Visual Versus: Call of Duty 4 vs. TimeShift

Oh Yeah, its on now, two of most recent FPS' are here to be judge "which one we would rather look at?" Remember folks if this wasn't purely a competition of visuals and graphics Call of Duty wins hands down, but its going to get a little interesting as we pin pure realism vs. science fiction effects. Call of Duty 4 is the newest addition made by the same people who made Call of Duty 2, it shoots forward about 60 years into modern warfare, giving you a setup that strikes a bit close to the conflicts we share in the world today. TimeShift is a completely different story, you get a fancy garb to wear that makes time stop, reverse, speed up and slow down, causing very interesting firefights and gives you the upper hand against 10 enemies that only want to destroy you. We will decide which has the better visuals and which one is left in the shrapnel.

TimeShift Screen Shot Action

TimeShift has excellent methods of producing such fantastic visuals, and although some of the time effects can be said to be borrowed from F.E.A.R. we still found that the visual were overall pleasing. The setting is the now classic post apocalyptic look that is shared in other games like Gears of War, Half Life 2, and pretty much half the other first person shooters on the market. These rubble filled worlds of broken buildings and burning cars are getting very popular, but the streets are still very detailed and are engaging none the less. And that isn't to say that this game doesn't have enough variance because you will be fighting in several different settings, like wide open plazas, tree filled areas, and close quartered hallways and rooms. They all look good, but you will probably say to yourself you have seen everything before, and its getting a little annoying that in futuristic games the world always looks like a shit-hole and is hard to believe that with all our technology you are still fighting in buildings that look like they are from 1945. Anybody would be quick to pass up these judgments and keep on shootin.

Timeshift Slowdown

So the time setting and look are mediocre to good but the time changing effects are great. Slowing down time looks as if you were to dive in clear Jello, maybe a bad example but the whole process looks great, as you run up to enemies and steal their weapons. All the time effects are really neat and will make you want to watch them over and over again. Every action will make you want to see it slowed down or reversed, seeing somebody launched by an explosive and then reversed to watch him go right back into the same place again never gets old. They really handled everything in this game, even the rubble will fly backwards as you reverse. Weather effects look good as you slow down or stop the rain while its falling, but you might get the impressions that rain wouldn't look like the game shows it in real life. But who cares because were probably never going to see slowed down rain droplets. And the last thing to talk about is the gun models, they look good but the great part about the guns is to see slow motion blood spray on your visor.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare

Now on to simpler times where slowing down time isn't need as long as you have a sniper rifle and a couple grenades, you could pretty much take out the whole middle east. Yes Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare, doesn't take place in WWII anymore (finally), making this game different and probably the best one out of the series. There are no fancy effects, no extra hidden powers, its just the same old war shooter but the best looking and playing one so far. Yes, this game may be categorized under "just another shooter," but that can't deny its power over your eyes because this game eats other war shooters for breakfast. Your settings should be familiar with mostly desert areas, and the addition of some helicopter missions and the such. The settings might be considered boring and done before, but they still look great. The textures are amazing, dust is kicked up in the air, and the middle eastern architecture is spot on. A few things still stick out like the mediocre car models and some pixelated grass here and there, but nothing that you couldn't get over with a throw of a grenade.

Call of Duty 4 Modern warfare shooter

The character models look realistic, the guns are some of the best I've ever seen, and the shooting is amazing. New additions like being able to shoot through some walls made from certain materials, are small additions but make the game better in a lot of ways. You will be dragged in the action as the first person camera moves perfect and really engages you into the cut scenes. We could babble on and on about this game: The explosions, looking down the scope, night vision, the lighting effects all look awesome and need to be seen for yourself. So go out and buy this game.

This was a no contest winner for Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare, the game looks great and the overall look beats TimeShift even with the original timeshifting effects. Both games are ran with the Nvidia GeForce 7800, but you can tell which game really utilizes the card better. With every little piece of accenting beauty Call of Duty 4 shines above all war shooters. This isn't to say that its a competitor against Gears of War and Crysis, but it holds its own in the realm of 256MB video cards.