I'm from the UK, and I live in the Northern regions. That technically makes me a Northerner, and as you may or may not know, Northerners are notoriously tight when it comes to spending money. As a result, we hate to see things stand and gather dust; I have a rule, if I don't use it for a month, I sell it. My PSP fell victim to this rule, and my PS3 almost did last season. I parted with almost all my games collection because of my roots, and today is exactly 30 days since I played my Xbox 360 last. And I was going to sell it tomorrow.

Even though Halo 3 was only released a little over a month ago, I've managed to suppress any urges to play on that game - but then when I examine the situation, I've not really had any urges to play it anyway. I know what I'm writing here could be classed as my suicide note, as Geoff Holland, Editor and Halo Nut, to put it delicately, will probably be around tonight with his plasma pistol to make sure that I die by the very rule that has saved me money all these years, the rule that has insulted the game series that he loves the most [Make that a rocket launcher Dex - we're going to have words, you and I! Ed]. That very thought should cause me to sleep restlessly, but I'll rest well tonight, as I know that tomorrow I'll be able to have another full day on the game that saved my Xbox 360 from hungry eBay bidders and restored my faith in gaming altogether - Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Not many games deserve a full ten out of ten, but Call of Duty 4 isn't just a game. Call of Duty 4 makes it easy to see why gaming is bigger than the film industry now; its superb, topical touchy story is big screen material and I'm giving nothing away bar the synopsis - you're not fighting the Germans for a change, instead you're a member of the SAS and you're after a terrorist that would make Bin Laden look like Santa Claus by comparison, although I'd dread to think what Bin Laden would leave you under the tree if you've been naughty instead of nice this year. I highly doubt it would be coal! The whole story looks like it was based on real events. In a way, it could be. The story then is so heartfelt, brimming with so much emotion and courage that it makes you feel real feelings. I become attached to my superior, I sympathised with civilians and I thanked the Lord Bill Gates that none of this was real.

But it would take more than a talented storyboard team to put this game up in the ten regions. The graphics deliver even more so than the previous Call of Duty games or any game that I can think of that's come out this year. So good that Call of Duty 4 doesn't use many cut scenes, it's all mainly in-game, so brilliant that crawling in the dirt actually feels filthy and running through water actually looks wet. It's these powerful graphics that make the story come across so well and make so much of an impact, but also it's these graphics that make any other first person shooter look poor by comparison and it's these graphics that keep you in a state of awe from the moment you turn it on, to the sad time when you have to turn it off. But at risk of sounding like some Marks & Spencer advert [This isn't just a videogame... eugh! Ed.], I'm going to stop talking about how good these graphics are and move swiftly on to praising the gameplay.

Just like the other Call of Duty titles before it, Modern Warfare defines what it means to be a game - of course, the story and the graphics play a massive part in why the overall gameplay is so damn good, but take a moment to think with me here. Can you imagine what it's like to wield weapons that can split skulls from a great distance? Can you even begin to dream of how it feels be part of the SAS or meet some of the bravest men that ever lived? Do you know what it's like to hide in the dark, with night vision goggles and a silenced pistol, waiting for your enemy to walk by? And surmise if you will how it is to be toyed with before being forced to look down the barrel of a silver plated 9mm not seconds before the thing goes off in your face. You've never experienced death like that. You're still here, reading this after all. And I doubt you've been part of the SAS or used an advanced sniper rifle to stalk your prey at a safe distance. But I feel like I have. I've done all of that and a whole lot more, and I cannot stop thinking about it. The gameplay is so involving, interactive, exciting and addictive - this is the definition of a videogame.

Sneaking, running, crawling, strafing and attacking your enemy has never been down so many routes of choice - dozens of weapons with their own unique feel, grenades for every situation, explosives, claymores... disposing of your enemy has never faced so many tough decisions - and then there's the all important option - should I keep playing, or should I savour this treat and make it last? War veterans might whiz through this game, and as such, they might see this as a downside - sure, it's not the longest game by any means, but then the Halo 3 single player was quite short too; truth is, single player modes don't have to be all that long if you can go through it again and still get the same amount of enjoyment out of it as you did the first time around. And I'd rather have a short masterpiece than a long, drawn out, dull experience. Wouldn't you?

But it doesn't have to end with the single player, because the online side of things is like playing another really great game. In fact, online you start off as a lowly rank one and work your way up the ranks by killing other people, or completing team-based objectives. Each time you get a kill, you gain experience, RPG style, until you level up. Levelling up has its rewards, such as new character classes with a variety of different weapons and grenades. There are too many classes to name and you can even make your own as you progress, but you'll find that each class is very similar to the last one, with subtle differences that all make them largely unique depending on your playing style. One class has a rather mediocre gun and limited grenades, but your ability to stay alive through the dying process, on the ground covered in blood, for a few vital seconds, allows you to pop off a few more rounds of bullets before you enter deep sleep - perfect for last minute kills to avenge your own death.

As you'd expect, you can form clans online, chat with them in the lobbies and then go up against complete strangers in matchmaking. Nine times out of ten it pulls some reasonable opponents, but I've had the odd occasion where I've been matched up with players thirty ranks higher than my own, and believe me when I say that I'm not the biggest fan of getting my ass handed to me on a plate. If you want to make your own online games then you can select from a wealth of modes, including all the FPS favourites like team deathmatch, free for all and flag games, right the way down to the exceptional old school mode that's very much like playing older CoD games, where you find weapons on the ground as opposed to having set weapons governed by your class. With a mode selected you can then tweak little things like points, time and lives. Game customisation is nowhere near as advanced as Halo 3, but the sheer amount of modes available are sure make up for it.

Maps aren't in short supply either - there's a great mix of small, medium and large battlefields to cater for how many players you're playing with - and against. Smaller maps are chaotic on the mode where you have to hold an area, because you spawn pretty much in the heat of a territory war, which always makes for a unique experience. And speaking of unique experiences, it's rare that I get a fantastic online multiplayer game that also makes for some fantastic offline four-player action, but CoD4 doesn't disappoint. I think I'm a little old school in this respect; lots of people seem to have neglected flesh and blood friends for faceless, loud characters online but, note to developers, keep on pumping out great split screen modes, as some of us still like the thrill of a pizza and a bit of warfare! I particularly love it when I get three kills in a row and, as a reward, I'm allowed to call in an airstrike anywhere on the map to blast my buddies to bits, or call in the aid of an uzi-equipped chopper when I get five consecutive kills. The look on their face is a wonder to behold! Offline is pretty much the same as online apart from you don't have to rank up RPG style, so CoD4 is a game that gives in all areas.

All it asks in return is that you listen to it, like you should do with all good women. Listen to the guns firing it you left, right and centre, the screen shaking explosions, the C4 mines everywhere you step, the airstrikes that you hear in the distance at first and louder seconds later as planes of death rain fire in the shrubs you attempt to hide in. Then it goes quiet and all you can hear are footsteps. You look down the scope of your sniper rifle and you notice yourself breathing heavily. Calm down. Your British commander of the SAS calls you over, speaks to you in Cockney slang, his assertive voice is surprisingly inspiring, but you've got no time stand around and listen to him all day, because you can hear the enemies approaching in their 4x4s. Engines purring along the sandy shanty town streets, enemies shouting from the back of their jeeps in a language I don't understand, gibberish words that are used to enquire about my location. Everything comes together in this package - graphics, gameplay, story and sound; never before have I witnessed so much co-operation in the fusion process of these four crucial videogame elements.

There are only little, meaningless things that could be done to improve this masterpiece; Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is nothing short of mind blowing. Like every journalist, every critique, I love to highlight flaws, pick at nits and tear things apart piece by piece - the only flaw I can see in Call of Duty 4 is that it's deprived me of that journalistic pleasure. Single player is a joy to play through time after time, both offline and online multiplayer is a delight that fills most of my evenings now, and everything else between the two - graphics, sound, story, playability, control, features, community - it's all spot on. It's worth every penny - and that means a lot coming from a money-obsessed tight Northerner like me!

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).