Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare -- Game of the Year Edition (Microsoft Xbox 360,

Developer Infinity Ward returns with its third full installment in the Call of Duty series (Treyarch having developed Call of Duty 3) with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Eschewing the traditional WWII setting that has been the hallmark of the series, Call of Duty 4 takes on the more nebulous world of modern warfare. Nazi storm troopers and kamikaze pilots have been replaced by a patchwork group of terrorists and insurgents, and traditional WWII weapons have been jettisoned in favor of more than 70 modern armaments. Though the story is a departure from the previous games, Call of Duty 4 still features intense mission-based first-person shooter gameplay that should be familiar to fans.<br><br>The plot centers on two megalomaniacal madmen who are fomenting unrest around the world in an attempt to cement their own power. Imran Zakhaev is a one-armed Russia nationalist who longs to return his country to a Soviet Union style of government by seizing a stockpile of nuclear weapons. Zakhaev has support from several divisions of the Russian army, but, knowing that the United States would quickly come to the aid of the Russian government, he funds a coup in the Middle East to divert attention. Led by Zakhaev ally Khaled Al-Asad, the Middle Eastern coup results in intense fighting which eventually leads to the launch of a Russian nuclear missile toward American soil. Players fight through this chaos as both Sergeant John MacTavish, a British SAS operative doing battle in Russia, and Se