Intense, thrilling, challenging, Without a doubt the finest historical shooter I've played to date.
Eventually time passed, wounds healed and with the arrival of my new 360 in light of favourable reviews I purchased Call of Duty 2 and i'm pleased to say that my memories of painful disappointment were finally put to rest.
Call of Duty 2 puts you in the regulation boots of several soldiers throughout the chonology of the second world war you'll join the Russian front playing out battles in the battle for Stalingrad, Tackle the african campaign with a unit of British soldier, and tackle the D-day landings and further with a squad of american infantry. Through the different battles you'll team up with different memorable characters as you fight back the against Thrid Reich forces in a challenging and fairly lengthly single player game.
The intensity of Call of Duty 2 is like few other first person shooters ive ever played. The high end graphics...combined with intense effective use of sound really build the atmosphere of the game, the feel of battle is so intense that it feels like being as close to real life combat as I feel comfortable being. The feeling of tension is really built by the games play mechanics, pressing the left trigger allows you to look down the scope of a rifle, the tension builds as enemy soldiers appear in you're sights...this is further intensified by the way you're health is structured...take a few hits (the number depends on the difficulty you are playing on.) and you're dead...thankfully if you stay out of fire for a few seconds you're health will regenerate...ok not all soldiers have amazing healing powers but it's a system that works well and it's a refreshing change from collecting health packs.
Let's talk difficulty at this point because this game can be pretty harsh at times, but this is a good thing, Call of Duty manages to say consistantly challenging without verging on anything too frustrating...however crank the game up to veteran difficulty and you will find yourself in a real battle zone where one good shot means death and you have to make every move carefully as though you're virtual life depended on it.
Add to that online multiplayer a load of gamer profile achievements to unlock, this is one of the finest FPS games i've played in a while and certainly one of the top 360 launch titles available.