A 'Super' Mario Game and a 'Modern' Classic

CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE
(Activision; Xbox 360, PS3, and PC; Mature)

Modern is the operative term in the latest chapter of the Call of Duty series, which up until now was known for its harrowing recreations of World War II battles. In their place: intense — dare we say FUBAR — combat scenarios that unravel in the present day, the kind that might've been ripped from a Tom Clancy novel. And no where is this updating more obvious than in the hardware: CoD4's high-tech weapons — sleek and lethal — are a far cry from the clunky MP40s and M1s from previous CoD games. Our new favorite: a devastating shoulder-fired guided missile called the Javelin that and can skewer a tank like a shish kebab.

Modern also describes the underlying technology behind CoD4's marvelous visuals, sound effects, and gameplay — simply put, this is one of the best-looking console games around. While the graphical environments are often startlingly realistic, the in-game sounds (like an incoming RPG that whizzes over your head), do an even better job at teasing your brain into thinking you're in the middle of a firefight. Just two examples of the intricate code-crunching happening under the hood are the "bullet penetration" system that will make you reconsider shielding yourself behind a rickety wood fence (bullets go right through it, but are stopped by harder objects like cement barriers) and the artificial intelligence guiding the movements of your fellow soldiers, who (unlike in most combat titles), can autonomously take out enemies without you having to bail them out all the time. CoD4's technology doesn't always triumph, however: M.I.A. is a cover system that enables you to hide behind a wall from an enemy's gunfire and then partially lurch out to return fire. A game this advanced should also have a co-op option that allows you to play through the campaign with a friend over the Internet. Most won't care about these faults because the single player experience and the elaborate online multiplayer modes are exceptional reminders that war is a lot less hell-like when played out on big-screen HDTVs in 5.1 surround sound. A-