Call of Duty 2

"War. A single word sums this game up."

""We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.""
Winston Churchill

I started the review with that quote as not only was it one of the most influential quotes of World War 2, but it describes this game perfectly in those few sentences. Imagine running through the streets of War-torn Russia with only the gun on your back and the rest of your regiment yelling "charge" as an onslaught of Germans rush over the pile of rubble in the distant firing the weapons at you blindly hoping to keep control of the territory that they had gained 2 hours before. You look to the left of you where sniper bullets are taking out your teammates who were in training only a week ago or a mortar has taken out the boxes that you were covering behind. You need to make a snap decision and have to find cover quickly otherwise you will become another statistic in this pointless war. You have 5 minutes until reinforcements arrive; you need to survive. Artillery going off around you. Cries of your teammates that there is an air strike heading into your direction. Bombs begin dropping around you. You hear an optimistic shout pointing at an aircraft, and what's that? It's your colours. The air strike was your reinforcements, and you are saved. Its moments like this that makes Call of Duty 2 so special and set it apart from the rest of the war games out on the market. It actually makes you feel like you are right in the middle of the action.

Call of Duty 2 is probably the most realistic wartime shooter out there, and with the help of their historical advisors it helps to keep the mood of war and the environments looking extremely accurate. I actually felt upset when my teammates who I was looking at and finding out their names suddenly were killed. It made me realise how many people died in this war, and they were people just like you or me. Rarely does a game stir up so much emotion inside someone. Call of Duty 2 does it perfectly. From the moment that your training camp is ambushed to the final battle upon Hill 400, which truly is one of the most dramatic finales I have ever seen in a game.

Call of Duty 2 like the previous game in the series looks absolutely superb throughout. Each character displays emotion on their face and looks different so you are no longer fighting against an entire army of Joe Bloggs but an actual army made up of people from all different walks of life both fat and thin. The environments are actually where the game puts it above others in the graphics department. Each house is individually modelled and the town planned out, looking like an actual town that you could see in France or Egypt back in the 1940's. Everything looks different and suits the country that you are in remarkably. You can make use of the scenery by hopping through windows, over fences or even grabbing the machine gun to use from the window to take out the enemy below. Everything that you expect to be used for cover can be. Try hiding behind a box in the middle of town, or a dead cow in a field. One criticism about the environments though is that some of the greenery looks clumped together, like the bushes. However this isn't too much of an issue during the game, and it is hardly noticeable. The weapons in your hand are remarkably detailed and look exactly like the real counter parts. However I do feel that the weapon in your hand stands out a bit too much due to its brightness, but again this is hardly noticeable. The explosions all around you react perfectly with the scenery causing dust to come up into the air and bodies to go flying in a semi-realistic way. However I have never seen someone being killed by a grenade so I cannot comment on this aspect.

The sound is great in the game. It puts you right in the middle of the war with your teammates shouting to each other for cover, and explosions right over your head and next door to you. Hear the cries of pain and mercy, as you strike down yet another German. The musical score to accompany is marvellous, although not really noticed. I feel this is always a good sign of a game. If you notice the score it stands out too much. The sound being turned off will totally ruin the effect of the game for you. Try replacing it with the cool beats of Flogging Molly and you will see what I mean. My suggestion here as one gamer to another is to go and grab some surround sound speakers and make the most of this game in the sound department.

Not much can be said about the story department, not because it is bad, but because the story was already laid out. The game sticks to this perfectly and chooses the most famous aspects of World War 2, minus the beach landings in Normandy, although an aspect of D-Day is thrown in there. The story is strung together by a series of diary entries from the people that you are playing as and these help to set the mood of the next level.

Finally what really makes and breaks a game, and that is the gameplay department and unfortunately this is where most of the games shortcomings are. As I have already mentioned, every level design is different. However it all boils down to the same type of objectives; clear a house, defend the area etc. Nothing new is added to the War game recipe. Although this is fine as in a game of this type you can't really add extra objectives to a level. Although in the defence of Call of Duty 2 it tries to find new ways to accomplish these objectives in every level. You may be clearing an area at one point and then the next you are ambushed and you find yourself on the back of a truck shooting out the back trying to escape from the German tanks that are now crawling the area. It was at this point I fell in love with the game.

The game is a great length; despite some people saying it is too short. I found it to be a perfect length for an FPS and cover every part of the war in fairly good depth. The levels don't seem incomplete in the story that they tell, although some times you may have the feeling that you don't have a clue what is going on and you may need to consult a guide on the internet to get back on track. However watch your teammates and you shouldn't have too much of a problem. The 2 main difficulty modes; Easy and Veteran seem like too very different games. In easy you can go out all guns blazing although in Veteran you will need to take a more tactical approach as you will go down in 1 or 2 hits.

The multiplayer aspect will extend the length of the game for those who are patient. However last night I was unable to join a game 30 times in a row, and with only 8 people per room I feel the online aspect of the game has not been implemented well enough for the next generation of gaming. However a patch has been promised within the next few weeks.

Overall I would say people should buy this game even though the multiplayer aspect is not totally up to scratch. This game will keep you coming back for more. It will take a very big man to finally put the controller down after a gaming session of Call of Duty 2. I have revisited some of the levels for my veteran achievements and the amount of detail still amazes me. There is a reason why 4/5 people with a 360 own this game. Uncle Sam (or the British Bulldog) says join them today.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/07/06