Versus posted a blog about CoD 4 and it got me wondering why I don't play it as much as my other games despite it being made of awesome.

I've been playing CoD 4 on and off over the past few days. It's fun and I feel is a much more "intense" gaming experience than TF2. While Team Fortress 2 can have some epic battles and is basically non-stop action the cartoonish and un-realistic nature of the game tends to continually remind me that I'm just playing a game. CoD 4 is serious business. I'm paranoid, looking behind every bush, listening intently for footsteps. I like it.

My big problem with CoD 4 isn't really a flaw with the game. It's that in on my regular TF2 server everyone talks. There are always people talking about strategy, where the enemies are, and now that we've all played together for so long we talk about real life shit while we play. Then there are the server forums where the discussions continue and of course the LAN parties that people travel to. It actually feels like I'm playing with friends.

In contrast every CoD4 server I've been in has been silent, aside from one guy named "myassmyass" shouting "MY ASS" every couple of minutes. I start feeling like I'm playing a single player game with amazing AI. Sure at the end of each match there is the obligatory "gg", but other than that nothing is said.

I'd probably get a lot deeper into online play if folks actually used the talk feature. Personally it just makes it more fun, you feel more like an actual team. Then it might help me learn the layout of the maps, including the spots to look out for and good places for cover. That would be useful because if you compare the CoD 4 maps to something like 2fort there is a lot to learn and the learning process can take awhile when you're suddenly dead. Yes there is the kill cam feature, but if you don't know the map layout it's really not going to do much good.

I've talked to a few people about this non-talking issue and they've suggested that because the game play is so fast and everyone is constantly moving there isn't much chance to talk. At first I thought that might be a good point. Then I remembered all my time playing CS and the Rainbow Six games online. Everyone was chatty.

All in all CoD 4 is awesome and I'm happy I have a PC that runs it well. The only flaw I've seen so far is the silence. I don't like it.