I've been trying to squeeze a few more points out of Call of Duty 4's Veteran difficulty level and I'm borrowing Call of Duty 2 of a friend, again for the points Veteran offers. Veteran ruins Call of Duty.

The CoD4 singleplayer experience is fairly good and varied from start to finish, on Veteran however it is a highly depressing and infuriating experience throughout. CoD2 is the best CoD in my opinion, especially as it is one of those few WWII games that manages to show that the US didn't win the war single-handedly, it is a bit repetetive however, as most of the missions simply involve taking gun implacements or clearing house after house or bunker after bunker. Again, on veteran it is a terrible, pointlessly difficult experience.

The developers would like you to think that Veteran mode is "realistic". It's not. I have absolutely no problem with games that kill you in a couple of shots; I love Brothers in Arms and Rainbow Six, but unless the game is designed for realism, one-shot deaths just don't work. The enemy might be happily firing away at your useless, blind-firing chums but the minute you put your head above cover the Germans seem to scream "There's Player 1! Get him!" as the entire Third Reich storms over the horizon to the tune of Wagner's Ride of the Valkryies, oblivious to your many mentally retarded comrades around you, intent only on eliminating you. Also, the second you try to hide from this marauding hoard they assume your a coward and throw 100 grenades each at you.

It sucks

To conclude, Veteran mode turns the average point-seeking gamer into a swearing mess, throthing at the mouth like a rabid wolf.

Rant over.