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The most intense shooter in history.

Of all the games releasing this November, Activision's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is one of the most anticipated. The game plunges you into virtual warfare like never before, thanks to the most vicious firefights in history. We got a sample of that in the COD4 multiplayer beta, and the single player campaign is just as crazy, dropping us into dangerous environments where bullets fly from all directions. In other words, this game kicks so much ass you won't leave your couch for hours on end.

What we played was a tease, a measly two single player levels, but they were enough to whet our appetites. The first takes place on a huge tanker in the Bering Straight. You, along with your team of commandos, leap from an attack chopper and quickly move through the ship, the goal to steal a manifest and make it back alive, crew expendable. Naturally, the bad guys don't take lightly to your snooping around and do their best to make your life difficult with their automatic weapons. What ensues is a thrilling sequence in which you and your team slaughter everyone. Your squad mates are more than capable of handling themselves, so much so, that they can pretty much kill the entire crew. It gets frustrating, because all you want to do is cap someone in the head, but every time you line up a headshot, someone else takes them out. Hey, at least they're well trained.

After grabbing the document, the enemy blows up the ship and it starts to sink. In a panic, you race from its belly to the deck, dodging exploding steam pipes and dealing with the boat pitching in the water, rolling left and right and tossing you like a rag doll. Topside, you run towards the helicopter and make a death-defying leap to safety, or not. Although we successfully made the jump our first try, you can miss and plunge into the icy waters.

The second mission was even more intense. It takes place in a dilapidated Middle Eastern city. You start on a bridge alongside a group of U.S. troops. As you navigate past gutted cars, numerous enemies open fire from a nearby building. This is Call of Duty 4 at its most brutal. There are so many bullets and explosions we didn't want to leave cover, but we had to haul ass, not only because we wanted to complete the mission, but also because not even cover is safe. Thanks to COD4's hard and soft cover system, enemies can blast through walls and sheet metal, thus making the levels even scarier.

Our weapon did little to calm our nerves, despite it being one of the best guns, a fully automatic M4 with a holographic/laser sight and grenade attachment. Sure, we killed a good amount of evildoers, but they had the high ground, making us easy targets. Suffice it to say, we died numerous times.

During the course of our journey, we donned infrared goggles and killed enemies in the dark (the infrared makes the laser sights look extremely cool), strapped explosives to an anti-aircraft gun, protected one of our tanks from insurgents, obliterated their tanks with a javelin and sniped enemies on a bridge. We had numerous toys to complete these objectives, including the aforementioned weapons, plus an AK-47, sniper rifle, shotgun, Berretta, M9, frag, flash and smoke grenades. Sniping is especially devious, as headshots produce gooey results.

Call of Duty 4 works on numerous levels and caused us to experience all sorts of emotions, fear being the most important. There were times when we second-guessed our orders because they sounded ridiculous. (Run across an open field? Are they nuts?) We did everything we were told, but it was the hesitation that impressed us most. Even with our badass weaponry, we didn't feel unstoppable.

Of course, the game more often than not let us reach key objectives, and whether or not that's a fault remains to be seen, because despite the madness, the game's quite linear, with you traveling from point A to point B. Don't expect to explore massive environments in vehicles or tackle missions out of order.

On the multiplayer front, we explored a new map called Ambush. Again, a Middle Eastern city, and one that's seen better days. Chopper and car wreckage litter the streets, along with destroyed buildings. The alleys and narrow corridors lead to surprise encounters, and no place is safe, not even the confines of a rooftop. If you intend to snipe, don't remain in one place too long.

Unless Activision and Infinity Ward botch the project, Call of Duty 4 is a game of the year contender and a must buy. Look for more coverage here on GameDaily leading up to its November 4 release, and we'll see you online.