Reviewed: November 7, 2005
Reviewed by: Tyler Whitney

Publisher
Activision

Developer
Treyarch

Released: November 1, 2005
Genre: Action-FPS
Players: 1/ 16
ESRB: Teen

8
8
10
8
8.5

Supported Features

But, what sets Call of Duty apart from these previous games, besides the enhanced graphics/sound, is the impeccable scripting that places you firmly in the boots of a regular G.I. And in this installment, you’re enlisted with the famed 1st Infantry Division, aka “The Big Red One.” The movie, under the same name, stars Mark Hamil, and the classic Lee Marvin, as “The Sergeant”, does decent job of depicting their long journey over the course of the war.

Why you ask was it given such an interesting name? Well, to put it bluntly, they lost over twenty thousand men, but also earned 16 Medals of Honor and thousands of other awards. It is one of the most decorated, respected and honored groups in American history.

The mission design is varied and full of off the wall events, that are seamlessly integrated into the fighting. They are brought together by another excellent storyline, complete with little segments linking the battles. You will battle through Sicily, Central Europe and the exotic locals of North Africa, to name just a few war-torn hot spots. You have to be flexible in your play style though.

Treyarch mixes it up, from assaulting bunkers, to manning machine gun nests, you will be all over the field making widows. You really can’t be Rambo here though; you have to move with your group, use cover, corner shots, and precise aiming to win the day. Your friendly A.I., and the A.I. in general, is a bit thickheaded at times, running through clear lines of fire, toss grenades on themselves and just plain missing the broadside of a barn. So, while I did say you don’t have to toe it alone, it like Doom or something, you still have to kill your fair share of enemies.

Besides your fellow soldiers watching your back, you can also wield some pretty deadly weapons. You have your assortment of rifles, the M1 Garand, Kar 98, Springfield scoped, as well as the close range Thompson and MP-40 sub guns. Nothing can clear a room, like a fully loaded Tommy, chewing .45 caliber holes through people, and furniture, alike. Rounding these out are some new rocket launchers, heavy machine guns and even tanks, which you can use to blow large chunks out of, well anything that stands in your way.

This isn’t Quake or anything; you need to be patient and use your iron sights, not just bunny hop your way through an open door, splashing rocket damage all over. That’s just a recipe for disaster here. I preferred to soften up the areas with a few grenades, and then bust in with some sub-machine gun bursts in all corners, sweeping left and right until everything ceases to move. You have to be especially crafty versus the enemy tanks, working up to their weak spots with your Bazooka’s and whatnot.

Control wise, you have similar controls like most FPS shooters these days, with a few exceptions. The right face buttons correspond to crouching, going prone, chucking a grenade, or thwomping someone in the face with your melee attack. The d-pad is reserved for switching weapons, and leaning around corners, something oh so important when faced with a plethora of entrenched baddies.

I recall a time when the lean thing was so innovative, now I can’t imagine playing a game without it. I mean honestly…. who in the natural world jumps out from behind a corner, fully exposed, and sprays down lead? You stick even your pinky out there, and it's shot to bits. Of course you can tweak them to your hearts content, but the basic load out works pretty dang good from the start.

The explosion and weapons effects are also top-notch, literally erupting your entire screen in shrapnel, smoke and the infamous head shake/ears ringing concussive effect. The PS2 can still pump out the particle effects pretty steadily, some of these scenes rage on and on, combing armored vehicles, planes and tons of footsloggers.

The environments are also again solid-as usual. They can range from the arid deserts of North Africa, to the urban sprawls of Germany, as you march towards the Rhine, and eventually, Berlin. Most are pretty linear, something attributed more to the scripting than anything else, but they still don’t seem overly restrictive. You won’t find too many artificial boundaries or anything…but GTA this is not.

The voice work is again realistic and fitting, it’s never overdone or overly cheesy either. It adds some depth to your squad mates, as you fight house to house, valley to valley and so on. Lastly, the soundtrack is Oscar worthy. Robust, full-bodied rising orchestral pieces, sweep your body and soul into the drama.

Thankfully, there is a fully supported online mode, from Team Deathmatch, regular Deathmatch (free for all) and Capture the Flag. With the dynamics of live opponents, the action is intensified tenfold, as you and up to 15 others duke it out. There are some minor lag issues, and bugs in multiplayer, nothing new to online games, although I think some of the more virgin console gamers may be taken aback.

Hopefully the Call of Duty series will either find a new era of warfare to address or simply retire gracefully from here, and fade away like most great warriors do.