Call of Duty 4 was great, don’t get me wrong. But it was FAR from flawless, and a few points were absolutely frustrating.
For one, as much as it’s supposed to be a challenge, veteran mode was WAY out of line and it showed a few real weaknesses in level design. CoD4 was loaded with infinitely respawning enemies, traps for non-psychic players, and areas that required a multitude of plays before being completable on veteran. They’re old trappings of the series, but they’re ones that need to be shed.
Veteran mode, when it works, is fun. It’s a serious challenge and makes players rely on their squad as much as themselves, and use cover wisely. But without any ability to see around a corner without being exposed, and no ability to retaliate when wounded thanks to a tremendous screen jerk, it’s an exercise in memorization as much as anything. What it should be is slow, careful movement, peeking around corners, and judicious use of flashbangs and flanking enemies through teamwork. Instead, players are the only target that the AI cares about, have to make suicidal charges to unmarked enemy respawns, and die often from bad luck. It forces players to exploit the code, and that’s where something has gone wrong.
Don’t get me wrong, most of the levels were great. But then you had hells like “No Fighting in the War Room”, “Mile High Club”, and “Heat.” Ones where you just had to memorize the level and pray that the enemy was in place for a flashbang to work.
Hopefully, Modern Warfare 2 remembers veteran should punish players for mistakes, not kill them for a lack of prescience.
Oh, and seriously, the clipping planes. I’m pretty sure CoD4 exists in an alternate world where every surface is coated in adhesive of some sort, because touching a wall or barrier of any sort will stick you in place, and often it takes up such a tiny portion of the screen, if any, you don’t realize you’re going to be stopping until it’s too late and you die. It’s annoying with walls and objects to the side of the player, it’s downright awful with low barriers that are below the camera. And there’s a ton of it.
Seriously guys. Implement some kind of feedback at least that it’s a wall stopping a player from moving. I died more from walls and boxes than bullets, and that’s even with my aim relatively low. If I’m aiming for the ass, I should see low obstacles.
