It's quite a brave move to try and redefine an entire genre. It's also a pretty rewarding one when you're rewarded with one of the biggest selling products in entertainment history, so Activision must be thanking their lucky stars that they allowed Infinity Ward to make radical changes to the Call of Duty series in 2007. Previously, the series had been stuck in World War II like some kind of gaming Groundhog Day, but Call of Duty 4 brought the series into the modern era with a new engine, new storyline and setting, and some great new gameplay. It's the multiplayer that shines brightest in Call of Duty 4 though; it dominated the lives of people everywhere with an addictive levelling system which encouraged you to keep playing to unlock new weapons. There was also the added incentive of Prestige Mode - once you hit the maximum level of 55, you could enter Prestige Mode which gave you a unique new badge alongside your level and returned you to level 1, allowing you to play through the game again. With ten Prestige levels to complete, there was plenty of replay value for those who wanted something to work towards. The game's multiplayer became a big hit with competitive gamers; Major League Gaming's GameBattles site was immensely popular at this time with plenty of people looking to progress through the site's ladder system to crown themselves the best in the game. Even outside of the competitive scene, playing with some friends and going online to dominate people was a great way to kill days of your life at a time. The game-mode Search & Destroy was a particular highlight for those who wanted to show the world just how good at CoD they were; it was an elimination game-mode so dead players had to watch their team-mates carry on the fight. Pulling off an extraordinary feat of player-killing here was a surefire way to impress people. The series has remained King of the FPS genre since but no title since 4 has been as addicting or rewarding.
I have an addiction to achievements, a craving for new bands and a dream to become Captain America. I once finished second in a Mario Kart 7 tournament so I'm kind of a big deal.
