The current flux of WWII theme games has a new champion and its name is Call of Duty.
The folks at Infinity Ward and Activision have squeezed every drop out of the modified Quake 3 engine to creation the most enthralling and realistic WWII game to date.
Players take on the characters of three characters as they take up American, British, and Russian campaigns. Each campaign is based on historical events such as the Normandy invasion and the Battle of Stalingrad and allows players to interact with a number of AI controlled players as they embark on both solo and squad missions.
The game has a training mood that allows players to become accustom to tossing grenades for accuracy and using the weapons of the era.
Once the game began, I was amazed at the detail, as being a student of history; I was amazed at the detail level. Everything from the parachute patterns to the way the squad had to take and maintain territory often fighting in and around villages was captivating. The enemy A.I. is solid, as I had to employ strategy to take out the bad guys, as simply charging at them with guns blazing was not always effective.
The early levels of the game were a bit easy, and just when I was thinking that the game would be easy to complete, I was tossed some real curve balls especially in the British and Russian campaigns.
Players do get the chance to use a tank, but the games main focus is on tactics and action. Missions included destroying gun emplacements, freeing a prisoner from a camp, destroying V2 rockets and so on.
The artwork of the game is outstanding as the settings were well detailed and interesting. Weapons were generally a pistol, grenades, a rifle and a machine gun. There are no super weapons though tank busters are available for some missions. The maps contain various gun emplacements, which can be used to help dispatch enemies. I got a kick out of taking on a squadron of Stukas with a gun battery while my team attempted an escape.
Multiplay was solid as there are many servers available for all sorts of games from traditional deathmatch to team deathmatch and other mission based multiplay modes.
The only real issue I had an it is minor was that the games frequent saves were based at checkpoints rather than specific locations and at times it made me want to rush ahead to find a checkpoint rather than work on objectives so I could avoid having to repeat several sections should my player be killed.
Game Title Rating
ConceptFantastic and Gripping 5
GameplayA perfect mix of action and strategy. 5
GraphicsOutstanding and full of detail. 5
SoundGreat mix of music, voice, and sounds to create a realistic atmosphere. 4.5
TechnicalNo problems at all, a solid build. 4.5
OverallThe best WWII Game ever, and a true classic. 4.5
