Best World War II shooter I've played yet!
Call of Duty 2 takes place in World War 2. There are three different campaigns in this game, Russian, English, and American. In the beginning, you only have the Russian campaign open to you (which is my favorite btw), as you progress, somewhere half way through the Russian campaign you unlock the English campaign, and so long.
The Russian campaign takes place in Moscow, Russia. The English campaign in Egypt and then France and the American campaign in Normandy (D-Day), and then France also.
There are four difficulties in this game, ranging from very easy to elite.
Gameplay 10/10
The gameplay was one of the things that I enjoyed most about this game. The game’s feeling felt quite good and balanced. Walking, running, jumping, etc. all seemed quite realistic, and just as you would expect a good fps to play out.
One of the new features in this game, and my personal favorite, was that there was no health, sort of. As you get hurt you will see the screen become redder and redder as the damage increases and your character will start to grunt and pant, if you continue to take a lot of damage you will die. So as you get shot, take cover somewhere away from danger and wait until your vision clears and you’re good to go again. Unfortunately the enemy also has the same health system so it can get quite frustrating, seeing the fact that they recharge all the time.
Another new feature of this game is that you may now climb over ledges and obstacles of that sort. I was very pleased with that, because I hate jumping and find it quite unrealistic , in games anyway, it also made my life much easier. You can also go from prone, crouch and standing positions in the game, and the fact that they locked and you didn’t have to keep on holding the button was another plus.
Your weapons varied from the regular rifles, pistols, and sub-machine guns and all felt quite realistic in terms of shooting and the like, you can also whack the crap out of enemies with your gun, so that’s always fun. :p There are two types of grenades, one is the regular frag grenade that explodes and kills a bunch of people, the other is a smoke grenade, which can be extremely useful to obscure the view of snipers and machine gun nests.
Graphics 9./10
The graphics in this game are outstanding, all options on highest of course. :p The indoor and outdoor environments look magnificent. The smoke from the smoke grenades and the explosions were also some of the best I have seen in any game. Although, textures can be a little less sharp when standing really close to something, but the game is so chaotic that you won’t notice much of it anyway.
Sound 10/10
Sound is where CoD2 excels like no other. Between the stirring score that kicks up during key moments, to the top-notch gun explosion effects, the game sounds amazing. The speech is also great, especially the yelling between squadmates and enemies during battle, which plays right into the excitement and tension as you fight.
Artificial Intelligence-AI 9/10 (On hardest), 8/10 (On easier)
The artificial intelligence in this game is amazing, in elite anyway. Your teammates will kick down super indestructible tables and take cover behind them, pick up and throw enemy grenades back at them, and basically react like any proper soldier would in combat. Enemy soldiers would behave the same way. In some of the easier difficulties teammates and enemy soldiers alike would run out into the open and get shot, which I found extremely hilarious, yet quite frustrating.
It’s just too bad you can’t pick up grenades and throw it back at them, and kick down super indestructible tables and the like.
Pros:
Very realistic
Great gameplay elements
Great graphics
Great AI
Great sound
Great Optimization
Cons:
Can’t do many of the things that the cpu can
Same health system for everyone
Enemies didn’t have much variety
I put great too many times…
Conclusion:
IMHO, Call of Duty 2 is definitely one of the best game, ever. Superb gameplay, great graphics, even better sound and very good artificial intelligence. Basically Call of Duty 2 has everything you may hope for in a successful world war 2 shooter, and more. If you enjoyed the original and are thirsting for more, Cod2 will definitely deliver that.