World War 2 has always been the prime staple for the FPS genre. Everyone and their mother has to re-create the attack on Omaha and the march into Germany. Frankly, sometimes I get pissed playing the same missions over again. Why can’t I jump into the boots of the 101st Airborne Division, the Screaming Eagles, and jump in behind enemy lines on June 5th, 1944? Why can’t I play a Russian grunt attempting to dodge the bullets of the Nazis along with the bullets of his own countrymen trying to force him to his inevitable doom? Why is it always me running up Omaha at some bunkers, like I’ve always done before? Well, Activision decided to give us a super killer game that not only shows you what happened elsewhere in the war, but does it well. Call of Duty, to the surprise of many, is based on the venerable Quake 3 engine. Wait, this game that looks really darn good is just some Quake 3 rip-off? Absolutely. So, what does that mean? You get all this graphical goodness without having to deal with the annoyances of upgrading your computer to a $10,000 rig. Just about every character has a unique face and look about them, which adds a ton to the realism to the game. Each character model is highly detailed and moves smoothly and nicely. It is also amazing how many of these well-detailed soldiers can be packed onto the screen at once. In the Russian campaigns, when the fools were using the “toss as many bodies at the enemy as possible, even if they’re unarmed” method, you would see dozens of men streaming across the battlefield to face another dozen or so Germans on the other side. As we well know, the best graphics and sound effects in the world won’t ever make up for a poorly crafted game. Luckily, the sounds and visuals complement the game perfectly. In most shooters, you are, to quote the Army, “An Army of One”: You pick up your gun and mow down hordes of enemies, all by your lonesome. Call of Duty introduces the necessity to play nice with your squad, because they are there to save your butt. The shooter part of the game is still pretty basic: point, shoot, repeat. It is the strategy needed when using those skills that draws in the originality. If you rush into a room recklessly, and there are bad guys in it, kiss your backside goodbye. You have to work with your squad to provide cover fire, cover the rear, and clear rooms. Tactics also play a huge role in this game. Your typical shooter lets you run head long into the enemy and do well. If you do that in Call of Duty, you’re just a Russian grunt destined to get mowed down by machine gun fire. Bullets hurt a lot in this game; you’re not Superman. So tactics like diversions, flanking, and using cover to wait for the enemy to reload (yes, they actually stop to reload, a novelty in many shooters on the market), before getting the enemy. The game doesn’t force you in any one direction, but it makes it clear that one way is damned stupid; if you do manage to get there that way, kudos, you are a fine gamer. There are a couple of exceptions, like the Dam level, but just how much mobility to you get in a dam anyhow? The weapon realism is right on. Most soldiers would have killed to get their hands on an M1 Garand, and I can see why. Those things tore apart the Germans and their bolt action rifles. Russian guns were horribly insufficient for combat, outside of their incredibly fine sniper rifle. The Brits and Germans have a couple of particularly nasty submachine guns, most specifically the deadly, accurate, and fast German MP-44. You don’t want to be stuck with some archaic Lee-Enfield bolt action rifle looking down the barrel of an MP-44. The AI in the game is rather incredible. Most titles’ AI enemies are either idiots or precognitive, with no real middle ground. Call of Duty manages to get to that middle ground. Enemies and allies alike hit the dirt and use cover, be it a wall, fence, or dead cow. Their aim is as good as can be expected from scared men with hot lead flying about their heads. They aren’t going to hit you dead on between the eyes by shooting around a corner blindly; they are much more likely to put a lot of holes in the floor. The enemies are also fond of flanking and pinch attacks and work together to get you. Most shooters have enemies noticing every small detail, like your hand sticking around a corner or a grenade tossed into the room from behind during a heavy firefight. CoD’s enemies get distracted and have a line of sight to play with. Toss a grenade in a room with a couple of machine gunners, and they aren’t bound to notice it over the fire of their weapons. Enemies can be distracted by an ally running decoy, which gives you time to look around the corner and fire hot lead into his forehead. The single player game is reasonably long, running around 12-15 hours. Luckily, the online portion then kicks in, and kicks in strong. Online continues along the theme of chaos and squad tactics. You defend positions, flank others, and never know where an attack is going to come from. The levels in multiplayer offer a host of places to hide and attack from, so the action is everywhere and frantic, just like real war. Get online after playing the solid single player mode; you will enjoy it.
Capitalising on popular genres is gaining in popularity - and WWII-themed first-person shooters are red hot at the moment. With their current and future popularity, Call of Duty has to be pretty special to garner interes... Read Full Review
I have just completed my fourth or fifth play through of the original Call of Duty (COD) as part of the COD Warchest. It, and the other games in the COD Warchest compilation, COD United Offensive and COD2, remain among ... Read Full Review
