by Scott - December 15, 2005

Everybody loves a good World War Two game. Nearly half of the gaming market is centered on it and it is because of one reason: it is a sensation to play. Call of Duty 2 doesn�t hold back in making the game exciting to play, its new graphical upgrade makes us drool and wanting more.

Change Is Good...Very God

Call of Duty 2 is basically Call of Duty enhanced in several factors. Most notably are the changes in gameplay and how the game is played. What players will notice first is that there is no health bar. This has been done away in favor of a system much like Halo and its regenerating shield. Depending on your skill level, (varying from Easy to Veteran) the amounts of hits you take contribute to how close to death you get. When you get hit enough, your vision blurs, your vision reddens and you are notified that you need to get to cover. If you can safely get to some cover and avoid being a bullet magnet for a few seconds, you return to normal. While this may seem like a cheap invincible-mode, it is actually the greatest addition to Call of Duty 2�s gameplay. No more will you have to worry about that last splinter of health and worrying about that dreaded bullet with your name on it. No longer will you hope to find a box of health lying around or hope for the level to be over. This change allows you to play the game through and enjoy it. It doesn�t make it easy however (unless you do have it on Easy) as the harder you set your difficulty, the less hits you can take before needing to hide. If you let yourself think that your chest can magically make bullets bounce off, you will die.

The next change you�ll see is that now there is a grenade indicator. If an enemy (or enemies) lobs a grenade in your general location, you will see an indicator that points to where it landed. Of course you�ll want to get out of the way as soon as possible as grenades are not harmless. I expect there will be a lot of players that believes this cheapens the gameplay, but it doesn�t. In fact you�ll be glad it is there since the AI improvements have made them a little bit more challenging than usual. Don�t be surprised to see German troops lob multiple grenades at you!

Speaking of the AI, Call of Duty 2 finally gave them a welcome upgrade. While your squad mates still come in waves with plain names, they do seem to be more aggressive and smarter. You�ll see them firing more accurately, throwing grenades, tossing enemy grenades back and use cover effectively. My favorite aspect about them is now they give clear definitions as to where the enemy is. This helps a lot as you�ll be facing smart enemy AI and location is important.
The enemy AI got an improvement too. They are smarter, tenacious and definitely sneaky. My favorite experience was when I was defending the crossroads in front of Pointe du Hoc. The enemy came in and we had to fall back to a farmhouse. As I was laying down cover fire with a .30 cal, German troops began laying down smoke screen to cover their advance. They also started circling our flanks and eventually started getting into the farmhouse I was in. I guess the sergeant wasn�t kidding when he told us to fall back. Throwing a grenade at the Germans just make them angry too. Expect to see your own grenade being thrown back at you if you are not careful.

Another new addition is the smoke grenade. While completely harmless (unless you are asthmatic) they do work they way there are supposed to. Lob them in front of a machine gun emplacement and you�ll notice that they stop firing, since obviously they can�t see you. The smoke does blow away so don�t dawdle and play in the smoke like an eight-year-old with sparklers on the Fourth of July.

Call of Duty 2 starts out simply enough. You are a Russian soldier, jumping out of a truck and taking some training course near the front line. The action actually starts pretty soon afterwards, just as you finish up your training. It adds a great sense of depth to realize that the war does not stop for training and when you are close to the front line, you expect to be shot at and see Germans. Don�t be afraid to answer the call to duty!

Playing Call of Duty 2 feels like you are in a movie and you are the star. There are no cut scenes, all action and storyline is played out right in front of your eyes Half-Life 2 style. This time around though you feel a little bit less forced on your path through the very, very large levels. While there is still the �minefield path� it isn�t too blatantly obvious that you are not allowed to venture outside the boundaries. You don�t feel limited in your playing field though, as you can approach your objective a little more freely. You can opt to go around in a flanking maneuver (if you can find it) or fight it through toe-to-toe or my personal favorite, sneaking. Don�t expect the Germans to be too dumb and fall for your tricks. As I have mentioned above, they will do the same to you.

Objectives this time around add to the thrill and excitement of playing. Having to go up against two Panzer IV tanks with nothing but sticky bombs and a large load of luck really does get your heart pounding. It also doesn�t help that the tanks keep moving and that there are German troops trying to take you down. In fact the infantry feeling of Call of Duty 2 does make you realize how helpless soldiers were when they were faced against tanks without any source of anti-tank weapons save for a bazooka and a good aim. Of course there will be situations where you are helpless and the best you can do is just run and find cover and wait until help arrives.

Unlike the previous Call of Duty where you played the missions in a row, Call of Duty 2 switches it up by allowing you to unlock missions as you play. This is definitely a welcome improvement, as sometimes you want a welcome change of pace or location if you are stuck in rut. Allowing players to control their progress like this definitely takes a weight off their shoulders.

Like the previous Call of Duty you serve as a Russian, British and American soldier. As usual, there is no way to play as the Germans in regular gameplay, except for multiplayer. Each of the three nations has their own unique weapons (except for the British, which also use the Thompson) with their own weaknesses and advantages. You also can only carry two weapons with you, so combination of your weapons sets up how you will be playing. Arming yourself with rifles will obviously make you more a of long-distance attacker, while equipping with automatic weapons are key for clearing out enclosed spaces quickly. Of course, for you sniper nuts, there are scoped weapons. A neat addition is the ability to hold your breath for a little bit to steady your shot, which helps a lot. Emplaced machineguns and bazookas and anti-tank guns also make the returning list of weapons. Also making a return is the tank driving level. While its difficulty seems laughable, the time it comes at is welcome since it is pretty much a shooting gallery. Also the tank charge is very uplifting and exciting.

Graphics Upgrade

Now it wouldn�t be Call of Duty 2 if it didn�t receive some sort of a graphical upgrade. Obviously from the look of the screens, the title has taken a major leap forward in graphics when compared to its elder. The terrain looks absolutely wonderful, with water reflections, haze, smoke building up and my favorite, explosions. War has never looked so good! For once it looks like a real battlefield with partially destroyed buildings, rubble, craters, bombed-out tanks and even dummy emplacements.

The soldiers even got a visual upgrade too. They look like real bodies now, with beautifully rendered uniforms and faces. I�d say they are on par with Half-Life 2 in terms of player models. They also vary from person to person, as you�ll see soldiers equipped with different accouterments. The Germans weren�t left out obviously and I actually nearly died with laughter when there were a few husky German troops modeled, complete with a double chin!

The weapons look fantastic and realistic as well as their effects. Firing a large 88mm Flak gun produced a blur of heat from the shot as well as accompanying smoke. The graphics don�t come without a price. Running at full detail and graphics all the way up, my 6600gt and gig of RAM met some slowdowns. Bringing down the detail increased the frame rate, but I recommend upgrading your system to the fullest to enjoy this graphically awesome title.
 

Hollywood Sound

When I said earlier it feels like you are the star of a movie, I was not kidding. The sound in Call of Duty 2 definitely rocks the speakers. Weapon, voice, and overall sounds were improved and in some places completely new. Every shot you fire gives a great sense of weight and power behind it. Taking hits from bullets feel just as painful too. I recommend playing it loud to show off to the world that you have brought World War Two to your computer or to scare the living daylights out of your neighbors at 3 am.

The voice acting was done pretty well as well. The Russians however don�t speak Russian, but English with a Russian accent. Of course I have a feeling no one would understand what they were saying, but I�m sure it�d be a great add-on to have since you can enable subtitles. This time around I couldn�t pick out any famous actors in the voice-overs. I�m sure a lot of players remember The Transporter�s Jason Statham as Sgt. Waters and Giovanni Ribisi as a medic (big surprise) in the first Call of Duty. Although the actors that play the soldiers around you are pretty good, I would have been very excited if there were some returning voices.

Exciting Multiplayer

Multiplayer makes a triumphant return again on Call of Duty 2. Nothing much has changed except that the gameplay mechanics are still in place. Finding games are quite easy with the in-game browser. The multiplayer is quite enjoyable as the excitement of �playing war� takes hold. Shooting at friends (or enemies) has never been more fun. With the graphical upgrade it makes look all the much better.

The kill-cam makes a wonderful return as well (if enabled). This gave killed players a view of the last few seconds of their life in the eyes of their killer. This definitely gets rid of the whole �you cheated!� line (unless its blatant) as you can see where you stuck your melon out to let Franz place a slug in it.

Answer The Call Of Duty

Overall Call of Duty 2 is a great title. It enhances all the goodness from the original Call of Duty and serves it to us in a very lovely looking theater. Expect a lot of heart-pounding situations and moments where your jaw will just drop. If you can afford it, go out and get Call of Duty 2 right now. You won�t be disappointed.