As I'm sure many of you are aware, I have been unable to play COD4 multiplayer on Xbox Live due to the "Create-A-Class data corruption" issue that has been haunting about 2% of Xbox 360 players since the game's launch.

The long-awaited patch that finally came this weekend fixed it. Or did it?

So I joined up on some games of Free for All death matches, figuring I'd get to a Level 4 and then change my weapons. Level 4 came after two or three games. I then went to "Create-A-Class" and found out the true meaning of data corruption. "Hmmm," I thought to myself, "If the data wasn't corrupted before, it sure the hell is now!" Both primary and secondary weapons on all 5 slots were set to "M-9", and none of the weapons nor perks were unlocked. Read: I cannot create custom classes w/ different weapons/perks. I can only use the default "Assault", "Heavy Gunner", etc.

I found no mention of the "Create-A-Class" phenomenon in the official patch release announcement from fourzerotwo on InfinityWard's website:

http://www.infinityward.com/community/forum/index.php?topic=20255.0

Hey Everyone –

Just as I called it, the Xbox 360 patch for Call of Duty 4 passed certification by the weekend, and started hitting consoles near you this morning. For those of you wondering what’s been changed, a full list of the newness is:

New Kill Cams - Everything that can kill you has a Kill Cam now. Grenades, Airstrikes, Claymores, C4, M203 Rounds, RPGs, anything. So jump online, get owned alittle and check them out. They’re awesome, especially Grenades and M203 shots that go across the map and through a window.

Host Migration - Host migration was added, so now when the host leaves you won’t get dropped back to your own lobby by yourself. Everyone will stay together. Host Leaves, everyone returns to lobby, selects next best host, and the game starts up again. No more re-inviting, re-partying up because a host ended the game.

Improved Sniper Accuracy - The Sniper rifle accuracy has been improved. No more, WTF? shots now. Your cross hair will be a better representation of where your shot will ultimately land. Try out a sniper class today, let us know how the new accuracy feels.

Improved ACOG Scope Accuracy - ACOG scopes accuracy on any weapon has been improved. Test it out, throw it on one of your classes and give it a go.

Upgraded Spectator Cam - Now when you’re a spectator you have the option to follow in 3rd person or 1st person. As well as rotate 360 degrees around the player you’re watching. Next time you’re dead in Search and Destroy and just watching your team mates do stuff you know you can do better, now do it in 1st person or rotate around them.

Quick Mute Option - Now you can easily and quickly mute players in-game or in-lobby without ever going through the Xbox Live blades. Just go to their gamertag on screen and hit ‘A’ to quick mute in lobby, or via the in-game scoreboard if playing. Quick. Easy. Salvation!

In addition to these feature additions there will also be:

Improved Network Performance For Larger Games - 18 player games now require more bandwidth to host, resulting in smoother performance for players.

Optimized Server Selection for First Match - Server selection is now optimized to select best bandwidth servers associated by LSP.

Fixed “Playlist Older Than Host” Error - Player will no longer get this error when entering games.

Additional Start Spawn Locations in All Maps - Added a minimum of 9 extra start spawns on each side of all maps.

Jump online, test out the new kill cams and features, and as always let me know what you think. We’re also going to be playing around with new playlists in the near future so I’ll keep you updated on those changes as they come.

Head over to the blog to comment further or for more / future updates: http://www.fourzerotwo.com