Review: Call of Duty 2
Simply put, Call of Duty 2 is a freakin' work of art.
Let's backtrack a little. Prior to getting my hands on Call of Duty 2, my skepticism about the game was two-fold. First, by no means was I ready for another WWII shooter (in my opinion, the genre has been outplayed, overplayed, and beyond). And second, because the original Call of Duty on PC was arguably the best WWII shooter ever made, the bar was set extraordinarily high. But, as we soon found out, Infinity Ward is not a one trick pony.
Back in the Thick of It
In the Call of Duty 2 single-player mode, you'll once again follow the Russian, British, and American campaigns from 1941 to 1945. The Soviet campaign spans from snowy Moscow to Stalingrad, the British from Northern Egypt to Libya and Tunisia, and finally to Normandy in 1944 at the start of the American force's deployment on D-Day.
Like the first game, Call of Duty 2 is extremely chaotic, with nary a chance to catch your breath. Being in the field of battle, with bullets whizzing by overhead, can be overwhelming, so it's best to approach each situation in a station-to-station fashion--the game is tailored to and rewards standard FPS duck-and-cover play. All the original Call of Duty gameplay mechanics are back, sans the bothersome health-pack pickups. Instead, Infinity opted for a Halo-like health regeneration system where seeking momentary cover completely restores any damage taken (you'll know when you're close to the bright light when a bloody border surrounds the HUD). This new feature curbs your old-school tendency to scour every room for extras, meaning you can focus more on actual game objectives.
Perfect Pacing
Much has been said about Call of Duty's graphics, gratifying gunplay, and overall sense of absolute destruction, but what really sets this WWII series apart from the rest of the pack is its in-game pacing. From the start of the Russian campaign in 1941 all the way to end of the American's drive over Germany, Call of Duty 2 reaches several crescendoing peaks that, once completed, will result in a much needed exhale.
Infinity varies Call of Duty 2's gameplay enough, level by level, to keep it from ever getting stale. Tank and jeep rail sequences are well-planned and action-packed, while even on-foot gameplay objectives throw you for a curve now and then. For example, an early Russian mission challenges you to repair a telephone wire at several different locations, while an American sequence in Normandy has you sniping German mortar teams until Ally reinforcements arrive.
Hey Good Lookin'...
Frankly put, Call of Duty 2 is simply breathtaking, emphasized by normal mapping, exceptional shading and lighting, specular highlights, and some absolutely phenomenal particle effects. Smoke grenades play an essential role in moving from station to station, and the power of the graphics engine really shines when clouds of smoke fill every last inch of the screen. The only graphical disappointments are the lack of active foliage and an interesting mixture of physics and hand-animation, which isn't necessarily bad.
But to get the full effect, you'll need a hugely powerful gaming PC. You'll definitely want a super-speedy CPU (at least an Intel 3.2 Ghz or an Athlon 64 3200+), a full gig of system RAM, and a Radeon x800 or Geforce 6800 with the full 256 megs . In short, this is one visually demanding game: don't expect to limp by with Grandma's dusty old Gateway.
The Mad Multi
Multiplayer-wise, Call of Duty 2 supports a whopping 32 online players with general FPS game types, including deathmatch, team deathmatch, and CTF, and Call of Duty 2's own brand of Headquarters and Search and Destroy--all wonderfully smooth via online.
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