A World War II FPS with soul.
Graphics 8
Sounds 8
Value 7
Tilt 10
The Good
* Missions are based on 'lesser known campaigns' which still have equally importance of the outcome of the war and not relying on the 'cash cow' big seller campaigns
* Sounds are extreme yet believable
* Intelligent AI
* The Final Assault
The Bad
* Quite a short campaign
* Unrealistic AI aiming - way too accurate in most cases
* Unable to open or close doors
Considering the huge popularity of World War II games in the market, this is one genre I find it extremely hard to engage myself into. My reason for this is on a personal level. Considering my mother is a German, father a Pole (whose ancestry is Russian), my wife an Italian and of course me an Australian, I really find it difficult to sniper a German's head no matter the 'political justice' it may seem in the history books.
Of course my grandfathers (both mum and dad sides) will tell me 'bedtime stories' of World War II and how wonderful (sarcasm) it is. These are the stories you not hear or read in history books as they are the personal accounts of their views of the Great War (in my opinion there is only one great war separated into two parts; like the Hundred Years War). However if the roles are reversed (say playing a German fighting against the Americans) then I have no problems. Again this is not to say I approve of anything Nazi but as mentioned above I heard the German and Italian sides of the war and it's hard to shake it off.
In saying this there is a common element between these stories and the PC game that attracted me to Call of Duty. The idea of saving your fellow team mates was consistent in all the stories I have heard and considering it was the main concept for Call of Duty as portrayed in the opening sequence (and mind you it was a very intense opening sequence).
Thankfully Call of Duty did not 're-enact' the 'best parts' of the war. It covered 'lesser known battles' which also played an important part of the outcome of the war. Stories like the night assault of Sainte-Mère-Église (and if you look carefully you can see the soldier's parachute caught hanging from the church's spire), the capturing of Pegasus Bridge, Operation Chastise and The Battle for Pavlov's House all are here. It gets better as the developers took one bold step and engage in the recreation of a very intense Russian campaign (Battle of Stalingrad and the bombing of the Reichstag are just a few examples). So the game designers not only took the war in view of the American solider, it also took the views of the British and Russian soldier. And I must admit when the game ends I feel like doing a standing ovation as the whole campaign felt extremely exhausting but in a good way.
I played the game at second hardest difficulty level as I considered myself a very good FPS player (not brilliant but good). This level to say the least is absolutely brutal. The AIs are very strong and the aiming was a little too good for comfort. However this enhances the intensity of the war as many-a-times you will encounter bombardments of tanks, submarine gunners and anything else that the Germans will ditch. There were times I thought it was so intense the only option I can do is to crawl in a corner like a dispirited soldier, listening to all the gunfire and explosions all around me (which I will add are impressive on my 5.1 surround sound speakers whilst viewing on my 24'' monitor) and really felt that I was a traitor as I did not assist my fellow team mates in their time of need. There were other times that when the allies eventually provided additional support (the missions where you need to stand your ground) I really felt like breaking down like a emotional wreak as I can hear the tanks do their stuff. As mentioned in my review 'The Longest Journey', the game will be memorable when you can actually 'feel and breathe' the main character whilst having a sense of purpose instead of some heroic unemotional grunt. Call of Duty have done exactly just that, bring on a virtual life of a soldier and because of this soared my tilt rating to the perfect ten (the only other game that made me feel 'all gooey inside' is No One Lives Forever which also scored a perfect ten).
However there are some minor flaws in the gameplay believe-it-or-not (remember people the main difference between 'tilt' and 'gameplay' is that tilt is subjective whilst gameplay is objective). One of them is that it is really disappointing to see that you cannot open or close doors. Considering the intensity of this game, it would greatly assist the player to shut the door behind him/her when being chased instead of just being open for any grenadier to throw in. Also the AI even though feels great and not act stupidly (as they do duck and cover), on the higher levels their aiming is somewhat inhuman. I really prefer that the higher the level, the smarter they are instead of this godlike aiming (similar to Unreal Tournament where the higher the level, the 'smarter' they are). However don't let that deter you from playing the game. I never really seen such great AI interaction since Half Life and any of the Unreal Tournament games (funny enough Half Life uses the same engine as CoD; that is the Quake engine).
Graphically the game is pleasing to the eye. My first impression and correctly so, the game was using a heavily modified Quake III engine. You can really see the traits of this engine (e.g. backdrop scenery come across like a massive painted canvas,) and considering CoD was released in 2003 and the engine was first introduced in 1999, it goes to show the immense power and versatile this engine really is (actually it's my second favourite engine falling just behind the mighty Unreal engine). However there are pockets of aging effects as the environments are not totally 'there' (just a little too 'cartoonish' but certainly not off putting).
The sound quality can be summarise in just one word - fierce. From guns firing to aerial bombers screaming overhead to tanks blasting away to people yelling orders, the entire ordeal is nothing short but utter chaos (but in a good way). Again, there are times that I really want to yell 'shut up with all that racketing' however I bet I had just a glimpse of what really happened in the battlefield. I will tip my hat to Infinity Ward and Activision for making the sounds chaotic yet enjoyable. However the musical scores, even though quite nice it lacked 'soul'. If you seen the movie 'Saving Private Ryan' the musical scores certainly touch the soul (well mine anyway) however CoD didn't quite cut it.
Sadly the length of the entire campaign is quite short. Even though there are in total 25 missions, all the missions are quite short in length and some includes a count down timer. However the game has four level of difficulty (and to my knowledge the main difference between them is the accuracy of the AIs and the amount of damage you can take) and the great multiplayer option. On top of that, you can grab a copy easily for $10 (unless taking as a package like United Offensive). The manual itself is nice and does cover the important aspects of the game (including great explanations of the different types of weapons) and actually is worth reading. The hints near the back of the manual are something you really want to take note of and the five posters at the start of the training grounds are not for show.
I can imagine that the multiplayer option will be a blast. This is something I really did not try out in depth however this option seems just as powerful as the single player campaign. The game sports that typical deathmatch, team deathmatch, seek and destroy, and the somewhat unique retrieval however the main emphasis of online playing is team work as just like in the actual Great War. And you know the multiplayer is a good thing as there are many mods out there and that any game that has a great modding community shows a good sign of an active yet enjoyable multiplayer mode.
Call of Duty has definitely raised the bar of FPS as I have never felt satisfied in a FPS game like this since No One Lives Forever. FPS are notoriously known for all action and lack of soul. Granted that guns a blazing can be great fun however just like the ammo round, it dies off rather quickly. Originally I had some serious doubts over this game as the first mega hit 'Medal of Honour' took the World War II genre to new heights, I really thought CoD is simply just a clone cashing in the success of this field (as both games uses the same gaming engine). Admittedly and regrettably I am wrong. Call of Duty surpasses anything I have thought in this game as this game did not use the 'great moments' of World War II for an easy win. It uses the elements of team work and better still, created the main character (actually three) souls and a sense of identity which all the soldiers in World War II fought and died for.