The Bog - A play by play
This article analyzes the latest gameplay video from Call of Duty 4. The video from Activision is called, "The Bog" (bog means marshy land) and you can download it here:
00:01
We first see a GoogleEarth-like satellite image. The image zooms-in on a major city highway situated near a marsh. The marsh is located in a populated area. It is early morning and the city appears to be located in the Middle East.
We are looking out of the eyes of Paul Jackson, Staff Sergeant U.S. Marine Corps. Jackson is standing on a bridge facing SSW. The bridge is littered with destroyed military and civilian equipment. He is surrounded by at least 8 of his Marine colleagues: Cpl. Cherubini, Cpl Castillo and the terse-lipped Lt. Vasquez are at the tip of the formation.
We first see a GoogleEarth-like satellite image. The image zooms-in on a major city highway situated near a marsh. The marsh is located in a populated area. It is early morning and the city appears to be located in the Middle East.
We are looking out of the eyes of Paul Jackson, Staff Sergeant U.S. Marine Corps. Jackson is standing on a bridge facing SSW. The bridge is littered with destroyed military and civilian equipment. He is surrounded by at least 8 of his Marine colleagues: Cpl. Cherubini, Cpl Castillo and the terse-lipped Lt. Vasquez are at the tip of the formation.
00:08
Lt. Vasquez: "Alpha(?) Company's tank is stuck half a click north of here. We gotta hustle, let's go!"
Move it. Move it!
I failed orienteering, but I think Vasquez is pointing south! No wonder these guys are gonna get ambushed. Vasquez for goodness sake, look at a map! The Marines hump south under orders, guns at the ready. They are all in battle gear, guns drawn.
The Bog
Day 03 - 05:00:19
SSgt. Paul Jackson
1st Force Recon Co. U.S.M.C
The overhead street signs indicate that Gaish Street and Abbasia is up ahead and the highway (Autostrad) is the next right. Anti-aircraft tracers are lighting up the dark sky. The bridge seems to have just been bombed or a major fire fight must have happened only a few hours ago. A Cobra helicopter screams overhead in the same direction Vasquez is pointing to: towards the stuck tank.
"...keep moving up"
Checkpoint reached"Ambush!"
"Contact right!"
A hail of fire opens up on Jackson's 2 o'clock. Enemy combatants are firing from a 2 story building (red and white awning).
Eliminate enemy forces in the apartmentOur first glimpse of SSgt Jackson's armament:
Secure the M1A1 Abrams tank stranded in the bog.
He deploys his Marine issue M4 A1 Grenadier with a M203 grenade launcher which he can clip onto the M4. He has 390 rounds and 10 grenades. He is also carrying night vision goggles and his gun is equipped with a laser rangefinder.
Jackson lines up the hostiles in his sights. We see his view zoom-in. CoD4 adds a red reticule to aid his aim. The gun is steady as he squeezes off a magazine containing 390 rounds. It doesn't appear that he has hit anyone.
00:28Jackson lines up the hostiles in his sights. We see his view zoom-in. CoD4 adds a red reticule to aid his aim. The gun is steady as he squeezes off a magazine containing 390 rounds. It doesn't appear that he has hit anyone.
He's prompted to reload (very annoyingly, the graphics show up just at his aim point). He kneels and it states hold X for M4A1 on the screen. Clearly the game is for gaming consoles.
He places a new magazine in. He now has 420 rounds. Sixty two meters away, the enemy is firing at him.
After re-upping his M4 he walks near a Winchester Model 1200 Shotgun which is lying on the ground. He is asked to press X for the 1200. The X refers to a console gaming pad command. You can see the gamepad icon on the far left of the screen. He declines to take the 1200.
"RPG!"
00:38
Jackson's HUD appears primitive. A compass "tape" moves in a circular fashion and is located at the bottom-center of the screen. Note that when the enemy fires, 2 yellow circles show up on the compass tape. The yellow circles point to the enemy location. The number is the range in meters from the laser range finder that is bolted to the M4. As well, the range (in meters) of whatever/whoever the laser rangefinder is pointing at can be seen on the compass tape. As he attempts to engage the enemy, two cars in front of Jackson are hit by a rocket propelled grenade. The smoke from the RPG hangs in the air. Jackson, bravely, is unfazed. One of a large formation of low level choppers heading NNE is hit. It's a Huey! The rotor must be hit as the chopper begins to spin violently and crashes to Jackson's left.
00:48
"...take the stairs."
Vasquez heroically hides just below the windows of the target building. Our protagonist, Jackson and Sgt. Baker take the stairs down and flank the building on the right. It's pitch black down there. Jackson is prompted for night goggles.
00:57
Jackson's HUD appears primitive. A compass "tape" moves in a circular fashion and is located at the bottom-center of the screen. Note that when the enemy fires, 2 yellow circles show up on the compass tape. The yellow circles point to the enemy location. The number is the range in meters from the laser range finder that is bolted to the M4. As well, the range (in meters) of whatever/whoever the laser rangefinder is pointing at can be seen on the compass tape. As he attempts to engage the enemy, two cars in front of Jackson are hit by a rocket propelled grenade. The smoke from the RPG hangs in the air. Jackson, bravely, is unfazed. One of a large formation of low level choppers heading NNE is hit. It's a Huey! The rotor must be hit as the chopper begins to spin violently and crashes to Jackson's left.
00:48
"...take the stairs."
Vasquez heroically hides just below the windows of the target building. Our protagonist, Jackson and Sgt. Baker take the stairs down and flank the building on the right. It's pitch black down there. Jackson is prompted for night goggles.
00:57
Checkpoint reached
"...follow me"
"Switch to night vision"
Jackson starts firing at the hostiles, hitting at least one helmeted soldier (at first the enemy appeared to be friendly - fratricide! - but a closer look and the enemy does not seem to be wearing night goggles).
"Switch to night vision"
Jackson starts firing at the hostiles, hitting at least one helmeted soldier (at first the enemy appeared to be friendly - fratricide! - but a closer look and the enemy does not seem to be wearing night goggles).
01:06
Rounding a right corner, Jackson and his platoon hit a major concentration of enemy troops in the targeted building complex. Jackson fires 3 grenades into the bombed out apartment building and charges forward.
The grenade launcher has a much different cross hair than the gun- it almost looks like the "Free French" cross from WWII and is white. As well another HUD element just above the grenade counter indicates the weapon in use - when night vision is engaged. One arrow up means the main weapon and one arrow up and one down means the grenade launcher.
The firefight is intense at the moment. Jackson gets clipped a couple of times. A red arc indicates his health has been degraded but no other visible display indicates his status. He seems to recover nearly instantly.
The grenade launcher has a much different cross hair than the gun- it almost looks like the "Free French" cross from WWII and is white. As well another HUD element just above the grenade counter indicates the weapon in use - when night vision is engaged. One arrow up means the main weapon and one arrow up and one down means the grenade launcher.
The firefight is intense at the moment. Jackson gets clipped a couple of times. A red arc indicates his health has been degraded but no other visible display indicates his status. He seems to recover nearly instantly.
01:33
"...??? take the stairs we'll cover the entrance"
Sgt. Arya and Baker are taking cover behind some concrete slabs. Jackson follows Pvt. Gigliotti up the stairs. Gigliotti struggles with a hostile who has come barrelling from the hallway on the left.
Checkpoint reachedThe hostile is carrying a shouldered AK47. As the enemy combatant tries to bring his gun around to fire, Jackson calmly dispatches him with carbine fire to the right kidneys. The hostile's AI in not too sharp. What was he thinking? All the noise was a car backfiring? Dude, if you hear gunfire, the least you could do is unholster your weapon. Sheesh.
