Call of Duty 2

"Another great WWII shooter"

Call of Duty is a first person shooter that takes place during World War 2. It was developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision and Aspyr. It was released on October 25, 2005.

Graphics - 9/10
The graphics in the game are great but like most new PC games you need a high end computer to get the best out of it. The levels are decently detailed and you'll rarely have any deja vu attacks. The character and gun models look pretty good but could be improved on. The snow, smoke and fog effects are done very well.

Sound - 9/10
Infinity Ward outdid themselves in this department. Voice acting is great, not to mention theres a bunch of it. Your allies will often shout out commands or tell you where the enemy is. The enemy also does this but unless you know German, you won't be able to understand them. Guns sound very realistic and you almost feel like you're really shooting it. Tanks and airplanes sound spot on. Hearing a tank crush through a wall and shoot at you is seriously awesome.

Gameplay - 7/10
The gameplay is simple, much like any FPS. Aim and click. However this game is almost impossible unless you have some cover. Most of the time you'll find you and your squad taking cover and shooting the enemy, moving up a little bit and repeat. This gets very repetitive but the games atmosphere helps to balance this out. The A.I. is pretty great to. Nothing feels more overwhelming when you're getting sprayed at, having grenades tossed in your direction and seeing your allies fall, one after another.

For some reason this game does not have a health bar or anything. Instead you can take an infinite amount of damage in the level. Now you're probably asking yourself "so I cant die? Screw this game" but hold on there sonny jim. If you take a bunch of damage in a short amount of time, you will die. If you are near death the screen turns red around the side and your guy starts breathing heavily. When this happens it is advised to take cover and let your health regenerate. After that you're good to go. This kind of thing makes and brakes the game. Its better then seeing a bunch a health packs laying around but at the same time, it makes the game very easy.

Story - 8/10
In the first campaign you play as Vasili Ivanovich Koslov through the years of 1941-1943. Vasili's family was killed by some heavy German artillery so he joined up with the Red Army. The first mission, which is also a training mission is the battle of Moscow. A year later Vasili finds himself fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad for almost 3 months, which leads into 1943. There, the Red Army takes control of the city hall, ending the Russian campaign.

The second campaign lets you play as a British soldier named John Davis from 1942 through 1944. John is fighting in the second battle of El Alamein for a few months, then the battle of Tunisia, and finally the battle of Normandy. In between level one and three, you play as another British soldier named David Welsh and you are a tank commander. Theres only 2 levels, and both of those you drive a tank around and shoot enemy tanks which is pretty fun...too bad theres only 2 levels.

The 3rd and last campaign you play as Corporal Bill Taylor and you fight from the years of 1944 through 1945. The first level has you fighting in D-Day, like pretty much every WW2 game. This one is different though because instead of fighting at Omaha beach, you fight at Pointe du Hoc which is just 4 miles away from Omaha. The 2nd mission takes place at Hurtgen Forest and Hill 400. The final mission is at the Rhine River and is one hell of a good battle.

Replay Value - 7/10
The single player game rules. Its fun and some missions are pretty hard plus the atmosphere is wonderful. Single player only takes about 10 to 15 hours to complete but as the difficultly goes up, so does the time. Then theres multiplayer. When you join a map you can pick one of the 3 races you played in the campaign mode (Soviet, British, American) and even your enemy, the Germans. Theres a bunch of modes too, such as Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Search And Destroy and Team Deathmatch.

Final Thought - 8/10
Call of Duty 2 is definitely worth checking out if you have a good enough computer to run it. Single player kicks ass, multiplayer rules and its just an all around great game. It's still 40 bucks but thats definitely worth it. If you're a fan of WW2 type games then I highly suggest this one.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/02/06