The must have shooter for the launch of the Xbox 360!

Infinity Ward is at it again; they have released another near perfect World War II first-person shooter and it should sell like hotcakes all over again. The passion and dedication of Infinity War was certainly clear when they introduced the original back in 2003, does the sequel show the same exertion?

Call of Duty 2 is exactly the type of game that any console needs for its launch. Infinity Ward throws the player right into the action at every single moment. I felt the need to protect every single member of my squad as I took the fight to German Nazis aggressively. Unfortunately, it isn’t the complete package; the online multiplayer needed to have work done to create a more appealing experience.



The story has the ‘oh so familiar’ feel to it because of course it’s World War II. You’ll be in the role of the Allies fighting off the Axis all over again. Increasing in difficulty as the game progresses, the Russians are the first campaign you’re pitted in the role of. Russian missions occur on their own homeland; Stalingrad and Moscow here we come! After taking it to the Nazis at every turn, the British campaign is up next. Several of the British missions take place in North Africa, so be prepared for desert action. The last few missions for Call of Duty 2 come about to Europe for the D-Day landing. Fighting as the Americans, the best action is within these battles that I realized I wanted additional warfare. Unfortunately, there is only ten missions to play through but it’s safe to say that the single player is the best World War 2 FPS I have ever played.



The first thing I suggest players do is to ante up the difficulty. Playing through it on Veteran yields the highest replay value and even rewards. The rewards not only include smarter enemy A.I. but completing the missions on Veteran unlocks achievements online to brag up to your fragging friends. It will take 8-12 hours to complete on the normal difficulty which is why I recommend playing every mission on Veteran. The harder difficulties feel as if Infinity Ward intended for the game to be played that way.

The A.I. is all around good while playing on the normal difficulty. Both the enemy’s and squad’s A.I. is top notch so there are no worries on it being equal on both sides. The enemies will advance towards your position if you give it away with a misfired shot. Your squad mates will flank the opposition from behind and mow them down with a machine gun. Both will throw grenades precisely to flush each other out for an easy kill. The comprehension level is at it’s highest for both side’s intelligence on how to battle each other.



For dramatic changes between the original and the sequel, there are a few that stick out like a sore thumb. You’ll notice right away that there is no health bar. The health bar has been removed in favor of a more realistic approach to war. You wouldn’t just run out into the field with guns a blazing in real life and Call of Duty 2 easily discourages you to do that with the new system it has. Two shots will easily put down your soldier if you aren’t careful. One carefully placed shot will kill you instantly. What does the removal of the health bar add? Realism! If you are shot, the screen will blink red and you’ll begin to notice that you breathe heavier and run slower. During this time, you’ll want to find cover to guarantee safety. If you were to be shot one more time, that means the end of the mission and you have to start over at the checkpoint.



Is this a huge difference between the first Call of Duty? For me it is; no longer did I have to hunt down health packs and trek back through the levels for more health. Some may cry fowl as it could be a deciding factor of how the game is played. No longer will you have the advantage of health over your enemies but it will be more on your tactics of hit and run. If you don’t know what I mean, just take a look at the Halo to Halo 2 transition. In Halo 1, the health was a big part of strategies as you had to find the packs to insure that your death wasn’t inevitable. In Halo 2 though, if you take a few hits, just run away and you’ll shield will recharge again as if there was no harm done.



Back on track though, does Call of Duty 2 feel like a game more for wimps? With the factor of being able to run away after exchanging blows with your nemesis, there has to be wishy-washy methods that people are taking to avoid combat, right? That’s correct; often times you’ll find that it is easier to run away and recoup while you think of a better plan. Sure it’s cheap but it’s more logical and close to a real life plan. You wouldn’t just stand up and fire away hoping that a stray shot hits a sniper. I would much rather to flank them out of their favorite spot than honing up and hoping for the best.

What else is new? Let’s see… the smoke grenades! Not technically new but they play a huge part in the game now. Throwing a smoke grenade will help advance your troops on the battlefield without heavy resistance. What’s even better about the smoke grenades is running through the smoke cloud you have created. During one instance, I was blazing through the cloud ready to unload on an unexpected Nazi but what I found was the blunt end of a gun as I was hit hard without any caution. I thought I was on the upper hand but rather the enemies were advancing through the smoke cloud too and ready to take it to my squad.



Is the multiplayer still top notch? Well, have no fear; Call of Duty 2 is solid but needs tinkering. Still offering the standard deathmatch modes (team deathmatch included), capture-the-flag modes and the search-and-destroy modes, Call of Duty 2 does happen introduce a new mode. The mode is named headquarters and is among the best additions in the sequel. Headquarters is similar to what Battlefield 1942 offers where you capture a particular point on the map and can spawn from there the next time you die. There’s more to the mode though than I first anticipated.

There are only two points on the map that you must try and capture. You must set up your headquarters at one of those bases to gain points that increase over time. Only one base can be set up at a time and once you set up your base, you’ll no longer be able to respawn until your HQ is overrun and two new capture points are on the map again. The Headquarters mode is fantastic and the strategies for this are going to be varied for every team. I recommend you play this first as you’ll be addicted immediately to Call of Duty 2 afterwards.

What Call of Duty 2 lacks for Xbox Live is lobbies Halo 2-esque. After a match, you’ll be sent to the front screen to pick Ranked or Player Match. Player matches aren’t ranked and you can invite your friends into the match. When playing with six or more players, you will encounter some lag problems mostly due to the host of the match.



You can tell the host of the match easily since the ping will be “0” for them. If the host isn’t on a good connection, be prepared for lag that will not lessen until someone drops. If someone is in the process of dropping, it will begin to lag also. They could have added some online achievements to reward you for how many kills you could amount in one match and how many headshots you are able to snipe with. Those little things aren’t something that drags down the game, just something that the developers can look towards in the future. 1000 points can be added for your GamerScore completing all the achievements for Call of Duty 2, so that’s a hefty amount if you are looking to increase your GamerScore online.

I am sure some are curious how the graphics turned out for the Xbox 360 version and I must say it doesn’t disappoint. The smoke effects are the biggest element that stands out in my mind. You get the sense that you are lost at times within this smoke cloud and have no idea of the objects in front of you until they run right up to you and smack you with the back of their gun (happened more than one time I must admit). All the explosions excel and prove to use the Xbox 360 graphics raw power when compared to the PC version. This isn’t a step down at all; it runs smoothly and is at times better than its PC brethren. The PC version had a few complications with the frame rate and on the Xbox 360 version, I encountered none. The environments (indoor and outdoor) all scream for you to search through them all and see the effort put forth to create this fantastic game.



The sound does even a better job than the graphics. This is expected though since Call of Duty 1’s sound was of the award-winning caliber. To go along with the beautiful special effects is sound to every one of them. The sound increases how much it really feels like you are doing something important within this gigantic war. The score is great as it peaks at the right moments to heighten the excitement.

This is the game you’ll want to buy to wow your friends. I have Perfect Dark Zero and it just isn’t cutting it to keep my friend’s attention. They wanted something realistic and Call of Duty 2 is giving it to them. Experiencing the game in full surround sound and on an HDTV; that’s the experience that everyone needs to have for their first Xbox 360 moment. I have heard comments such as “that sounds so real, like they are firing their gun right behind you” to “I can feel their heartbeat”. What they mean by feeling their heartbeat is when you are sniping; you can press the left thumbstick in to hold your breath for a better shot. It helps tremendously that when you are sniping, breathing will affect how steady you hold your gun.



Call of Duty 2 may not feel like a brand new experience if you have played the original but I am confident that it will fit perfectly into your Xbox 360 launch plans if you want a realistic first-person shooter. It allows up to eight player on Xbox Live and sixteen players on System Link. If you do happen to have Xbox Live (which I hope every Xbox 360 owner at least attempts to get), go immediately to the ‘headquarters’ mode and play that to death. I will be there waiting for some new opponents. Until then, look at the fantastic screenshots and picture yourself running through the smoke as you hunt down Nazis.

Review by Dakota Grabowski.