CoD4 Multiplayer

I have to admit that Call of Duty 4 multiplayer is fun. It’s way better than Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, IMO, which got pretty dull fast.

CoD multiplayer blends in some elements of an MMO, which makes it a more compelling experience. Usually in multiplayer games, you jump onto a pub server and shoot people until you get bored and put the game away. That typically takes 1 or 2 minutes. But with CoD, you get experience points for shooting people, and then you progress in rank, and then the higher your rank, the more weapons and “perks” you can unlock and use. This gives you a reason to keep playing. (I don’t know if this is a new concept in shooters or not, but it’s the first time I’ve seen anything like it.)

When I first heard about the ranks and perks, I thought it was silly. But as it turns out, it’s kind of fun. If you enjoy grinding in an MMO, you’ll like this too. It’s basically the same except you don’t get any loot drops.

So far I’ve only played Free-For-All Deathmatch games (if you don’t know, that means there are no teams; everyone is out to kill everyone else). But I’m having some trouble finding a winning strategy for CoD. In Quake FFA DM, your basic goal was to keep moving along a circuitous route around the map, picking up health and ammo and weapons along the way. I usually did pretty well. But in CoD, there’s nothing to pick up, so there’s not much point in moving along a circuitous route. In fact, I’m starting to wonder if moving around is even a good idea. I’ve been playing in pub games with 20-25 people, and the maps are so small that it’s almost impossible to avoid people coming up behind you no matter where you go. But I’ve noticed that I get killed a lot by people camping in dark corners or staking out one area. On the one hand, I find that to be pretty lame, but on the other hand those people seem to end up at the top of the scoreboard a lot. (I usually end up somewhere in the middle.)

Keep in mind that because of my relatively low rank of 20 (out of 55), I don’t have the best weaponry available to me yet. People at higher ranks definitely have an advantage. (The people at the top of the scoreboard are almost always ranked 45+.) The only reason I haven’t given up in disgust yet is noting that I tend to be one of the highest scoring people at my rank. Yay me! Anyway, I’m hoping that as my rank increases, my kill:death ratio will also improve. Nothing bugs me more than dying a lot (though there doesn’t seem to be any scoring penalty for dying).

Speaking of death, one very cool feature of CoD is the KillCam. I don’t know if this is something that’s been around for a while or not, but it’s the first time I’ve ever seen one. After you die, the KillCam shows you how you died from the perspective of the killer. You’d think that you would already know how you died, but what you usually find is that you didn’t get killed the way you thought. You’ll be dueling with some guy and die tragically, and think “Aw dagnabbit, he bested me! I suck! Lag! Ping! Whatever!” Then the KillCam will show you that you were actually killed by a sniper half way across the map, and your dueling opponent was mowed down seconds later too. Incredibly, it seems like the person I’m dueling with almost never is the one that actually kills me. Sometimes it makes you feel better, sometimes it makes you even madder.

I haven’t tried any of the other game options yet (eg., team deathmatch, domination, etc.). I’m a bit reluctant to try any kind of team game on a pub server, for obvious reasons. I’ll try later on I guess, when my rank is higher. No need to go into a team game with any unnecessary handicaps.

CoD 4 Pros

• MMO-style ranks and perks provide a reason to keep playing.
• The KillCam is very cool.
• Nice selection of maps.

CoD 4 Cons

• As with other modern shooters, accuracy is a function of your choice of weapon and movement, not your reflexes and mouse pointing skill. You have to stop and crouch and use the weapon sight for maximum accuracy. I’m not really fond of that, but I guess n00bs need all the help they can get. :)
• Unbelievably lame pub players. Campers that crouch in dark corners, hide in buildings, stake out spawn points, you name it. If they can get out of dueling, they’ll do it.
• A lot of the maps are too small for 25-player free-for-alls, which seems to be the default maximum player limit.

Other Tips and Thoughts

• I’m having the most success with assault rifles and machine guns. I’m having NO success with the shotguns and sniper rifles. I’ve never been much of a sniper, and the shotgun is very frustrating… you can take out people in one shot up close, which is awesome, but if they’re more than 10 feet away you’re toast.
• I like the grenade launcher attachment for the assault rifle. It’s one of the few area-effect weapons. Unfortunately you only get 2 shots and it uses up one of your 3 perks.
• Campers are everywhere. I swear, at least half the players in a FFA game are spawn camping or otherwise hiding out in dark corners. Damn lamers. It’s particularly frustrating because some of them score pretty well. I’m starting to note common camp spots and fire into corners out of habit, but I need to learn the maps better so I can more easily hunt them down.
• Definitely put the “Melee” button somewhere handy. I started out with it on the default “V” key but it’s too hard to hit while maneuvering so I put it on the right mouse button. Melee is almost always the best option when you’re right on top of someone.