Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Video Game
STUDIOActivision
RELEASED2007

The year is 2011, and civil war has broken out in Russia between the Russian government and Russian ultranationalists under the command of Imran Zakhaev who seek to restore Russia back to its former Soviet-style leadership. A revolution has toppled a regime in an unnamed Arabic country which has ties to the Russian ultranationalists, with Khaled al-Asad coming to power. These two simultaneous events are causing fear that al-Asad and Zakhaev might form an alliance and use nuclear weapons against the West. In response to these concerns, the United States and the United Kingdom conduct joint operations to put down both uprisings, without putting their own nations' security at risk. Will they succeed?

Knowledge

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Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

One Achievement Is Just Straightforwardly Dark

No Rest for the Weary asks you to stab a wounded, crawling enemy rather than just leaving them be. It's a grim little piece of dark humour hidden in the achievement list.

Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

Saving One Trapped Marine Gets Its Own Name

Amid the chaos of War Pig, there's a specific trapped soldier called Private Roycewicz stuck on a staircase. Rescuing him specifically is tied to the achievement Rescue Roycewicz, a nice bit of care put into a background character most players would otherwise never notice by name.

Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

The Gunship's Three Guns All Behave Differently

In Death From Above, the AC-130's 105mm cannon has a huge blast radius but a painfully long reload, the 40mm Bofors auto-cannon is fully automatic with a medium splash area, and the 25mm Gatling guns trade splash damage for the tightest zoom, useful for picking off targets right next to friendly troops without hitting them.

Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

There's a Reward for a Perfect Gunship Shot

Land a single 105mm round in just the right spot during Death From Above and take out five enemies at once, and you'll pick up the achievement Straight Flush, a small but satisfying nod to how brutal that cannon can be when it lines up right.

Call of Duty: World at WarSource

It Ran on the Modern Warfare Engine

Even though it's set decades earlier, World at War is actually built on the same engine as Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, just retooled with period-appropriate weapons, enemies and environments instead of the modern-day setting.

Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

Perks Made Their Debut Right Here

The whole idea of picking perks to customise your loadout, something every shooter copies now, started with this game. Before Call of Duty 4, the series didn't have anything like it.

Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

Martyrdom Became Infamous Almost Overnight

Drop dead with the Martyrdom perk equipped and you leave behind a live grenade for whoever killed you to deal with. Players hated it so much that by the time Modern Warfare 2 was in development, Infinity Ward's own lead artist publicly admitted the studio knew the community had strong feelings about it.

Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

Last Stand Gives You One Final Shot

Take fatal damage with this perk on and instead of dying outright, you drop to the ground and pull a pistol for one last chance to take someone with you. It became one of the more divisive perks in the game, loved by the people using it and despised by everyone on the receiving end.

Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

Overkill Trades Your Sidearm for a Second Rifle

Unlock Overkill and you can run two primary weapons instead of a primary and a pistol. There's a neat side effect too: equip a sniper rifle as one of your two primaries and your character actually wears a ghillie suit, even outside of the campaign.

Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareSource

One Perk Gets Voted the Worst in the Whole Game

Out of every perk across the entire Modern Warfare trilogy, Eavesdrop from the original Call of Duty 4 regularly tops 'worst perk' lists, beaten out only by things like Martyrdom and Last Stand for sheer player irritation.