Introduction – I know this title might sound like a bathroom break to you. No? Well, I don’t know about you but to me Call of Doody reminds me of the toilet. Actually, Call of Duty 2 is the latest installment of developer Infinity Ward in its amazing series.
The only World War II first person shooters I really ever got into were the original Medal of Honor and Medal of Honor Underground on the PS. Those games were great for their times. With each passing year, WWII games kept hitting the market through the Ps2 era, but I was never inclined to play them because they seemed like the same rehashed games. Thus, I was a little skeptical at the first announcement of Call of Duty 2 for the Xbox 360. The thing that really changed my mind was when I experienced the demo at a local retail store. I immediately put it at the top of my wish list for Xbox 360 games. So, on Nov.22, the day I got my Xbox, was also the day I played through all of Call of Duty 2 nonstop.
The gameplay is excellent. It’s fun, entertaining, and challenging. Of course, it is your basic WWII game in that you go around shooting Nazi, but it has some original and fresh touches to the gameplay that keep it from getting dull. It never feels repetitive or monotonous and you’ll find yourself driving a tank, gunning o n a halftrack, sniping from tower. Another aspect I loved is that it feels like a real war. You’ll find yourself trying to take over an enemy stronghold, defending your position, outflanking enemies, and even using teamwork. Which brings me to my next topic. The AI in this game is amazing. It’s the best AI I have ever seen on a console. Your enemies are smart and will group together to actually try and kill you. When they are outnumbered they will hide or find friends. When you throw a grenade at them, they might throw it back at you or simply move out of the way instead of stand there and keep looking at you. The people fighting alongside you also are very smart. They help you by pointing pout enemy positions, killing enemies, and guiding you to victory. The controls are very easy to get used to. No complaints there.
I know, this type of game doesn’t need a good story because we all know what happened in WWII. It still makes for a more compelling game when there is some sort of narrative. All there was in the game were 30 second clips before each mission that were very boring. I liked how MOH and MOHU used narrative in their games. It felt as if you were a person during the war, whose story impacted the outcome of the war. EX. In MOHU, you are a French woman who is working underground with allies to win the France back. Though you do get to be four playable characters, we know very little about them.
Without a doubt, this is the best presentation a game has ever displayed. The graphics are jaw dropping. Every detail rings out authenticity. It feels so much like WWII because of the graphics and sound. Guns, grenades, explosions, shouting; there is so much going on that you actually feel that you are just one person in the middle of a war. Bullets come from all over the place, and it’s great to see allies who call out enemy positions and instructions for you to get through the mission in one piece.
The game takes about 8 hours to beat on regular difficulty. Most people will want to play it again on a harder difficulty setting and playing veteran is just brutal. It takes about 15 hours of dedication to beat it on veteran. But it’s still too short of a game.
If you want to play a good XBOX LIVE game, look elsewhere. The online play is fun for the first few times through, but it has too many holes which keep it from being worth your time. You can’t play ranked matches with friends. There are no stats, and therefore no reason to play ranked matches. No clans or friends lists to keep track of who’s online and ready to play. The lobby is terrible and after each game, you get kicked back out into the lobby. Players CAN’T even host their own games and there are no chatting lobbies.
Even with the bad narrative, low replayability and terrible XBOX Live interface, this game is still worth a buy. Technically, it’s the best console FPS of all time. It may not be as fun as games such as Halo, but it is a much more immersive game.
