Tried out the Call of Duty 4 demo this morning. My first thoughts are that it’s certainly a little more frenetic than 1 or 2, but the feel is very much the same. Graphics are excellent, even on my rig; my video card is a 6800 Ultra, so that holds me back a little bit when I try to run at my LCD’s native 1280×1024.
I got a chance to play with one of these, taking out some enemy armor. The weapons selection seems very close to what’s in the current US arsenal. The vehicles I saw were really well modeled; this is the same attention to details that we saw in the WWII games.
I can see they’re trying to give us a full-scale, near-symmetrical modern conflict. That’s where I’m a little unsure of the realism, because we haven’t had a symmetrical war for more than fifty years, to my knowledge. I can understand the political problems with presenting a game based on our asymmetrical fights in the Middle East, but that’s what we’re familiar with. I see them trying to give us that as well: RPGs were flying everywhere in the demo.
I think I can sum up the challenge this game will have. The original CoD games put you into a historical context where you relived some of the most pivotal, defining, and heroic events in our history. One of the best moments in any game, any platform was that final, frenetic push through the Reichstag. The Volga crossing into Stalingrad is another. Can CoD 4 give us moments like those in a fantasy conflict?
Being the good little Valve fanboy that I am, I went out and picked up The Orange Box at Circuit City Wed evening after work (it’s currently on sale for $37.99 btw). Although I could have pre-ordered the bundle on Steam, I generally like to wait and pick up the discs. I’m not sure why this is, but I imagine it has something to do with the need to have some sort of physical reward for my purchase. Something that can sit on my shelf and collect dust instead of just a digital representation of the money I spent (or flushed down the toilet in my wifes opinion). As a fanboy though, I purchased this bundle with high hopes, and so far, I’m gleefully delighted.
1. Tron 2 – Apparently Disney studios decided it would be a good idea to remake Tron. Which means that it’s not technically Tron 2, but Tron the remake. Obviously current CG technology will make this movie look absolutely amazing, but is it really such a good idea to mess with a classic? Especially a mediocre classic. More info 
2. Voltron – That’s right folks… live action Voltron. This is another movie that I’m sure will look incredible with today’s technology (Transformers anyone?). But we’ll see if they can come up with a story line that doesn’t blow. I’ll see it either way because, well… GIANT ROBOT LIONS!!! I mean, how can you argue with that? You can read about it 
Good thing there’s a site like 