I won’t even go into the inevitable encounters with online idiots that you are guaranteed to come across. Those would be the racists and the little kids whose voices haven’t cracked and spend most of the match squealing like spanked pigs.

This list is about in-game multiplayer annoyances and the people that use them to maximize the frustration factor for everyone else.

Without further ado…

Number 5 – Idiot reaches level 55 and decides not to enter “prestige mode”…ever

We’ve all experienced it. You get into the lobby, check the rank of everyone in the lobby and notice that 5 players are all at level 55. Ok, so they’re good. Then, you get into the match and they absolutely own you. I’m talking you die almost as instantly as you spawn. They know where you’ll be, they have insane proficiency with every weapon in the game and they let you know it. Clearly, they are “prestige mode” material. Then, after you get your ass handed to you at your meager level 30 rank, they decide to call you out for sucking. Good times. Real cool. Man up and make the game a challenge for yourself by entering “prestige mode.” Pwning noobs doesn’t prove anything to anyone. It only confirms that you are a jackass.

Number 4 – This automatic shotgun will go great with my martyrdom perk!

Again, we’ve all seen it. These players constantly sprint around the map flying into rooms with the finger on the trigger and using about as much skill as it takes to blow up a balloon. Then, when they inevitably die, they drop their grenade (thanks martyrdom perk) and hope that their “tactics” were enough to take someone with them. Bonus jackass points awarded to the players that employ this strategy in tiny maps.

Number 3 – Spawning into an air strike or helicopter attack

Ok, this one can’t be blamed on players, so much as on Infinity Ward. Yes, the attack choppers and the air strikes are a cool idea. However, where the game breaks is when you are playing in a map like “shipment” and a helicopter attack kills everyone and everything. The map is so small that you have no chance of shooting the chopper out of the air before someone else takes you out. The result, non-stop sprinting for cover until the chopper is gone. The frustration: in a map as small as “shipment” you can bet those choppers will be out for almost the entire game as elite players rack up 7 kills over and over and over. Spawning into random chopper fire “hilarity” ensues.

Number 2 – Hey, I have 3 frag grenades, I better use them all within 2 seconds of respawning

You can bet that almost as soon as players reach the level to unlock these babies they will be clipping an extra 2 frags to their belts. And why not? You can throw a grenade anywhere and some sucker almost always accidentally stumbles into it. I wish COD 4 kept stats on how you get killed. Was it a sniper rifle? Was it a handgun? Or was it another damn grenade. I spend most of my time navigating the minefield of grenades, especially in smaller maps.

Number 1 – Juggernaut, the second chance for those who can’t get the job done without it

This was easy. Who hasn’t shot a player point blank in the chest after getting the drop on them, only to have them suddenly realize you are there and somehow kill you instead. It happens every game. Its happened to me. Its happened to you. It will happen again. Juggernaut is like the perk for players that accept the fact they need need a handicap to compete online. I have simply lost count of the number of times I’ve heard players scream into their headsets when they get killed by a player with this perk. It happens every game.

Phew. Well that’s it. I know there are other things in there that annoy people so if I’ve missed your personal pet peeve let me know in the comments section.

Now that I’ve got that off my chest, I’m heading back online. Because lets face it, despite these annoyances, Call of Duty 4 is damn fun. Thanks Infinity Ward!