Radeonx said:
COD4. While I like it, I don't think it is as groundbreaking as made out to be.
The gamemechanics certainly aren't, but I think(and know, if we're talking my oppinion) what makes it so great is the single player story. They really took war, and made it very unglamorous. Halo/Half Life/many other shooters have you be this heroic character, that survive against all odds.
Modern Warfare had the balls to show you that you're really a little, very unimportant piece. They killed you(or one of you) off just like that, not even in a heroic or fantastic fashion... You were just an ordinary man, and you were killed by a weapon(the nuke). The crawling out of that burning chopper, only to die is one of the best moments in gaming history ever, if you ask me. Not as great, but definitely memorable, is the part at the very end, when your escape attempt is cut to a halt, and the teammates you have come to know are killed one by one. By one man with a gun. It was that feeling that yes, you and your mates were just humans, and not unkillable heroes, and no, everything wouldn't be good in the end. And they still stood up, with their last dying breaths. There was a touch of realism to it... The heroes don't always win, and live happily ever after. It was brutal, it was real, and it was so very simple.
To me, Infinity Ward did a masterpiece there. I agree wholeheartedly that the gameplay in itself is, well, good but not something that will pass into gaming history. But the plot, and execution of it, will.