Those amongst you who have kept an ear to the ground regarding Activision and Infinity Ward's next FPS will already know that Modern Warfare, the latest in the utterly epic Call of Duty franchise, was recently released to the public in the form of a closed beta. In order to qualify, players had to register at various gaming websites in the hope of getting one of the limited beta keys in order to download the game client, which isn't being placed on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Luckily for you, dear readers, I was one of the people who received an invite to witness firsthand one of the biggest games of 2007 and can give you unfortunate few who didn't get a key, some insights into an already legendary game.

The beta client itself features only the multiplayer element from the upcoming game, which is already looking to be one of the greatest games that will be released for your console. I'd go as far as saying that apart from the already legendary Halo 3 and the classic excellence of Bomberman Live, Modern Warfare will undoubtedly be right up there as the must have game for Xboxers around the world. But enough of my idle speculation - let me break it down for you.

Modern Warfare is a first person shooter that pits up to twelve players against each other on different maps with different tactical scenarios for different modes of play. You obviously have your standard solo and team deathmatch modes - no online game is complete without those - but you also get to take part in much more tactically sound 'objective' modes, where you attack or defend areas of interest, or take part in capture the flag type scenarios. These gameplay modes alone are comprehensive enough to appeal to a real range of gamers, from the sheer chaos of deathmatches to the adrenaline-fuelled mayhem of objective-based modes.

Although Modern Warfare sounds like yet another generic clone of the immensely popular Battlefield 2, it has enough intricate details that are different enough for it to be a serious contender for the online FPS crown. For example, Modern Warfare features the kind of 'levelling' system that you expect to find in RPG games such as Final Fantasy. Each kill awards you with some Experience Points (Exp) that allows you to hone your skills that little bit more in order to prove your dominance over your foes. This Exp rises after each battle until you hit the next level, thus unlocking some added features of the game. The beta only allows players to go as high as level 11 (soon to be increased), but even so, you get to unlock weapons, new perks (more on these later) and some new abilities.

On the topic of weaponry, Modern Warfare features quite a number of different weapons to unlock once you start racking up the kills. There are also sub-classes of the soldier that you can expect to play, from your highly effective assault class with its assault rifle, to special ops types armed with sub-machine guns such as the MP5 and some remote detonated C4 explosives. As you rise up through the levels you'll eventually unlock other classes such as the sniper, until you're given the unique and frankly quite brilliant ability to create your own class. This means you can arm yourself with whichever weapons you want out of your armoury and then pick and choose which special perks you want to give yourself.

Now for the scoop on the perks system. Unlike other games in this genre, Modern Warfare includes yet another unique feature in that you can choose special abilities for your soldier. Now, I don't mean abilities such as Superman's invincibility, although that would be quite special. Instead you get options like being able to sprint for longer, having increased accuracy when you shoot from the hip or, my personal favourite, the last stand. This is without a doubt one of the coolest features I've witnessed in a FPS game. When you're near death after receiving a fatal wound that hasn't killed you instantly, the last stand perk ability activates and your character falls to the ground and pulls out his pistol. This gives you a vital few seconds to attempt to exact your revenge upon your killer by shooting them dead. All the while, the surroundings of the screen fill up red, giving you a very cool tunnel vision effect. It's quite brilliant to look at, and is perfectly executed (pardon the pun).

The combat is frantic at all times in Modern Warfare. Maps are big enough to provide various routes to flank your enemies, but aren't small enough for it to be a case where you respawn right in the middle of a massive fire fight. Consequently, it also doesn't allow the usual camping snipers an opportunity to hide out of the way and pick people off all day long. You also don't get the use of vehicles as is often seen in a game of this nature, but it's a feature that's not really missed in the case of Modern Warfare as the on-foot action is so well conceived.

The maps featured in the beta are all beautifully sculpted and feature some sublime details. On a high-definition television, the game stands out as being one of the best looking games of recent months. There's really no telling how long the developers have spent on making this game look as stunning as it does, featuring the same jaw-dropping attention to detail as we've already witnessed in games like Gears of War. The levels are a joy to look at, with grass and foliage looking like each blade and leaf has been hand crafted, perfect to conceal a player as they're lying down and looking down the scope of their rifle. Buildings are beautifully detailed and look as though they've come straight out of some war-torn city; walls are demolished, furniture is scattered and broken and the whole thing just adds to the sheer brilliance of the ambience that the developers have succeeded in instilling.

There are some very nice special effects featured too; for instance, the smoke looks unbelievably realistic. Add in the stuff like having tunnel vision when you're injured and the screen throbbing and you've got a package that really excels visually. What's really quite shocking is the fact that this is only the multiplayer aspect, which is traditionally cut down in its graphical prowess in order to keep the fast-paced gameplay chugging along without any slow-downs. I can't wait to see what the single player mode looks like, but whenever that experience comes around, I'd put serious money on it looking like a million bucks.

On top of all this are the very nice sound effects featured in the game, which just push the entire experience into sheer bliss. Weapons each have their unique sounds, so you can tell what's firing lead at you from its sound alone, and added special effects like the high pitched whistling sound when a grenade goes off in your vicinity all enhance the atmosphere even more. It's all brilliant and it looks like Activision is onto a winner.

From what I can see of the beta, the online matchmaking system and general Xbox Live integration is top notch. It's got the same system as featured in the Halo 3 multiplayer beta that was released a few months ago. This is great, as it means you'll usually end up in matches against other players with a similar skill rating as you, so thankfully you won't be constantly getting your butt handed back to you. I should mention though that Modern Warfare's system seems to work a lot quicker than Halo 3's. You can usually get into a match in under a minute or so, which is always nice.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare beautifully expands upon the already brilliant Call of Duty franchise. It's especially nice that Infinity Ward and Activision are actively moving away from the World War setting and firmly into the modern era of tactical warfare. This opens up new possibilities and advances on the weapons we're used to seeing in games of this nature, allowing new methods of stopping the enemy dead in their tracks. Whilst this is only a beta, it's already showing the potential to be one of the biggest games of the year and I personally cannot wait to see what changes feature in the retail version of the game. Either way, Activision and Infinity Ward have crafted a masterpiece that will undoubtedly be one of Xbox Live' most played games for years to come.

Previewed by Harmz Singh for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).