Call of Duty 4 DS - 8/10

"Action packed handheld version of a popular series of game"

Story - 8/10
You play a character named Parker (no rank given) who is flung into a search and disarm mission of nuclear warheads held by terrorists in the Persian gulf. Its a basic story with a couple of turns but no big twist. The story line is linear with no side missions at all.

Gameplay - 9/10
The maps are absolutely huge and loaded with baddies who are brandishing an array of weapons. Once an opponent is killed they drop their weapon allowing you to exchange it for one of yours. I normally got rid of my pistol. Weapons varied in accuracy depending if you had an uzi or a rifle and also distance and your stance varied things. Looking down the rifle greatly improved your hit rate. I liked playing with the shotgun as it was great for indoor area's at close range. Instead of firing 15 bullets with an automatic rifle, one bang with the shotty and it was game over for the enemy.

The maps have the usual crates to hide behind and way to many barrels of petrol which does make the game slightly easier. Some missions you do alone and others with a squad who happen to be very good shots for AI players. The enemy AI are very predictable but do duck down behind things instead of just sticking out to be fodder for you. Once an enemy runs out and hides they stay where they hide and do not run again which was a little disappointing.

Apart from running around and shooting you also get to ride on jeeps and helicopters usually manning a big gun. There are also other big guns scattered around the field that you can take over and control. Some of the maps are challenging and will take a little thinking to get through them.

*Controls*
The main criticism I heard about this game was the control system. Firing with the left shoulder button and moving around with the D-pad in one hand and looking around selecting weapons with the stylus in the other gave people cramps. I use a gripper and a thicker stylus so I did not have any problems playing this for hours.


Graphics - 7/10
Most of the outside maps look the same. Desert and dirty buildings. Some buildings are very detailed but others are just plain. Some of the textures have been very well done for the DS. The metal looks good on the ship and most interiors look believable. I did find that most of the rubble was repetitive. The bullets hitting the dirt from the chopper look good and sparks when hitting metal were a good effect. The underpowered DS did not have any weather effects, no fog and very little smoke. Occasionally when there was extreme action the screen would freeze for a second.

It was all good but the only thing I would have liked to see would be more shootables... You know windows, bottles, bushes etc.

Sound - 8/10
The sound track was varied and changed regularly with the mood of the game. Surfaces that were walked on sounded different depending on whether they were dirt, metal, or wood. Most of the automatic weapons sounded the same but the shotgun and a couple of other weapons have their unique sound. Instructions from commanding officers were spoken instead of typed on the screen which kept the flow of the game going. You could still stop and review the objectives if you wished.

Conclusion
I enjoyed the game immensely. You can get through this game in about 6 hours on easy. The harder levels were not that much harder they just had more men to shoot so you had to conserve ammo more. The game has some replay value by playing the harder levels. Local multiplay is available with multicard and single card download play but I did not give this a go. Multiplay features different game modes apart from deathmatch, it has capture the flag and holding points on the map etc.
Nice portable version of the game.