Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare marks the third installment of Infinity Wards highly proclaimed PC series. The game moves away from the world war two and moves into...'Modern Warfare'.

Publicly the game is unashamedly fun. There are few things I find annoying when playing, although the small things are like iron pokers burning into the skin. Two of the perks (similar to WoW's talent points), 'Last Stand' (when you've 'died', you drop to the floor and pull out a pistol, so it means you can snatch back a cheap kill) and 'Martyrdom' (when you've died, you drop a grenade. Which granted doesn't sound as bad as you think, but in practice, due to the quite ridiculous overpowered nature of a grenade, means that a kill is 90% guaranteed due to the stupidity of public players movement or the fact that even with sprint enabled, you're not likely to escape the hiroshima like splash) are truly innovations invented purely to remove any skill in making a kill. What's worse is that you don't know who has these skills and who doesn't.

I personally go for the grenade launcher attachment for my primary weapon, AK47. Stopping power (extra bullet damage) and extreme conditioning (means you can sprint longer).

The maps are almost carbon copies of CoD1 and CoD2 alternatives, which is no bad thing in my opinion. The graphics are gorgeous, they've this chalk pastel quality which clashes against the modern and oppressive machinery and weapons of the players. Considering at the heart of this, is the Quake III engine, shows how far aging engines can be pushed, graphically. I only wish developers could see this.

The crux comes competitively when talk turns to the unavoidable debate of rule sets and PAM. I honestly feel that the CoD2 players themselves will determine and unfortunately limit the appeal and future of CoD4. The further the CoD series moves away from comparisons of Counter Strike the better and more support it will receive.

When Counter Strike is king, you the horse, have to make concessions in order to supplant him. Counter Strike players can sit on their laurels as prospective communities debate themselves into oblivion.

I'll be honest, I was guilty of exactly of that same reflexive instinct when Enemy Territory: Quake Wars was released. I shouted for the removal of vehicles, which I felt completely undermined the speed and thrill of the game. But I knew, part of the reason why this game would become successful is more players. The vehicles were needed to attract the battlefield players, it really was as simple as that. Finding the right balance is the hard part.

There are so many reasons and innovations why CoD4 is better than its predecessor and the competitive community has just undermined pretty much all of them. It ticks all the boxes needed for success yet they seem to be in a prolonged rush in order to set a global standard, when there isn't even a spectator capability for example. You need to know where and when to place the emphasis and removing new features of a game which is barely weeks old isn't the way to go.

Counter Strike players enjoy the ride, because CoD4 is going no where.