Call of Duty: Finest Hour

"One of the most challenging games I've ever played, and a superb WWII shooter"

Let me begin by saying that I enjoy all types of games, whereas most people I know seem to be into the first person shooters and things of that nature. I don't have a problem with FPS games, but I don't play them nearly as much as some people I know do. I heard about Call of Duty from a friend, and I figured that since I didn't have any WWII shooters (never owned a Medal of Honor game as odd as it sounds), I'd give this one a try. What I turned on was a game that would ultimately lead me through all manner of feelings from angry and frustrated to happy when I finally beat a level. With all of that said let's start the review.

Controls 8/10 - The controls were generally very well laid out, and you use every single button on the GameCube controller so it could take you a few levels to get fully used to everything. I like how the health, ammo, gun, and grenade selection is all mapped to the directional pad. It's very handy. The rest of the controls are pretty standard fare with the right trigger button (R button) being used to shoot, L to zoom in, and the two sticks to move and aim.

Graphics 9/10 - Call of Duty has some of the best looking visuals I've seen on the GameCube, and while they are no Resident Evil 4, they are nonetheless very pretty to look at. I have a component cable with a regular flat screen TV so it looks very crisp and clear. With progressive scan on an HD TV I'm sure it looks even better. The explosions and smoke are pretty good, and the animations of your character as well as those of others are pretty good. You can see German troops waving to their comrades when they attempt a flanking manuever of sorts. Additionally, sometimes when you hit a German soldier you'll see him fall down and his gun will go off as he hits the trigger on the way to his death...kinda like something you'd see in the movies. The vehicles and buildings are fairly well detailed, and generally speaking the game as a whole is fun to look at.

Sound 10/10 - Sound can make or break a game like this in my opinion, and in this area the developers did very well. The music is great and sets the mood well, and the sound effects really give you the feeling of being in the middle of a huge battle or firefight. From the sound of the M1 rifle being fired one shot at a time to the rapid fire sounds from the German MP40 to the distincting clang of a nearby grenade when it hits the ground before it blows up, the sound in Call of Duty is something you want to experience, and I like to turn the volume up a good bit when I play although some parts of the levels can get pretty instense.

Gameplay 8/10 - Obviously the most important part of a game this is an area where Call of Duty is almost always top notch although I will go ahead and warn you that in some levels the difficulty level can be downright frustrating. In some levels, health packs and ammo are very frequent, and in others you better hope you never get hit. The best part about this game is that you effectively do three different campaigns...one where you are a Russian soldier, one where you are a British sodier, and one where you are an American soldier. Thus, you get a huge variety of weapons to choose from, and in each campaign you'll probably have a favorite weapon or two. You can even pick up German weapons throughout the game, and sometimes this can be a life saver as their ammo seems to be much more frequent than the ammo for your country's weapons. Another cool thing is that you get to drive tanks in some levels as well as mount machine guns on a jeep in one case and stationary positions in other cases. Anti-aircraft guns are also occasionally there for when you need to fight off German Ju-87 Stuka dive-bombers. The variety of objectives greatly varies from one level to the next. Some levels just have you going through the level until you get to the end while others have you escorting friendly armored vehicles, while others still have you planting bombs in certain places. The action is never dull, and there is always a new trap the Germans have set for you around each and every corner.

Replayability 5/10 - This is probably the only area of the game that really lacks. It's quite a difficult and long game, and you probably won't want to go through it again anytime soon once you beat it. Unfortunately there is no multiplayer mode, so this game is just an experience for you although I think you'll find that friends like to watch from time to time. There's three difficulty levels and beating the game on higher levels of difficulty will unlock a few extras from the main menu....just stuff like concept art and making of video clips.....there's a cheat menu to where you can activate crazy things like ricoheting bullets and characters with large heads (I guess to make headshots easier).

Overall 8/10 - Let me say again this game is very fun, but VERY frustrating. Even on easy (I beat it on Normal), certain levels can seem impossible. The most important things are to take advantage of the fact that you can crouch and to always try and conserve ammo. Above all, BE PATIENT. You will beat the game eventually if you're patient enough. If you want a good WWII shooter, this is a game you should certainly not pass up. It can probably be found for fairly cheap with the recent release of Call of Duty 2: Big Red One anyway. Good luck and happy hunting.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/23/06