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Reviewer:
Bunn
Review Date: 02/12/2003
Score: 85%
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Having
liked, but not loved Medal of Honour, I decided to wait to
see how things pan out with Call of Duty. I downloaded 2 demos
and played then again and again and again and again and again
and again. As soon as it was released I ordered it from Amazon
and sat behind the front door waiting for the postman (albeit
2 minutes after I placed the order). It was a sleepless night,
the constant rattling of the letter box from the wind, the
cat rubbing her ass on my arms and the constant nagging thought
that 'it may not come tomorrow'!!
I
managed to get some sleep and was awoken by a brown box whacking
me in the face. Shaking my head I jumped, no struggled to
my feet, shook the cat from my belly and ripped open the box.
Inside I saw it, the DVD case wrapped in clear plastic and
the words 'Goat Shaggers do Derbyshire' on the front! What?
Oh yeah wrong forum, sorry.
Opening
the Call of Duty case I ran to my PC, installation took to
long, WAY to long and I was overcome with excitement as the
install bar travelled along. then it dared ask for disk 2!!
Grrr more waiting.
Well
after the install was complete I jumped in game. My first
mission was to place a beacon in a field so the other soldiers
knew where to drop. So far so good and only 3 enemy soldiers.
Then the air raid sirens began, search lights lit up the skies
like a firework display. Allied aircraft buzzed above as my
comrades dropped into the fields. Running for cover I spot
my buds taking up positions and shooting at enemy emplacements
in nearby houses. I tip my head out and catch a glimpse of
a German gunner taking pot shots at us. I aim with my Thompson
and after a few shots take him down.
AA
guns in the distance needed silencing and that was our next
mission. After a very short loading screen we're sent into
the small village Dawnville. Rushing across a field we're
shot at by heavy machine guns and mortors rip my brothers
apart. Eventually we reach the safety of a nearby fence. From
our left a German APC is firing and keeping us pinned down.
I take out my rifle and get a clean shot. My commander utters
a quiet congratulations and we're moving again, to find these
German AA guns.
We
get to a wall and the German fire is unrelenting. I make a
dash for the other side and my team mates actually cover me
and draw fire. Getting to the other side I fire a few shots
at the German gunners and get inside. Enemy troops see me
and open fire, I dodge behind a wall and take out most of
them. My commander runs in behind us and we are off to clear
the rest of the building.
Some
missions are so intence that you almost forget it's a game
and hide behind a wall not daring to come out, although as
your comrades fall you feel an obligation to them and risk
popping your head out. It's not about Rambo tactics though,
you have to fire and move, fire and move, otherwise you'll
be cut down in seconds.
German
troops will bash your head in if you get to close, you hear
them scream as a grenade lands at their feet, sometimes they
even throw it back. Thankfully now you don't just play as
Americans in this, you also play as Brits and Russians. This
makes a welcome change from just the US winning the war. British
troops are a little cliched but that's not a real problem
(not as bad as Bob Hoskins playing a Russian general in Enemy
at the Gates, blew the realism that did). The Russian levels
are brutally real with Russian officers killing deserters
and the run up the hill to get into Stalingrad it pretty graphic,
however much fun it is.
Visually
this game is pretty damn near perfect, although lip syncing
could have been better. Proper Russian would have been nice
too, not some fella speaking accented English. 'Ve vill kill
dee German Scum, yes?' etc. The old OLD Quake 3 engine has
had a polish up but I can't forgive Infinity Ward for using
it. The multiplayer maps are sometimes tiny and still feel
identical to Medal of Honour, which although not a bad thing,
it still shows it's age. The larger maps are fun, although
ruled by snipers which ruins the multiplayer aspect considerably.
For
single player alone this game deserves a good score, however
for the multiplayer side, it's score has been dropped.
