Call of Duty 2

"Arguably the best game in the entire Call of Duty Franchise!!!!"

Call of Duty 2 is a team based World War II first person shooter. And although we have seen a lot of World War II shooters, this is arguably the best one of them all. This game was developed by Infinity Ward, and released for the Xbox 360 and the PC simultaneously, and even after a year of this games release it is not only one of the best games on the system, but also one of the most widely played game on Xbox Live. Call of Duty 2 does what many world war 2 shooters have failed to do, it puts all the goods things from past games, and a couple of new extras and come up with just a superb game.

This game by far exceeds what many games before have failed to do; it truly captures the war, and shows the bloody intensity of battle. The intensity of the game is by far its most valuable aspect. This is by far one of the only games very to show such realisations and aggression. Imagine getting shot from all corners, and when you are hit, your vision get blurry, your speed decreases, your breathing gets hard, and yet like in all wars you push forward, it s everything or nothing! This is the kind of stuff that you can expect from such a game. Furthermore the difficulty of this game is also very rewarding. The game may not be very hard on the first two difficulties but putting this game on Hardened or Veteran is a true test of your skills, and a very rewarding process. You will find yourself pushing for that top difficulty, not only to obtain the achievements but also because it grows addictive and you won't rest until you have defeated and conquered the game!

Graphics: 8/10

Although this may seem as a low score after having told you all the good things about this game, it is still a very good score. The graphics in this game are very good, but they could have been better. If you have not yet played many games on the Xbox 360, then you will find that the graphics on this game are very, very, very good, but compared to the next-gen power of the Xbox 360, the graphics can be pushed a lot more. The character models are very accurate, the face, and the hands, they look like “real” people. You will see the tanks, the planes, the ships, and the men charging against the enemy on D-Day, and you will find very impressive models, and battles, just outstanding graphics. This score relates more to the game compared to the Xbox 360, and not alone. If there game stood alone then the graphics score would have been a lot higher, because they are very bright, and detailed graphics.

Sound and “Intensity”: 10/10

I grouped the sound and intensity in this game together because they are kind of related, and they both help each other give this game what it is. These are by far the best aspects of the entire game. They are probably the only reasons that the game is this good. The sound and the intensity are so “real” and accurate that they will make you feel like you are in a real war, and fighting in actual places where the real battle took place. Time and time again I have had people ask me whether I was watching a movie while I was playing this game, because the developers have captured the action and delivered it so well that you won't believe how good and realistic the game play is. Imagine you running on a battlefield getting shot from all direction, smoke grenades everywhere, men falling and dying, you charging ahead and by passing machine guns, rockets, and planes dropping bombs, these are things that are very common in this game, and this is that kind of game play that one should expect from this game, and it goes beyond many expectations and even delivers more that it promises!

Game play: 9/10

Like I mentioned before the graphics and the sound along with the highly realistic intensity are all ingredients to create a superb game with exceptional game play. You will find your self going back to this game and playing it over and over again on the harder difficulties because the game has been structured so well. The AI in this game is very, very good and responds very realistically to your actions. They will throw grenades, and retreat if they find that you are closing in, they will take cover behind crates, rocks, basically anything, they will rush you and push you to your limits to achieve victory. On the other hand your Ai also works very well, they will and you, and rush in front of you provide cover and tell you what to do and where to go. Unlike other games you may have to depend on your allies and not the other way around. They work very well, and can achieve many tasks that in other games you may find that only the main character can do. But wait, does this mean the game is too easy, of course not. This is by far one of the hardest games ever on the Xbox 360. On the Veteran difficulty all you get is two hits before you die, so just running in into enemy head quarters does not always get you victory. Furthermore, the enemies on Veteran will re-spawn infinitely until you suppress them so you have to use a lot of strategic though and skill you get past that difficulty. But even after dying and restarting many, many times on veteran, when you finally do beat it on Veteran there is not better feeling in the world, you actually feel like you have accomplished something!!!!

Multi player and Replay value: 9/10

I just told you all these nice things about these games, but it would not be a game if you could not share this experience with your friends, you can play an array of levels and maps on multi player, and this will keep you coming back for many, many, many weeks, if not months.

The bottom line is that this is by far one of the best games every made in the entire Call of Duty franchise, and it is a must buy for anyone who is planning or already own an Xbox 360. As a matter of fact this game is so good, that it may even persuade you to buy the system if you are still on the odds fro buying this system. Call of Duty 2 is just a fantastic game altogether.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/28/06