Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare shies away from the World War II era and goes with more modern-day combat. The result is a pulse-pounding frag fest that stands out as one of the best military shooters ever made.

Modern Warfare opens with a brief training mission, with 22nd SAS Regiment member Captain Price guiding your opening character, Sergeant John "Soap" MacTavish, as he goes right into action, heading out to infiltrate a cargo ship. Upon picking up important data, enemy jets swoop in with an attack, forcing you, Price and the rest of your platoon to scramble off the ship while water seeps in and fires explode all around you. This is merely the beginning of the ride, so soak it in. What's fascinating, however, is what follows. Rather than tell the gist of the story through boring subtext, developer Infinity Ward goes with a more visceral approach, showing us through a first-person perspective. It shows the fate of a foreign leader, as rebels throw him into a car. You ride in this vehicle for several minutes and finally arrive at your destination, where soldiers tie you to a pole and introduce you to Al-Asad, a man trying to instigate a revolution. He doesn't say much, however, and simply walks over and shoots you, ending the scene. It's a powerful start, and the game only picks up in intensity from there.

You fly to locations throughout the world as you attempt to put a stop to Al-Asad's charge, only to find out that he's merely a right-hand man to an even bigger influence. Imran Zakhaev is an idealist who wants a rebirth in the Soviet Union, hunkering back to its pre-Cold War days. If this means launching a Russian missile into the heart of the United States, so be it. Allied American and British military forces set out to make sure this doesn't happen.

Graphically, this game sets a new standard for first person shooters. Explosions resound with utmost authority, knocking enemies backward and leaving damage in their wake. Locales differ greatly but don't lose any of their visual beauty, whether you're on a nighttime mission in the middle of Russia or in broad daylight, with smoke clogging the air as you fight your way out of a chaos-riddled firefight. The animation and character detail is superb. Price, for example, looks like a man torn up by the actions of war, though he never loses an ounce of his steely resolve. Even the smallest of lighting effects, like the way lightning causes flashes on the terrain, is very, very good. Other portions of the game, such as the areas requiring night vision, where everything glows a solid green (in a most effective way); and the AC-130 aerial shooting stages (as enemies disappear in puffs of black-and-white smoke -- it's like watching military footage on CNN), have their little influences as well. Best of all, everything moves at sixty frames per second. We didn't detect a hint of slowdown whatsoever.