Call of Duty 2 was a great launch title for the Xbox 360, but the PC version is superior.
The game play in Call of Duty 2 is the same as it was when it was released on the PC. The campaign has the exact same missions and levels and all of the weapons and enemies reappear on the Xbox 360. The only thing that is different is the fact that the controls aren’t the same, obviously, because now we are talking about playing on a console rather than a PC. That being said, the controls are fairly easy to get used to and within an hour of playing everything will feel natural.
The battles are just as intense as they have ever been; you are never fighting alone in this game. There is very little downtime in between battles so it is highly recommended you take a small bathroom break any chance you get, which would only be on the loading screens. Even though you are fighting with a large number of friendly AI, you are still doing most of the work. It feels as if the enemy AI is always smarter than the friendly AI. This can lead to a couple of frustrating moments because you feel that they should have backed you up when they actually let you down. When it comes to your health, Call of Duty 2 mimics Halo 2. After you have taken a couple of shots, you need to find some cover quickly or you are going to die, your health will eventually regenerate. A nice feature about this is that there is no “bar” on the screen to indicate your health. Instead, if you take a couple of hits your screen will start to turn blood red. It’s a nice benefit because it gets rid of the need to go searching for a health bar lying on the ground.
There is one downside that makes the 360 version feel inferior to the PC version, and that’s the multiplayer. On the PC; you were able to have up to 32 people playing at once on a server; on the 360, it’s an 8 player max. It makes the multiplayer feel really scaled back, especially since the fact that the 360 can actually handle 16 players. It’s a wonder why they didn’t set the multiplayer to allow 16 people to play at once. Besides that, all of the maps and game play types are the same.
There is one advantage this game has over the PC version, and that is the graphics. You got to take into consideration on how powerful PC’s were a couple of years ago and compare those to the 360 version. That being said, at the time of release for this game the graphics were slightly better than those on an average PC. Texture quality and detail, not to mention special effects like explosions, all looked better on the 360 than they did on the PC. Its now 2 years later now and average PC’s are capable of running the game better now and surpass the 360 version, but for 2 years ago this version was graphically superior.
Even though the graphics are great, the sound in the game is the best aspect. The sound is what makes the game very intense. When you are fighting in a battle, it actually sounds like that you are fighting in WWII. There is also very great music in the game but sometimes you won't be able to hear it over all of the guns and explosion. The game sounds very real, almost too real. It is simply awesome no matter which version of the game you are playing on.
If you have already played the PC version of Call of Duty 2, like I have, then you aren’t missing out on much. However if you have an Xbox 360 and a low-end PC, this game is a must have. If you are just a genuine shooter, this game is worth playing through at least once. For hardcore shooters who like to play a full blown multiplayer with as many people as possible, the PC version is for you.
Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 10
Sound: 10
Value: 7
Tilt: 8
Average: 8.8