In 2003, this game was great. Nowadays it got shadowed by those recent "things" called sequels...
By these days, my games of choice were Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and Return to Castle: Wolfenstein, and also a little bit of Quake. When I heard of this game I wasn't quite sure what to think. Or it was going to be epic or an total letdown... The first trailer came out and it was amazing. In 2003 this game was an great surprise and I was really hyped for this game.
When I first played this game I felt it was different. Since the first trailer i think that the graphics were way better, the textures were sharper and the lighting was way better. The first mission is the classic one, the first training. You learn the movement, how to aim and shoot, the different type of weapons, etc. Then the second mission starts, and it was amazing. I was surprised not only by the scope of the battles (a lot of allies fighting in your side, a lot of enemies also fighting against you, booth allies and enemy A.I worked really well) but also by the level of detail. The development team really wanted to push the line further and create a new monster.
This game has three linear story, you will follow the American Paratrooper's on the invasion of Normandy, the British Paratrooper's and the soldiers of the Red Army. All the three campaign's are great, and each one has it´s categories of war, but the one that stands out is the Red Army. The Stalingrad mission really sums up pretty well the desperation and the sadness of war. Everywhere you look, something terrible is happening, this is (personal opinion) the most shocking and violent campaign in the first Call of Duty. If you paste this game together, it touched on every aspect of war: The courage, sadness, loneliness, violence and patriotism.
The game had an amazing sound design, the soundtrack was also good. The graphics were really good in 2003 and the multiplayer was solid.
I played this game a lot, it delivered what I was expecting. Overall the game is amazing, it´s filled with details, the three campaigns were good and the game length is good. The game left me wanting more, in this time, Call of Duty had an great potential and space for improvement. That is what happened in the next three tittles. Call of Duty is an great start to this franchise.