Call of Duty

"I want YOU to play this game!"

Call Of Duty is a FPS developed by Infinity Ward and released by Activision. FPSs dealing with WW2 are many, too many if you ask me and most of them aren't even decent. Of course for a new trend to arise, a product must be very popular for others to mimic and one of the games that contributed to the WW2 craze is this, Call Of Duty, one the best FPS games of the year and not only…

Story: 7/10
Presentation: 8/10

The game revolves around the events of World War 2 and more specifically operation overlord, at least in the American campaign. What matters in games like this isn't if the plot is good, since all games have the same plot, what matters is the actual presentation. Call Of Duty has very good presentation and that's one of its strongest points. It has atmosphere and it gets you into the game, making you feel that you are actually fighting in the war. Usually you fight in squads, with troops that behave realistically and not just run towards the enemy, they move one step at a time, follow a leading officer, etc. Generally the game is well directed and you will enjoy the feeling it will give you.

Gameplay: 8.5/10
Replay Value: 6.6/10

In COD you see the war through 3 soldiers of the Allied Forces. First you'll play as an American soldier. The American campaign shows the best features of the games since you attack your enemies in well-organized squads, whose AI is scripted, meaning that they always go “there” and not “over there”, but they won't disappoint you when the fight starts. Even without you they fight well so you can either go first and clear the way for them or defend them from the back! The American missions are very good, realistic and well directed. What I loved in COD was the fact that it wasn't an “IN YOUR FACE” kind of game. Here you have to be always alert, never run towards the enemy and usually shoot from a distance and when it comes to shooting COD is great. Why? Simply because of its small but great innovations in aiming with everything you do in the game affecting your accuracy. If you run, walk, constantly shooting and things like that you can't aim very well something that you can see from your crosshair, which gets larger when your accuracy reduces and smaller when your accuracy increases. Apart from standing still, crouching or going into prone position you can also change into the zoom mode, which brings your weapon close to your eyes and completely on front of you, something that makes you a bit slower in turning around and running but lets you shoot more accurate and feels so damn nice making it another feature that people that have some army experience will love.

Apart from all that zooming and stuff the game is just an FPS, no other special stuff added. Another good thing is the difference between campaigns. The American missions are pure squad work, while the British missions are made for commandos with a lot of hiding and sniping while you are alone and finally the USSR campaign is a again squad based but more, lets say, bigger and louder. One thing that angered me though and that I just have to say is the way they present the 3 forces. The Americans are the brave “brothers” that sacrifice themselves, the British are the smooth operators, never afraid and perfectionists, while the USSR forces are presented as if they are a bunch of peasants turned soldiers, shaking with fear and forced to fight by the whiplashes of their masters!!! Meh, does the word propaganda means anything to you… Anyway apart from that the game is good and has, as I've said excellent atmosphere with bombs falling near you, making you dizzy and semi-deaf for a while just like the real thing!

There are certain parts of the game where you have to fight using some stationary guns and machinery and in some missions you fight with a tank, which for me are the worst missions, completely unrealistic, (one tank destroying 20 German ones), and serves only as a filler in order to make this small game look a bit larger. Another problem is the linear nature of the game. There's usually only one way to reach a certain point making you feel like a train on rails. The Multiplayer, while not bad has some problems. Its fun and all but without something special and with the problem of balance. What I mean is that snipers completely dominated the battlefield resulting in fights where 15 people are snipers and 5 people only carrying machine guns.

Graphics: 9/10
Design: 8.5/10

COD uses the Quake 3 engine and that alone is a great thing. While games of the time, like Return To Castle Wolfenstein where far superior, COD managed to be quite a good-looking game true to the look of a game dealing with WW2. Nicely designed troops and machinery and most of all great level design with the battlefields looking “used”, with buildings half destroyed and wreckage all around. What I loved in COD though where the special effects, especially the explosions that looked almost too real! All in all, World War 2 and generally military aficionados will love the game's overall design.

Sound: 9.6/10
Music: 8.4/10

I could hardly imagine that a game dealing with World War 2 would have techno, heavy metal or hip-hop as its music background, (although I highly recommend hearing Funker Vogt while you play)! Orchestrated music is what suits best for games or movies that have to do with war, especially WW2, but I don't like when all we hear is just a bunch of symphonic themes thrown in just to have some suitable music. Music for me is something more, it has to have “feeling”, atmosphere, it must be able to make you feel what you actually “should” be feeling in various situations of a War. Call Of Duty does that, it doesn't have just some background music to fill the gap, it has good music. Well-orchestrated music that ranges from the typical low tempo “spy” music when you silently try to enter an enemy base to more epical themes, (my favorites), when you desperately try to defend your base while you are outnumbered of when you are close to obliteration of the enemy! Of course the other half of the sound section is the quality of the sound effects that, like the music of the game are great. There is variety in weapon sounds since there are many available kinds of weapons and not only that but they also sound very powerful. I've always complained when weapons in games sound like the ones in the movies. Anyone who has fired with a gun in the army knows that the sound of the simplest of weapons is very powerful and COD respects that so it has the right atmosphere making you feel that you are actually in the game! Finally the rest of the sound effects are very good too, with soldiers behaving as if they are real soldiers that react to what your squad does and generally good ambient sounds like the tanks moving around, planes flying and many more all creating a great war-like feeling.

Positives:
-The ability to “zoom” with all your weapons
-Everything you do affects your accuracy
-Nice atmosphere, draws you into the game
-Very good graphics, especially special effects
-Very good orchestral music, great sound effects

Negatives:
-Very linear and small
-Simple Multiplayer and a bit unbalanced

Also Play:
Call Of Duty (Series)(PC)
Medal Of Honor (Series)(PC)
Return To Castle Wolfenstein (PC)

Overall: 8.2/10

Call Of Duty is a very good game, not perfect as a game but close to perfection for those who love games that have to do with WW2. Its flaws don't prevent it from being a true classic so I highly recommend it to you…

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/21/09

Game Release: Call of Duty (US, 10/29/03)