Long-time fans of the Call of Duty series will be disappointed with its unforgiving difficulty and uneven, broken-up pacing.

Every gamer has a boiling point.
And then there's the breaking point.

That moment of pure anger and unstoppable rage that makes you want to chuck your controller across the room and throw the game out of the window. That pretty much describes this remake of the original Call of Duty - a game where you kill Nazis over and over again to get to the next level - perhaps an overused concept for today's standards?

Well, that was in 2003. Now it's 2011. And things have changed.
Call of Duty is not an easy game - even on the normal difficulty I died at least 100 times. Therefore it's not for those with a short fuse and a long leash. Call of Duty is a game that will test your limits - even though from the outside it seems like nothing of the sort. That describes what a mess this game is. Extremely unbalanced difficulty, technical issues, and tangled pacing makes it easy to get lost in this Nazi-killing game.

The game gives a somewhat good first-impression. You start out as Private Joey Martin, a greenhorn in military training. It's pretty cool, actually, because this first level doubles as a tutorial for the player and it really fleshes out the atmosphere in this game. The game does have good HD output - and for a remake, the graphics look pretty fleshed out over the original PC version. Textures are clearer, lighting effects are more realistic, and character models look decent. Most of them, anyway.

The problem I have with this game is the pacing. A few levels as Martin, then all of a sudden - without warning - you're swept into the British campaign playing as Sergeant Jack Evans. A hefty amount of levels later with an absurdly difficult climax and - whoosh - you're playing as a Russian solder, Corporal Alexi Ivanovich Voronin.

The game doesn't switch between these characters that much, but the game has you switching characters just when you get to know more about them and your teammates. It leads to problems in the character development department.

Controls are much different than what you'd expect from a normal First-Person Shooter. The controls in Call of Duty are mapped in such a way that allows fast gameplay. The surprising fact is that they're easy to adjust to - if you don't play that many First-Person Shooters then it will be easy for you to get used to the controls. The thing is that glitches sometimes get in the way of the gameplay.

Glitches. They dominate almost everything in this broken, shattered game. Glitches are everywhere in Call of Duty - and for a remastered port I expected less glitches. The enemy AI is ridiculously challenging, while friendly AI is downright oblivious to what's going on. It's pretty common to see character models clip into the walls of a building, and Nazis taking cover behind absolutely nothing. Enemy AI can range from Rambo on steroids or a blind, sitting duck. And all of your friendly units are blind, sitting ducks. It doesn't make sense.

The difficulty is the worst part of this game. The game does a good job of making wide-open levels for you to roam around in with your teammates - only to kill off the fun part of the game by delivering a beast of difficulty jumps. At one point the game is easy, and a second later it's hard. The levels comprise of multiple checkpoints, and medkits scattered throughout to heal your lifeless character that's just a moving camera. But don't expect those medkits to last long, as one shot to your head can take out a large chuck of your health bar. Also, when you spawn, you get no moment of shielding or protection. If you spawn, and there's a Nazi that shoots you the very instant you respawn, you lose health. It just adds to the frustration of this so-called "game".

The problem here is that the checkpoints are sometimes very far away - to the point where it's almost impossible to beat the level. When you die (and you'll die a lot), you go to the last checkpoint - with the same health, and the same amount of bullets. That means when you reach a checkpoint with a low amount of health and you've already used all of the medkits in the area, how do you expect to make it to the next checkpoint with a Panzer tank in your path or a MG42?

In short: the checkpoint system sucks.

At least the music is favorable. The music can get very moody and atmospheric to cinematic and fast-paced. It sounds great - and it fits the mood most of the time. The song I like best, however, definitely has to be the theme of the Stalingrad level. Sweeping orchestras and blaring horns with astounding percussion provide a neat musical experience. I liked it.

The graphics are okay for an HD remaster of a 2003 game. The lighting effects are much better, and the feeling is tight on the guns. The guns look solid and there's a feeling of brushed metal and worn-out wood on them. There's a nice amount of guns in this game - weapons are unique for each campaign you play in. The guns sound and feel great - I wouldn't have it any other way. The shooting mechanics are near-flawless. It feels natural and organic.

Of course, there's low points in the weapon department. Grenades are the major problem here. Take out a grenade and you're likely to die, because enemy AI reacts instantly to grenades. For example, if you have low health and you're alone, and you need to clear out a room, you throw a grenade right? Well, if you do that, a million Nazis will run out of the room and toward you. Cue the game-over screen. Grenades are too heavy in this game; so heavy that you have to run quite a ways toward them and then you throw the grenade. I know, it's a port of a 2003 game - so I'll give it a pass. Most of the weapons - with the exception of the grenade - work fine.

Call of Duty is a game I would not recommend. FPS lovers might get something out of it, and it's a good way to start the series if you haven't played any Call of Duty games before, or if you want to get a taste of the roots of the series. However, expect your fun ride through World War II to come to abrupt end with a game-over screen. The difficulty, glitches, uneven pacing, and a dying replay value destroys the structure of this Call of Duty remake. It ruins the fun - and it makes a short campaign extend to needlessly long lengths because of the amount of times you'll die in this game.

I've never tried the 8-player online support, so don't ask me about that.

Call of Duty was not worth the 15 bucks. So don't waste your money on this. Buy this bad, broken, buggy game and expect to be rewarded with absolutely nothing in return.

SUMMARY:

What Made This Game

+ Campaign sucks you in

+ Looks good

+ Multiple characters to play as

+ Guns feel solid

+ Great original soundtrack

What Killed It

- Shell-shock is useless and annoying

- Difficulty is incredibly hard on Normal

- Countless glitches

- Awful checkpoint system

- Broken pacing

- Repetitive gameplay

SCORE: 6.5

"Not Worth It"