Call of Duty 4 - multiplayer hands-on

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New level-up system takes us from cannon fodder to killing machines in one session

All of those cool extras and upgrades aside, running around and splattering punks was a lot of fun all by itself - even if it only took a few quick shots to the back to bring us down. The three levels we played in were Vacant, a burned-out office building filled with tight corridors and blind turns; Overgrown, a European-looking farming village with plenty of ruined buildings and tall grasses to hide in, as well as a big covered bridge over a sizable ditch; and Crash, a Black Hawk Down-inspired level in a Middle Eastern village, complete with lots of cars to cower behind and the smoking wreck of a chopper at its center. All of these were packed with hiding spots, choke points (good for setting up explosives) and lots of opportunities to get creative, and they stayed fresh even after we'd played each one dozens of times.

Mikel Reparaz
Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.