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Call of Duty 2 Review - PC

Call of Duty has been one of the most enduring series over the last few years. With the original World War II based game, it redefined the level of realism and atmosphere of war games. It enjoyed universal success as both a single player, and a multiplayer game, which made it rare amongst games of the last few years. After that, unless it was Call of Duty, it just wasn't quite the same. From the original spawned a few (fairly short) expansion packs, and the game was also ported across to successful Playstation2 and Xbox versions.

A true sequel to one of arguably one of the best first person shooters has been awaited for a long time by gamers, and finally Electronic Arts delivers. We grab our pith helmet and dive heartily into the trenches to take a look at Call of Duty 2.

Gameplay

To start with, the game throws you straight into the Russian front, as the Russians desperately battle to save the Motherland. Later on you play as the British Desert Rats as they do battle in Africa and France, and the final missions see you play the American G.I's as they battle in Europe.

There are 10 main campaigns, 3 Russian, 4 British, and 3 American. Each of these has a number of individual missions which you progress through, and each captures the battlefronts of these areas perfectly. Difficulty on normal difficult is fairly challenging, and for insane action, you can crank it right up.

Like the original Call of Duty, there is no 'quicksave' button.. saving is only done at key points as you reach various objectives in each mission. This adds an extra level of challenge, and means you can't simply save right before a difficult section, the game decides this for you. We found this greatly increased the fluidity of the game, and also takes a lot of the 'save cheating' you can do in many other games. Unlike the last Call of Duty, there is no real 'health percentage' meter either. If you get hit, the screen flashes red and you start breathing heavily. If you don't get to cover and allow yourself some time to recover, your war is over solider. Another great element of realism that makes you feel like you are in a real war, rather than simply a computer game. It's not quite the same as 'one shot, one death', but it's as close to it without being frustrating.

Most missions see you a general infantry soldier, ducking behind tanks, hiding behind buildings, and running through trenches, clearing out tunnels and abandoned buildings as war rages around you. Like the original Call of Duty, at other times you'll find yourself getting into the cockpit of tanks, gunnery and other heavy duty hardware. This adds a bit of variety, as too much of either one would be boring on their own, but thankfully just as parts of the (continued next page)