Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - M
Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this is the fourth game in the Call of Duty series and that for the first time, instead of carrying a "Teen" rating, this game's rating earned a "Mature" for portraying of highly authentic modern military combat with realistic gore, including a good deal of blood. The game contains several distressing situations that involve torture, execution, and the gruesome death of primary protagonists to whom the player will likely have grown attached. For parents who have purchased this franchise for their teens in the past, this material is more intense and disturbing than what has appeared in the earlier games of this series. A diverse selection of cuss words is clearly audible. This game can be played with others online, which Common Sense Media doesn't recommend for anyone under the age of 12.
Families can talk about war. What leads to war? Is war ever justified? Why or why not? How does the media typically portray war? How realistic is this particular game in its presentation of war? Is the nuclear threat imagined by the game's designers something you think could happen in the real world?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Chad Sapieha
The first three games in the Call of Duty series, realistic military first-person shooter games, have been rated "Teen" for depicting battles from the Second World War with sincerity, authenticity, and respect.
But the franchise's latest entry, CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE is rated "M" because of the manner in which it depicts war set in contemporary times. The bulk of the action takes place in the Middle East. However, developer Infinity Ward has cleverly managed to avoid stirring the political pot by never naming the countries in which the action takes place and delivering a fictional and unquestionably evil enemy in the form of radical terrorists set on global nuclear holocaust. That means adult players can enjoy the game's hyper-realistic combat without certain ethical qualms.
Players step into the combat boots of two soldiers, a British S.A.S. operative and an American Marine, as they battle the terrorists. You always work with a squad of at least a few other soldiers, who, unlike artificially intelligent companions in most games, are essential allies that can be counted on when things get rough, which is most of the time.
Missions are highly diverse, ranging from stealthy rural romps to wild urban fracases involving hundreds of soldiers, good and bad. Occasionally you are taken off the battlefield, as in one level in which you're at the center of a high-speed highway chase, and in another that places you in control of a gunner in an AC-130 gunship providing fire support for ground-based troops.
This highly polished and intelligently designed interactive entertainment is dramatic and thrilling stuff. The only downside is the campaign's brevity; at just seven hours on medium difficulty, you'll likely find yourself wanting more when the credits start to roll.
But that's why multiplayer exists. With hundreds of items, game types, ranks, and customization options slyly designed to unlock one by one the more you play, the online component has a decidedly addictive, just-need-a-few-more-points-to-level-up quality to it. Expect your sessions to be frequent and long.
Should you crave more modern warfare, try Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2. For younger players, try the earlier entry in the franchise, the Teen-rated Call of Duty 3.
Platform Notes
Windows
While the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 editions cap online multiplayer action at 18 players, the Windows PC edition ups the limit to 32.
Reviewed: 11/23/2007
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ViolenceHarsh, frontline military violence, including realistic gun battles and close quarters bladed combat (both of which result in graphic bloodshed), is omnipresent. There are also disturbing sequences in which the player takes a first-person perspective of a helpless execution victim and a soldier slowly dying from a nuclear blast. |
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LanguageWhile not excessive, profanity of the kind typically uttered by real-world soldiers is present through much of the game. |
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Social BehaviorThemes of camaraderie, duty, and loyalty permeate most missions, with the game's heroes aspiring to these noble traits. However, there are sequences in which the game treats the killing of enemy soldiers with alarming indifference. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoOne of the soldiers is partial to cigars. |
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