Call of Duty 2

"A Sequel That Delivers More Than It's Original"

The original Call of Duty was the game that set the standards for all WWII first-person-shooters. It had extremely fun multiplayer and intense singleplayer. Call of Duty 2 builds on all of this making the game more realistic, intense, visually appealing, and fun.

The one thing that grows old in all WWII games is repeating events. There was no way that Infinity Ward was going to take battles from the original game and put them into Call of Duty 2. Stale and reused battles are what are making WWII a cliche. The Russian campaign was greatly improved by adding more street battles, rubble, snipers, and sneaking through pipes; a lot of things you would have seen in the movie Enemy at the Gates. The British campaign went from Africa then a bit into France which was a nice change after a slew of desert combat. Finally the American campaign, quite possibly the most thrilling and cinematic was a sequence of taking Point Du Hoc, Hill 400, and crossing the Rhine River.

The visuals in Call of Duty 2 are very advanced, but at the same time the game is made to run on low-end systems as well. There has been a lot of talk of how this game requires a very good video card to run, however a decently priced video card can easily run this game with all settings maxed in directX7 mode. Unless your system is ultra powerful and can handle a mass amount of directX9 effects, in the long run directX7 mode will run smoother and look better. The smoke, dust, and rain in all the SP and MP maps make seeing long distances difficult, however make the game a more realistic experience when it comes to vision in the battlefield.

The multiplayer in Call of Duty 2 takes the old gametypes from the original and it's expansion and add them to new maps plus some old favorites remade for this new game. The following old maps from the original Call of Duty were reintroduced for Call of Duty 2: Brecourt, Carentan, Dawnville, and Railyard. Many of the new maps involve fighting in war-torn villages with broken houses and rubble. Although a patch has not been released, Call of Duty 2's multiplayer is great even without any updates and will become an amazing experience when improved by the developers.

Call of Duty 2 is a great game with stunning graphics, balanced and fun multiplayer, intense battles, and accurate combat for those who love realism, however at the same time is fun for any general WWII or FPS fan. It is completely worth anyone's time and money. Call of Duty 2 is rated T for Teen featuring blood, mild language, and violence.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/07/06