I wrote this review after beating the game on Veteran in December. I let it sit for a while in my Documents, and just recently decided to share it. Because of this, you may notice that my description of the multiplayer via xbox live is outdated.
Tell me what you guys think. Good read or no?
Call of Duty 2 Review
Back in 2003, an unknown developer by the name of Infinity Ward released a World War 2 themed first-person shooter with introduced squad-based elements. The name of this game was Call of Duty. An instant hit, Call of Duty presented gamers with both realism and animation not seen in competing titles. Mind blowing, scripted events within the game made for a truly cinematic experience. Needless to say, Call of Duty was the recipient of numerous "game of the year" awards in 2003. A sequel was inevitable...
Sure enough, two years later Infinity Ward reveals Call of Duty 2 for both the PC and Xbox 360 platforms. Read on to see how well Call of Duty 2 stacks up to the "world scale" expectations created by it's predecessor.
Gameplay 9.0
Everything that made Call of Duty for the PC great remains unchanged in Call of Duty 2. Within the single player campaign, players experience the war on all fronts - though the eyes of Russian, British and American troops. Missions are separated by actual video clips of the time, made possible by the Military Channel. In addition, objectives that must be met within the missions are varied extremely well. For example, in one instance players may be repairing Russian communication lines and next planting sticky bombs on a tank then finally fending off waves of oncoming German soldiers.
Action is fierce and nonstop, however do not expect to be able to run and gun like Rambo of sorts. Call of Duty 2 implements a health system that is similar to the shield system used in the Halo series. If shot, the screen will fill with a red haze. If players continue to take fire the red haze will become thicker until the cold grip of death takes hold. It is a wise move to find cover immediately after being shot at, simply wait for the red haze to pass, and then proceed with the objective. Although, if your style is that of the running and gunning kamikaze, there are numerous checkpoints found throughout levels, so that once you die, (and you will) you will respawn back at the most recent checkpoint. This nice feature also eliminates the need for a quick save.
The most noticeable innovation made by Call of Duty 2 is the use of smoke as cover. At the beginning of every mission, players are given roughly four smoke grenades. Smoke grenades are extremely useful and in some cases almost necessary in order to pass certain areas; however, they are also very hard to come by - creating a very fitting balance for such and effective tool.
For the hardcore gamers, especially those who feel the need to squeeze out all the life a game has to offer, expect to experience frustration that no other first-person shooter has offered in quite some time. Veteran mode, the most challenging difficulty setting Call of Duty 2 works to make the experience as realistic as possible by only allowing the player to absorb only one to two shots before dying. Checkpoints will become a very good friend because death will literally follow you around every corner.
Call of Duty 2 offers a decent multiplayer experience. The game delivers the basic multiplayer game types: deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, and headquarters. There are also plenty of very well thought-out maps to play across. The only real problem is with Xbox Live. There is an absence of an effective lobby system and it seems that lag is almost expected in any 4 on 4 games. Once in a good, stable game however, the experience is almost always an enjoyable one.
Design 8.5
Graphically, Call of Duty 2 is very pretty. Textures appear how you would expect them to. Fragmentation grenades throw up wonderful bursts of snow, dirt, sand, etc. Smoke grenades emit a truly atmospheric smoke shield that bellows and expands as how smoke would characteristically do. It is safe to say that Call of Duty does the Xbox 360 justice as a next generation console system.
Audio wise, Call of Duty 2 leaves a little to be desired. I am not talking about the effects of the guns, environment, explosions, etc. all of those are in place and sound great as they should. It becomes apparent, after spending some time with the game, that the squad members are constantly repeating themselves. For example, when playing through the Russian campaign it is not uncommon to hear you squad mates scream out "potato masher!" signaling the unwelcome presence of a German stick grenade. Another instance can be seen when playing through the British campaign, it seems as though every statement made by squad mates includes their nickname for German soldier's, "Jerrys". I understand that the term was most likely widely used in combat at the time but that is literally all that comes out of the British troops. Where's the variety?
Everything else about Call of Duty 2 is polished very nicely. Like previously mentioned the missions are set up in such a way that it keeps the action varied while not altering the core gameplay.
Story
The battles that take place within Call of Duty 2 are all based around actual events of the war. With that said, the stories of the 3 different soldiers are advanced by dialogue that is displayed during load screens before every mission. It may not seem very effective, but it works.
Overall 9.0
Infinity Ward does it again, improving upon almost every aspect of the original Call of Duty. Call of Duty 2 offers a single-player experience that will take you back 64 years during the times of the second great war, an experience that should not be missed by Xbox 360 owners and capable PC owners alike.
Tell me what you guys think. Good read or no?
Call of Duty 2 Review
Back in 2003, an unknown developer by the name of Infinity Ward released a World War 2 themed first-person shooter with introduced squad-based elements. The name of this game was Call of Duty. An instant hit, Call of Duty presented gamers with both realism and animation not seen in competing titles. Mind blowing, scripted events within the game made for a truly cinematic experience. Needless to say, Call of Duty was the recipient of numerous "game of the year" awards in 2003. A sequel was inevitable...
Sure enough, two years later Infinity Ward reveals Call of Duty 2 for both the PC and Xbox 360 platforms. Read on to see how well Call of Duty 2 stacks up to the "world scale" expectations created by it's predecessor.
Gameplay 9.0
Everything that made Call of Duty for the PC great remains unchanged in Call of Duty 2. Within the single player campaign, players experience the war on all fronts - though the eyes of Russian, British and American troops. Missions are separated by actual video clips of the time, made possible by the Military Channel. In addition, objectives that must be met within the missions are varied extremely well. For example, in one instance players may be repairing Russian communication lines and next planting sticky bombs on a tank then finally fending off waves of oncoming German soldiers.
Action is fierce and nonstop, however do not expect to be able to run and gun like Rambo of sorts. Call of Duty 2 implements a health system that is similar to the shield system used in the Halo series. If shot, the screen will fill with a red haze. If players continue to take fire the red haze will become thicker until the cold grip of death takes hold. It is a wise move to find cover immediately after being shot at, simply wait for the red haze to pass, and then proceed with the objective. Although, if your style is that of the running and gunning kamikaze, there are numerous checkpoints found throughout levels, so that once you die, (and you will) you will respawn back at the most recent checkpoint. This nice feature also eliminates the need for a quick save.
The most noticeable innovation made by Call of Duty 2 is the use of smoke as cover. At the beginning of every mission, players are given roughly four smoke grenades. Smoke grenades are extremely useful and in some cases almost necessary in order to pass certain areas; however, they are also very hard to come by - creating a very fitting balance for such and effective tool.
For the hardcore gamers, especially those who feel the need to squeeze out all the life a game has to offer, expect to experience frustration that no other first-person shooter has offered in quite some time. Veteran mode, the most challenging difficulty setting Call of Duty 2 works to make the experience as realistic as possible by only allowing the player to absorb only one to two shots before dying. Checkpoints will become a very good friend because death will literally follow you around every corner.
Call of Duty 2 offers a decent multiplayer experience. The game delivers the basic multiplayer game types: deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, and headquarters. There are also plenty of very well thought-out maps to play across. The only real problem is with Xbox Live. There is an absence of an effective lobby system and it seems that lag is almost expected in any 4 on 4 games. Once in a good, stable game however, the experience is almost always an enjoyable one.
Design 8.5
Graphically, Call of Duty 2 is very pretty. Textures appear how you would expect them to. Fragmentation grenades throw up wonderful bursts of snow, dirt, sand, etc. Smoke grenades emit a truly atmospheric smoke shield that bellows and expands as how smoke would characteristically do. It is safe to say that Call of Duty does the Xbox 360 justice as a next generation console system.
Audio wise, Call of Duty 2 leaves a little to be desired. I am not talking about the effects of the guns, environment, explosions, etc. all of those are in place and sound great as they should. It becomes apparent, after spending some time with the game, that the squad members are constantly repeating themselves. For example, when playing through the Russian campaign it is not uncommon to hear you squad mates scream out "potato masher!" signaling the unwelcome presence of a German stick grenade. Another instance can be seen when playing through the British campaign, it seems as though every statement made by squad mates includes their nickname for German soldier's, "Jerrys". I understand that the term was most likely widely used in combat at the time but that is literally all that comes out of the British troops. Where's the variety?
Everything else about Call of Duty 2 is polished very nicely. Like previously mentioned the missions are set up in such a way that it keeps the action varied while not altering the core gameplay.
Story
The battles that take place within Call of Duty 2 are all based around actual events of the war. With that said, the stories of the 3 different soldiers are advanced by dialogue that is displayed during load screens before every mission. It may not seem very effective, but it works.
Overall 9.0
Infinity Ward does it again, improving upon almost every aspect of the original Call of Duty. Call of Duty 2 offers a single-player experience that will take you back 64 years during the times of the second great war, an experience that should not be missed by Xbox 360 owners and capable PC owners alike.
