A great console version to one of the best PC first-person shooters.
User Rating: 9 | Call of Duty: Finest Hour XBOX
Many people have played the first Call of Duty for the PC. It was a great game, and was recognized as one of the best first-person shooters for the PC. Now Call of Duty: Finest Hour has come along. It is a new Call of Duty, just for the consoles. Now a lot of people may be saying to themselves that they’re getting tired of all of the World War II games coming out. But you’ll have to just ignore all of that because you will not be disappointed with Call of Duty: Finest Hour. Even thought it doesn’t match up great to the PC version, it is still an amazing first-person shooter experience. In Call of Duty: Finest Hour you get to pick from three different nations, just like in the PC version of the game. You will be able to play the game as the Russians, the British, and the Americans. Each nation offers a different story and perspective. Each of the three will be fighting different enemies, and will have different and unique characters. Each of the stories for the different nations is good, and does a good job of telling the story of World War II. In Call of Duty: Finest Hour there is great gameplay. You will get to use various weapons that are just like ones in real life. You will be able to carry weaponry like the Kar98, PPSh, Thompson, Lee-Enfield, etc. Each of the different nations have their own guns, but when you’re facing enemies in battle, you will be able to use their guns. There are also grenades that you can pick up. But they don’t wok real well. All you do is push X and they’re automatically thrown. And they don’t work very well when facing your opponents. There are different types of missions that you will be assigned to. Some of these include infiltrating out areas, sniping, controlling tanks, and other things you will encounter along the way. But a problem is the different check points and saves. It will take a long time to finish a whole area, but along the way there are check points. But the check points are spread so far apart that you may end up dying in the middle of a task, and will end up all the way at the beginning. And even if you get to a check point, once you turn the game off and get back on later, you’re back at the beginning. But this can be ignored if you play the game through for a while, which is what you will probably be doing. The enemy AI is good. They will stay behind objects, only to come out for a split second to get a shot in. But sometimes you may be able to see them lean against the wall, and get a pretty easy shot. Another good thing with the AI is they’ll stay in small groups sometimes, so you’ll be surrounded by more than one. Although the enemies at some times may seem a little odd, most of the time the AI is very good. You will also have AI controlled allies. The are very helpful, and don't get in the way, which works very well. Call of Duty isn’t too difficult of a game. Experienced gamers may breeze past this game, even on hard. But at many times in the game it will offer some difficult missions, which will keep you playing for a while. The graphics in the game are very good. The character animations and details all look very good. But there are some noticeable flaws. Finest Hour doesn’t look as good as the PC version. The environments and vehicles also look great. There is some small lagging time during battle sometimes, but it’s not bad. The effects look amazing. Seeing planes flying in the air and bombs dropping from the sky looks very good. It is the best part about the visuals in the game. Also, the in-game cutscenes looks great, and help add on to the superb presentation. Even though everything looks good, the overall look of the game isn’t too appealing, and won’t attract a lot of people’s attention. The sound in the game is one of the strongest parts of the game. Just like the original Call of Duty, everything sounds excellent. The voice-overs are very good. But the sound effects are some of the best you’ll hear. The sound of explosions and guns firing all sound so real. It really sound like a war, which is what a war game should always set out to do. The presentation is the best part of Call of Duty: Finest Hour. Very few war games can delivers such an experience. The visuals and sound help deliver an extremely realistic feel to the game. When you lay this game, it really takes you into the game, and makes you feel like you are part of the war, and makes you believe you are a big part of it. It is one of those games that is rare in that it has some of the best presentation games bring to the table nowadays. The XBOX version of Finest Hour has XBOX Live. You can participate in one of four game modes in online play. These are deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, and search and destroy. Search and destroy is a game mode where you have to plant a time bomb in your opponents territory, while your opponent makes sure it doesn’t go off, and vice-versa. There are eight maps to play on, and up to sixteen players can join at once. Also, it’s nice to know that the online play works well, and there isn’t too much slowdown. So the online play is very fluid. Call of Duty: Finest Hour is a great game. It uses many good qualities to make a very rewarding first-person shooter experience. There have been a lot of war games coming out in the past couple of years, and you may be getting bored of all of them, but don’t let that make you pass this game. It delivers a realistic feel that very few games can. It has it’s flaws, and is not one of the best first-shooters out there today, but many people will appreciate what it has to offer. So if you’re looking for a good first-person shooter, or a war game, I highly recommend Call of Duty: Finest Hour.
