Back in the day, this was a fantastic and colossal first-person shooter... today; it is a classic and a must-play.
Firstly, the graphics - although not as impressive today, they used to be really good for the technology behind the games of yesterday. High resolution textures, good-looking models, sick amounts of corpses and loads of soldiers on the screen at the same time, detailed & authentic looks of firearms and various, other visual effects are used to create grim but realistic environments that take their roles as battlefields during the Second World War. From the grassy hills and silent farms, to loud and horrid battlegrounds covered by thick blankets of snow, from the trenches of open fields, to the ruins of fallen cities - you will fight on many types of soil in Call of Duty and its worthwhile expansion; titled Call of Duty: United Offensive.
Speaking of the expansion, what does it add to the core game? Well it doesn't really add, because it is launched from a different shortcut and it's an entirely new game. With that said, it adds quite a lot to the Deluxe Edition package. Of course, there's a new singleplayer campaign where once again you will play as American, British and Soviet soldiers - though different ones this time. Overall, the singleplayer segment of Call of Duty: United Offensive is of similar length to the original game, though probably a little shorter. Although it also feels less dramatic and atmospheric at times, most of the time it's still the same 'Call of Duty' shooting & action we love.
Then what of the singleplayer in the original Call of Duty game without the expansion? The action takes place from 1942 to 1945, on the European fronts of World War II. You play as different characters from the American, British and Soviet armies. In each mission, you fight German soldiers and are given various co-ordinates to objectives that you must carry out in some way to cripple the Third Reich. However, unlike in Medal of Honor were you used play as a lone wolf, one-man killing machine type of character; here you travel with squads and (in some missions) armies of fellow soldiers. Your teammates possess good AI and can come in useful, but they won't kill everyone nor will they advance without you; this is good, as it keeps some level of challenge even on the easiest difficulty setting.
Unfortunately, as entertaining as it is, the singleplayer campaign does come to an end - and quite quickly at that. Fortunately, Infinity Ward (back in 2003, the rookie developer that created Call of Duty) has included an addictive and chaotic multiplayer mode for all players. There are plenty of maps to duke it out on with friends or strangers. Bigger games with more players online are chaotic and warlike, while smaller games with only a handful of soldiers feel like after-war survival battles. Either way, both types are entertaining. There are also different game modes (though considering just how many games have been released since the first CoD, it's probably nothing new to you, but they still offer an interesting amount of variation). Overall, the multiplayer is fun and addictive - just what it should be. Plus the expansion adds larger maps, new weapons, an in-game rank system and vehicles (such as tanks and jeeps).
Now let's go over the most prominent and/or important positives and negatives of Call of Duty: Deluxe Edition.
The Good:
+ Exciting singleplayer campaign allows you to play as different soldiers
+ Grim & dramatic atmosphere, especially present in the Soviet campaign
+ Fantastic soundtrack, carefully composed and played by talented people
+ Addictive multiplayer modes with great features and components
+ Authentic and powerful weaponry from the Second World War
+ You have a team of soldiers to back you up with good AI
+ United Offensive expansion adds plenty of cool new stuff
+ Considering its price, Call of Duty: Deluxe Edition is value for money
The Bad:
- Although very entertaining and quite varied, singleplayer campaign is short
- Why are the Germans always evil? Nazis are evil, but not all soldiers were
- Occasional graphical glitches and gameplay bugs that were never fixed
- Why do the Russians speak in accented English, rather than Russian?
- We don't get to hear as much of the great soundtrack as we'd like in battle
- Mostly very linear game progression, like in most shooters of the genre
- Some personal story and more character development would've been nice
- Plenty of old, overused, racial stereotypes
I highly recommend this game to everyone - especially this 'deluxe' edition. With books or films, there are some classics you just have to read or watch. Well, in the game world, Call of Duty is one of those classics. So in the end, the final question is: "Is all this worth my hard-earned money?" And the answer is: "Yes." All games have flaws, and Call of Duty has them too. But they can't compare to its good points. So fans of the new Modern Warfare series; you can argue all you like about which game sucks, which game owns or which game ruined the series… but your whining will never remove the colossus that the very first Call of Duty was, is and always will be.