The game tries hard to draw you into the game world, but unfortunately it fails to engage the mind, and you're faced with too much thoughtless shooting action.

Call of Duty is one of the big names in World War II first-person shooters. Unlike some of the competition, the original Call of Duty focused on tightly scripted scenes to give a fantastically theatrical view of World War II.



Like its predecessor, the GameCube sequel “Call of Duty 2: Big Red One” is highly scripted. However, this game takes it to a new level. You are told exactly where to go, and straying from the preset path does you no good, as you will not find anything else to do.



Most of the foot levels followed a distinct pattern: you meet up with your squadmates, who lead you into an area filled with enemies. You kill finish them off and then meet up with your squad at the next door. Repeat ad nauseum. Although these skirmishes are enjoyable, it would have been nice to have some level of freedom.



I do give Activision credit, though, for giving the player lots of variety. Over the course of the first few missions, I participated in foot combat, shot down planes with an anti-air gun, piloted a tank, and took out a few panzers with a bazooka. However, even these additional gameplay styles don’t stop the game from getting boring fairly quickly, as these are also as straight-forward as can be.



For example, in the segment of the third mission where you were supposed to take out German tanks with bazookas, the objective screen read “blow up the Panzers with the bazooka”. A teammate shouted something about blasting the tanks away with the bazooka. The tanks appear on your radar, and then start attacking you. The game traps you into a small area, so you can’t progress forward until you’ve accomplished the task.



Don’t get me wrong, though. When you’re in the heat of battle, the game is fun. There’s no shortage of enemies, and it is a pleasure to wipe them out with your teammates. It is just that I found the game mindless. it was all point-and-shoot, no thinking involved.



Call of Duty 2: Big Red One tries really hard to draw you into the game world. In between levels, there are 40s-style propaganda videos designed to prep you for the next level. Each of your teammates has a distinct personality, and it is fun to hear the banter between them. Unfortunately, the game still often fails to describe why you’re going off and fighting where you are.

Each of the game’s missions will last you about an hour. Although there are many checkpoints within the levels to respawn from if you die, I would have liked the chance to save throughout the level. If you’ve been playing for forty-five minutes and have to go, the next time you start playing you’ll have to return to the beginning of that level.



Call of Duty 2: Big Red One looks and sounds fantastic. The first thing that strikes you about the game when you start the first mission is that there is a LOT going on. Most of the time, there is a full-blown war going on around you. In the opening sequence, you have to run through a battlefield until you can find cover and regroup with your squad. Gunshots whiz through the air, soldiers scream, and bombs explode, sending shrapnel and bits of terrain through the air. And despite all of this intensive action, I never once witnessed any slowdown or decreased frame rate.



Unfortunately, the GameCube version of the title did not include any multiplayer features, although I am told that the versions for Xbox and PS2 include online play.



All in all, I found Call of Duty 2: Big Red One to be enjoyable in short spurts. If played for too long, I found the game to be rather tedious and repetitive, but in short busts (about one mission per seating, I would say) the game can provide fun.

Review by Michael Walker.