Difficulty:

Very Hard

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Check your bargain bin"

Call of Duty 2 Review


When the Xbox 360 first launched in 2005, one of its premier launch titles was Call of Duty 2, the sequel to 2003's amazing shooter Call of Duty. This game is much more action packed than the original, and crams a lot out of the Xbox 360. Of all of the titles I have played from the launch of the console, so far, this one is the clear standout and leader of the pack. Call of Duty 2 overall is a terrific shooter, especially since we are looking at things almost six years after its initial release. Although, the game has many problems that are troubling to look at when compared to its PC counterpart.

Call of Duty 2 sticks to the formula of the first game, as this is a first person shooter. It is fast-paced and causes you to make quick decisions almost every second. This is not an easy game, especially when playing on Hardened or Veteran difficulty. When Veteran says that you "will not survive", well, it is pretty serious. Playing on Hardened difficulty is the only way to get the full 1,000 Gamerscore from the game, so achievement lovers like myself would jump right on that. Well, you will spend the majority of your time dying over and over again until you are lucky enough to find that one hole that you can break through and advance to your next objective. This game is not friendly with checkpoints all of the time, so be careful when playing on Hardened or Veteran.

Call of Duty 2 also features a robust multiplayer mode; and let's face it; the online community is a graveyard. Most of the time there will not be a soul playing this game online. The modes that you will find though are standard to the series, such as Capture the Flag, Team Deathmatch, and more.

There isn't much of a story that is worth following in Call of Duty compared to its future successors, but it does get the job done overall. You can read journal entries between missions to help fill you in on each mission, but it is nothing to get too excited about. You do play as three different sides of course in this game from the American, British, and Soviet perspectives. All have a very different atmosphere. Fighting for the Soviets will see you in the snowy cities of Russia; fighting for the British will see mostly the deserts sands of northern Africa, and fighting as the Americans will see most fighting in Europe and Germany. It is a nice change of pace when you switch over from the different factions.

Overall, Call of Duty 2 is nice to look at visually. There are tons of things that I can be picky about, but I will just say that there are tons of glitches when it comes to this game. NPCs getting stuck in cover, texture fade outs, and there were a couple of instances where I fell through the level altogether. These are problems that I was shocked to see overall, but as we know, no game can be truly perfect.

Call of Duty 2 is an excellent shooter. It accomplishes a lot, and keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the campaign. This game may feel a little dated to most, but for its cheap price tag in stores now, it is a great bargain. I mostly consider this a rental nowadays, but some collectors may want to pick this up. The lengthy campaign has quite a bit of replay value depending on how you go about playing each difficulty level. Be forewarned, this game is difficult in a lot of areas, but once you pace yourself, and be patient, you will find an enjoyable and memorable experience from this launch title.

(+,-)

+ Fun campaign
+ Fast-paced gameplay
- Dated Visuals
- Frustrating bugs

(Overall Score) 8.5/10