18 Essential Landmark Titles Every Gamer Must Play

16. Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Coming up with an improved instalment after 2006's forgettable Call of Duty 3 was admittedly not a particularly difficult task, but few anticipated just how big an improvement Modern Warfare would be. Breathing a breath of fresh air into the flagging FPS genre, Infinity Ward did away with the tired World War Two setting and gave us a more contemporary look at a revitalised shoot 'em up. Particularly in terms of the multiplayer portion of the game, Modern Warfare unwittingly set the precedent for all FPSs that followed. Weapon customisation, a finely tuned ranking system, and rewards for advancing within the game were all things that set it apart from the same old 'shoot, score, restart' formula. Combined with impressive visuals and a healthy dose of edge-of-your-seat action, it managed to strike the near-perfect balance between gameplay and aesthetics. The only downside to the success of Call of Duty 4 is that the series has rarely strayed too far from the formula since. And don't get too excited about pulling out your old copy of the game once more for a few nostalgic rounds on Fallen. Fifty thousand people used to play this game, but now it's a ghost town.