It took a bit of time to get through both titles, but I finally had the chance to complete both campaigns and experience enough online gaming to make a fair comparison between two of the hottest games of this year.
When it came to graphics and sound quality Call of Duty 4 completely blew away Halo 3 in comparison. CoD4 is graphically the most realistic video game I’ve played to date. Everything from the grass to the computer keyboards are meticulously rendered, and at times it feels as if you are walking through an online movie rather than a interactive video game.
The sound quality and responses from the A.I are also far more advanced in Cod4 than Halo 3. This is most notable in the campaign mode. When you hear your fellow soldiers call for help or relay commands, its as realistic as it can get. The score was also very well written and I particularly love the drums or war being played as we prepare for battle.
In multiplayer mode however, Halo 3 definitely has the advantage over Call of Duty 4. I remember my first experience playing Halo 3 online and being able to compete with my opponents. As I increased in rank, the opponents got tougher, but I improved as my rank went up, so the competition level was pretty fair. Halo 3′s matchmaking system is definitely the best in the business, and I really hope future multiplayer shooters will follow suit with Halo 3′s matchmaking system.
With CoD4, it was a different experience altogether. It was as if I was just thrown to the wolves. I guess they wanted to make it more realistic? When does a guy go to war with easier enemies than harder ones right? From the get go I was matched up with insanely advanced players and I recall being completely destroyed (PWNED) by the competition. It took a bit of luck to find a enemy team that I could play well against. The more I played the better it got, but it didn’t come easy and I was mocked quite a bit before I actually started doing well enough to keep my opponents mouths shut.
Finally, there is the game’s replayability. This one was so close I really could not decide. Both titles had great components to them that keep you wanting more. The best part with Halo 3 is without a doubt its matchmaking. This alone makes you want to play the game over and over. I recall playing Halo 2 for over 3 years before Halo 3 was released because of its matchmaking on XBOX Live and LAN games at friends homes.
With CoD4, I love the fact that you can unlock more weapons and armor. It takes sometime to unlock them all, so you get really familiar with the different types of weapons the game has to offer and your skill set becomes better as you learn to master the use of a set of weapons before unlocking the next. The campaign is also really fun and it was actually the first campaign I have ever played at least twice!
So I guess at the end of the day these games are deadlocked in a tie as far as I’m concerned. Each have something the other is lacking yet both have a very high replayability value. It basically comes down to what type of game you are looking for. A highly realistic game in CoD4, or just a fun shoot’em up with great matchmaking in Halo 3.
Looks like Bungie is up to something again and we haven\’t seen the last of the Halo franchise. According to reports at joystiq.com there was supposedly a E3 announcement canceled by Bungie’s publisher Microsoft regarding the upcoming release of a new “Halo” game. Bungie president Harold Ryan wrote this memo recently regarding his disappointment: