50 people with a specific weapon. By completing these objectives, you not only go up in rank, but you unlock attachments for weapons such as new sights and scopes or grenade launchers. Other character-based skills, such as a longer sprint meter or greater firepower, can be learned based on rank.

The online play is very diverse; with a bit more expansion, the game could be online-exclusive easily. Though the campaign plot feels tacked-on, it's not entirely a throwaway, and worth the handful of hours it requires to complete. One minute gripe I have with the game is a mere detail: if you notice, while moving toward an objective marker, your character appears to move at a speed approaching two meters per second, an inhuman speed to say the least--but like I said, a minor detail. All in all, one of my favorite first person shooters in the last few years, easily. It's definitely worth the money to get this and play it.