The turret mission is, unexpectedly, one of the highlights of Call of Duty 4. You’re shooting from within the safety of an AC-130 gunship, listening to radio chatter about a situation unfolding on the ground below. It’s a sobering commentary on modern warfare: remote, brutal, and efficient. And although the sound and visuals might be described as modest - here are no garish colors or fancy 5.1 subwoofer busting blasts! - this is one of the most vivid interactive presentations of the face of war in the era of CNN and the Internet.

Finally, the stealth mission is a wonderful surprise and a great narrative device. Unlike most stealth missions, it’s not even that aggravating. The annoying bits of Call of Duty 4 don’t come until the very end, at which point you’re relentlessly funneled through the crossfire of a hundred hallways stocked with a thousand bad guys. But at least it all wraps up with a bang to reward you for slogging through that final level. And who knows what the heck is supposed to be going on in that epilogue?

The multiplayer is easily strong enough to be a standalone game. It’s every bit as good as recent multiplayer gems like Quake Wars, Team Fortress 2, and Halo 3. With the arrival of Call of Duty 4, this will be a difficult season for the wallets of gamers who like to go online. At its core, the gameplay is identical to the slick Call of Duty 2. But the real hook is an experience point system that lets you unlock new weapons and special abilities called "perks". You then mix and match these to create your own classes. Perks range from the usual (extra health, extra damage, longer sprinting) to some really inventive tricks like getting in a last shot when you’ve been killed or being invisible to enemy radar scans. An "Old School" mode litters the map with weapons and perks for the taking, which makes for some great Quake style deathmatches. Watch out, Unreal Tournament 3! Call of Duty 4 isn’t afraid of all-out action.

During the course of a match, getting a string of kills will unlock radar scans (presented as unmanned aerial vehicles), air strikes, and a ruthless helicopter that circles the battlefield and guns down enemy players. The maps are tightly constructed and finely detailed, with a wider range of sizes than the previous games. There’s even an included mod that will let you tweak settings and set up variations on the basic gameplay.

Much like they did in Call of Duty 2, the developers at Infinity Ward have set the new standard for scripted cinematic spectacle (the third game, which was a disappointment, was made by another developer). By raising the single-player bar and also including a full-featured multiplayer game with its addictive leveling system, Call of Duty 4 isn’t just a rehash with a number after the title; it’s one of this busy holiday season’s must-have titles.