Call of Duty 2: Big Red One

Call of Duty 2 gets the FPS WWII formula right: Tanks, planes and lots of guns!

Big Red One solidifies the Call of Duty franchise's position at the top of the WWII shooting genre with an excellent single-player story mode that follows the exploits of one of America's most decorated and battle hardened fighting units. As a member of the legendary "Fighting First", you fight in a variety of chaotic and distinct battles across North Africa, Italy, France and Germany in a campaign that spans America's involvement in the latter half of the war.

Combat takes place in an assortment of clever and challenging objective-based scenarios that range from your squad defending a position from an attacking Nazi division to driving Sherman tanks and flying as a tail gunner in bombing raids, and almost everything in between. The entertaining and engrossing mission types more than make up for the soggy and stale PS2 graphics, which sadly reflect the dying system's age.

First to Fight, Last to Leave
One of Call of Duty 2's biggest strengths is the outstanding audio presentation, which combines phenomenal sound effects and voice acting with a highly cinematic score to create a topnotch surround sound blasting experience. Like any great film, the deafening power and exceptional presentation of Big Red One demand a proper home theater to be fully appreciated (but cranking up the volume is a start).

The comfortable control scheme adapts well to the myriad of mission types (thanks to a forgiving targeting system), and makes switching between standard first-person shooting and the ultra-cool vehicular combat sequences a cinch. You'll also get a helping hand from your capable comrades by way of the admirable A.I., which you'll need during heavy firefights with those wily Germans.

Bombs Away
Call of Duty 2 does have a few minor issues that could have been shored up. The movement transition from standing to crouching to lying prone (and then rising back up) requires too many separate button movements that become cumbersome in intense battles, while the crippled jump feature and weak leaning moves are pretty much useless. Never the less, Big Red One is easily one of the best WWII games available on the PS2, and a great FPS in any category.

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