Call of Duty: United Offensive

"Wars not over yet soldier"

What happens when the developer of Return to Castle Wolfenstein (RtCW) get given the job of creating the expansion pack to Call of Duty (CoD)? United Offensive (UO) is what happens and it is a damn fine game. I enjoyed playing both RtCW and UO and have now played both games through twice. If a good game is worth playing and completing once then an excellent game is worth playing twice; that's my motto! In fact, all 3 games mentioned here are excellent and well worth your gaming time and money. True, RtCW is getting old now and the outside levels hurt the eyes but CoD and UO still play well in comparison with many modern shooters.

Introduction - What do we want in a good, well programmed expansion pack? More of the same, and turn the intensity up a notch, that's what we want! Take the best moments from the main game, in this case CoD, and repeat them in creative ways and we will all be happy. Thankfully Grey Matter understand the deal and have served us up a satisfying expansion in all respects. In this case, gamers have won twice as, while Grey Matter were developing UO, Infinity Ward were working on Call of Duty 2, another great game. Thank you Grey Matter and thank you Infinity Ward.

Gameplay - 10 out of 10. Simply a roller-coaster ride from beginning to end. The opening level, set in an exposed snow covered field was a little confusing, but this only established the fact that UO was not going to be a pushover. I played it on regular difficulty and the gameplay was almost a perfect match to my shooting skills. I might well add that there is nothing to be gained in playing any of the CoD games on easy difficulty. Play on the default difficulty, or hardened, and you will be playing the game as it was intended to be played. Scripted events play out regularly and the levels are quite forgiving when it comes to objectives. You can go back and find that extra health pack and load up a few more bullets in your MP 40 and the game waits for you; cool. Sometimes, when the action gets really heated, the best option is to hide and find your bearings. You can even complete a few objectives by taking this (in)action. Recognition indeed that sometimes the best policy is simply to keep your head down and even hide!

Story - 4 out of 10. UO scores slightly worse than CoD did. There really is only the vaguest attempt at a story here and the locations and dates change so much that you wonder where you will be taken to next. Perhaps the story on offer in UO is simply the story of war. War is fought on many and numerous battlefields around the world and here is your pain-free opportunity to see what it is like. Bulls-eye!

Graphics/Sound - 10 out of 10. Top notch throughout. I say this with the proviso being that you understand that engine under the hood is the Quake 3 engine, first released in 1999! By 2004, when UO was released, the Quake 3 engine was 5 years old and definitely old by any standards. That being said, it allowed pretty much everyone to play the CoD games on their old family computers; a good thing for all concerned. Sound was perfectly delivered and the austere classic movie film score simply added to the occasion fantastically. Respect to the sound and graphics teams.

Play Time/Replayability - 9 out of 10. Perhaps as long as CoD, which is good news for those who think that expansions are always light on content; no short measures here. Replay it at least once, I would say. Perhaps play it for third time if you want to challenge yourself (eg. complete certain levels only using rifles, perhaps.) Yes, well worth a second play, if only to enjoy the nostalgia of playing a game you know and enjoy AND have the advantage of knowing roughly how the levels will pan out.

Final Recommendation - 9 out of 10. IMHO, CoD games represent the nearly perfect shooting experience. It might even be THE perfect experience, for how can you compare, say, Half Life 2 with CoD? Not possible, in my book. The mixture of all-out shooting levels with tank missions, and even a superfortress level thrown in for good measure mean that you will never get bored or even stop paying attention to what is going on. I suspect most of us have played both CoD and UO already. If you haven't and you are a shooter (FPS) gamer then get the games downloaded and get in the battle. There's a war to be won, soldier! Corny, I know...

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/11/08

Game Release: Call of Duty: United Offensive (EU, 09/24/04)