One of the most cinematic and engaging shooters that you will ever play.
-Gameplay
Call of Duty 2, as previously mentioned, sets players down in famous battles of World War 2. Call of Duty provides intense shootouts in a veriety of battlefields. The controls are tight and responsive, and feel fluid. You have the ability to look down the sight of your guns which adds depth and immersion to the gameplay. After using this ability in Call of Duty, it almost seems mandatory for other shooters to have this feature. In some cases, you will almost ask you ever got by without this feature. Though that's what makes Call of Duty 2 so unique and entertaining. You cannot simply run, shoot, and strafe. The targeting reticule will grow smaller or bigger while running or standing still; so you cannot simply move without loosing accuracy. That is what makes the look-down-the-sight feature such a novelty.
You have a decent amount of firearms at your disposal, and while they are nothing we haven't seen before, they all provide their certain uses and flaws. You have your sniper rifles, pistols, machine guns, grenades, and the traditional melee attack. All in all you can't really complain about the choices of weapons you have, but one thing bothers me; where is the shotgun? The enemy AI provides enough challenge in that you won't breeze through that game, but won't be frustrated, unless you are playing on Veteran difficulty. The health system used in Call of Duty 2 is all Halo, in that your health will regenerate over time when not taking damage. While this does seem a bit exagerated and unrealistic, it also keeps the game moving at a smooth pace and with less frustration. Your allies also seem to be nothing more than fodder in certain situations, yet more useful in others which seemed a bit strange to me. Though they provide excellent visual support, as they will yell out certain phrases when certain things are happening in the environment, such as a thrown grenade. Listening to your teammates is crucial and will most likley help you stay alive longer.
While all these attributes that were mentioned may have been done in other shooters, Call of Duty 2 does it 10x better than the competition. -Graphics
Call of Duty 2 supports 480p, 720p, and 1080i, which furthers escalates the visual flury and bountiful eye candy. Beautiful indoor and decently sized outdoor environments are rendered with unprecidented aspects in most situations and points in the game. While some levels, mostly those in Egypt, leave something to be desired with low-res textures; the rest of the game presents you with a visual feast that will rest easy on the optic orbs. Weather and it's effects on the environment are also presented in a wonderfully extravagent way. Smoke effects will sometimes make you squint and wonder, "Is that real?" Complaints with the graphics are minor; some low-res textures in indoor environments and outdoor (mostly Egypt, as previously mentioned) environments, certain low-res character models, and rain effects could have been a bit better. Even with these small complaints, Call of Duty provides excellect graphics, with lots of characters and action on screen, and here comes the sweet part, all of this is played out at 60 frames per second with only minor slow downs frome time to time.
-Sound
Call of Duty 2 provides incredibly structured and absorbing sound that makes you feel like you are in the heat of battle against the Axis power. Guns sound like what they are supposed to sound like. Loud. Voice acting is great, and never feels over the top or under whelming. Both, your enemies and allies talk almost incessantly, but it never gets repetitive. It's though hundreds of lines of dialog have been recorded, and many are barely ever repeated twice during the entire campaign. This aspect makes the game more immersive and gives your fellow soldiers more of a personality and a reason to care about them. Explosions, guns, vehicles, voice acting; they all just sound so real, and you make you feel as though you are in an actual battle. The game also features an original score which fits the mood of the game perfectly, and doesn't feel out of place when in the tides of war or the concord of victory. The sound is something that Call of Duty 2 nails perfectly. -Replay
Call of Duty 2 features the three traditional levels of difficulty; easy, normal, and hard (veteran). If you are not afraid of a challenge, then you will spend weeks trying to conquer the Veteran difficulty mode. If you are looking for something a little bit more social, then you can go for the 8 player online, or 4 player offline mode. Both online and offline multiplayer are average and somtimes weak due to the lack of players and maps, but they're still nice features that give the game more life before you finally put it up on the shelf. -Overall Call of Duty 2 doesn't really offer anything groundbreaking or new (other than a new standard for cinematic WWII games), but the shooting mechanics are fun, the controlls are intuitive, the action is intense, and presents an engaging atmosphere which is lacking in many games. A final note that makes this game a must-have is that it should only be $30 at your local game store. There is a reason this is the best selling Xbox 360 game.