Call of Duty 2

"It's your Second Call of Duty..."

Call of Duty 2 takes place during the infamous World War 2. You will be put into the shoes of three different men during each phase of the Soviet, British, and American Campaigns. In the Soviet campaign you begin as a Soviet private beginning basic training in preparation for the impending German Attack. The basic training provides you an introduction into the basic controls that will be necessary for you to survive. Your training will be cut short by the quick invasion of the Germans into the area in which you are training. You are then in charge of repelling and mopping up all Germans in the invasion. As you progress through the Soviet campaign the British campaign will be unlocked, while the American campaign can be unlocked in the same fashion with the British campaign.

For most of the missions in the Soviet campaign, you will be charged with repelling and expelling German troops from the streets of several Soviet hotspots. The British campaign will place you primarily in the Northern Africa with the sand and hot weather everywhere around you. During the British campaign you will be tasked with taking control of Africa back from the Germans. The British campaign will give a feel of taking the fight to the Germans while the Soviet campaign gave the expression of fighting at the last stand. The American campaign will provide the offensive flair that most war games are known for. As an American ranger you will be charged with taking a new beach from the heavily fortified and entrenched Germans. The American campaign will give the most intense and prolonged fighting out of any of the campaigns.

Most of the 10 missions that will be broken up by the three campaigns will be based upon foot soldier fighting. During the British campaign you will get the chance to do some different type of fighting. One mission will have you based entirely as part of a tank crew fighting against the Germans armored division. The British campaign will also treat you to a “rail” type shooting situation as you are in a small armored car going through the streets of one of the major cities that will be populated by the Germans. Each campaign has its memorable moments such as the Holding of Point du Hoc, or repelling the massive German counterattack in the Soviet campaign.

The multiplayer does not give anything that you would call outstanding or unique, except for the headquarters mode. In this mode the each time is trying to control and set up a HQ to gain points, while it is the objective of the other team to take out that HQ and start gaining points for themselves. Once, the defending team is wiped out (they can't respawn) the capture area is reset and both teams begin a new battle.

The gameplay is one of the few things that any person who likes to play action games, plays Call of Duty 2 for. The fighting is intense and can be overwhelming at times making you really feel like a part of the battle. The AI is extremely aggressive, and if you are not careful they will be able to surround you and take you out. The AI in houses will continue to spawn, as if the house really is packed full of German troops. The AI also has absolutely no qualms to using grenades in force, but luckily because of the grenade indicator you will be able to run away to fight another day. The weapons that you use are extremely realistic and depending on the situation having the right weapon for the time, will benefit you extremely well. The only qualm with the gameplay is that no matter the weapon you have using the sights will make it almost exactly like a sniper rifle. You will be sitting there from a long distance away and you will be able to pick off a German trooper with one of the most inaccurate machine guns. Despite having the minor flaw with the accuracy at long range, the gameplay is certainly worth talking about.

The graphics in the game are very good in this version. Although some people might argue that you will not be able to play the game without having some lag if you don't have the most recent or fairly recent graphics card. Despite some debate on the graphical superiority, the game can be played on older graphics card. Even with an older graphics card the graphics are extremely nice to look at and the faces on you fellow troops will change from time to time displaying the variety of men that you would be battling with if you would be out in the actual battlefield. The rule of thumb with this and every other game, if you have a beefier graphics card then you will experience a little bit better graphics than the user with the older graphics card.

The sound of the game is by far the best part of the game. The music that queues in at the best time for you to hear it just makes the situation feel that much more tense or that much more relaxing depending on the situation. The sounds of your fellow troopers yelling about being ammo or needing to reload adds a nice little touch to each of the very already intense action. Each of the guys has a very unique sound, so unique that you will sometimes even be able to determine the weapon that the enemy has with them. The sound is flat out exquisite and if you can you should get a decent speaker system just to appreciate the sound that is being put out by this wonderful game.

The value of the game is something that could be debated. The campaign itself is about 15-20 hours depending on how long it takes you to do each of the missions. If you are person who skill and experience in playing the war games you will be more in the 15 and under range. The majority of the time that you will play with the game is the multiplayer. If you are fan of military games and really enjoy playing multiplayer online, this game is definitely for you, even if it does not provide anything that is out the ordinary or special.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/02/05