Call of Duty 2

This was one of the first xbox 360 games that I bought, and along with Project Gotham Racing 3 and the recently released DOA 4 are proof that the 360 is indeed a next-generation system. The game look pretty good on a regular TV set, but on a HD capable TV with surround sound the superb game truly comes to life with amazing graphics and intense sounds. The bullets whizzing by your head, the fights your fellow soldiers are engaging in, and all the other sounds truly immerse you deeply in the game. Of course any true hardcore game wouldn't try the game in anything less than the Veteran setting, which is particularly unforgiving (especially the later American levels) All in all this is a simply great game and is one of the few MUST OWN ones if you managed to get your hands on a 360. It rivals any but the most maxed out computers currently out.

My Grade: A

(note: this review was written at the time of the game's release, but since the page on it didn't exist on IMDb then, I'm posting it now)

Call of Duty 2 As someone who grew up with the Call of Duty series as a child, I must say that Call of Duty 2 is one of the best World War II-related games in the series. The gameplay and gunplay of the game is still fun. The variety of missions in the game is fantastic and some of the best missions in this series can be experienced in this game. However, the gameplay is not perfect, and weaknesses such as the artificial intelligence of enemies and allies, as well as the average quality of the Soviet campaign can be a little annoying. The technical and artistic graphics of the game may be annoying for 2022, but it is suitable for 2005 and in my opinion, there is nothing wrong with it. The game's ambient sound is fantastic and can completely give you a sense of being on the battlefield The voice actors of the game also did their job well 9/10.

This game is excellent! The graphics are incredible. When people are talking, you can actually see their lips moving along with the words! That is something that video games barely ever do. I love this game. It is one of my top ten favorite of all time. It is just so good. It is a very long game with very long levels with lots of action in every level. It is very realistic. Your team mates know exactly where the bullets that are being fired are coming from and know not to go there and they can throw grenades and they can actually talk to you and stuff like that. This game is actually even dramatic in parts but in a good way because some games try to be dramatic. This is a great game. 10/10.

This was my first 360 game and it did not disappoint. Although it hasn't used the 360's full arsenal of high tech abilities it has everything you need for an extremely enjoyable FPS (first person shooter) This hasn't incorporated any special button trickery and is pretty straight forwards from unwrapping to fragging, so its good to have a friend over for a game as well! The details in the graphics are amazing too, and i found my self in awe at some of the battles unfolding before my eyes, and no cheesy cut scenes, your in there, watching everything as it happens, trying to get to cover and trying to get out of harms way.

Thats another thing this game has, it feels real, i know you can get shot a few times and not die, but i don't mean realistic, i mean it feels like your in the battle.

When a tank rolls in you want to get out the way, you fear that turret of death, you slowly come to associate with the band of brothers around you and come to hate the Nazi's. When you see a MG32 nest slaughtering your mates, you feel for them and get out of whatever pit your hiding in and start shooting. This is the only game I've found myself feeling slightly scared at how worked up it makes me feel.

The multi player game is great fun, although no amount of skill can save you from the sheer luck that seems to befall you, which comes into play in single player as well. there's just a few frantic moments in this game which really annoy me, silly little things like your gun moving slower than the guy running away from your sights, like about to be diving into cover when discovering you have been stuck on some random object which gets you killed. Also the amount of times that the enemy knows your there gets a bit disheartening, especially when your on hard mode and have five angry Huns armed with large calibre rifles knowing your every move.

Other than these small nuisances, this is a fantastic game, with the most realistic smoke effects I've ever seen. And you can have an amazing array of tactics and freedom through it as well, either smoking and running in, or flanking your enemies, your allies seem to respond instinctively to what your trying to achieve and help you with it, whilst your enemies too, slowly adapt to your strategies.

Its also great in the fact that your not a super human soldier, you can die in as many shots as your enemies can, and are as likely to get hit by a wry grenade as any other grunt, but have the ability to regenerate. This is great as it means you don't feel like some sort of super soldier, but one of the lads getting done over by your enemies, yet you seem to have a real impact on battles, despite being so mortal.

There are also some great scenes, such as a level where you are falling back, fighting your enemy until compromised then falling back to the next position until your at your last stand. Then another scene where you are to hold out on top of a hill you will end up loathing, and loving. All of these are amazingly well done, with a running commentary from several of your friends voices that become familiar and comforting throughout the game.

This game might not have the best graphics, or the most original storyline or situations, you might even be quite limited in your range of movements on the battlefield, but this game has something others don't. Its literally like being in a film, but having an active role, although it is let down by some unsavoury moments involving bunkers and inescapable grenades that make you want to scream, its a riot of fun too, whether your looking for a solid FPS to frag on or something to mess about on with your mates, this will have it.

It even has some replay value, just for certain battles though.

Ngl, I think the only reason I decided to replay this game was because I started black ops 6, and didn't realize it was kind of a sequel to Cold War, and from someone who hasn't played a call of duty campaign since WW2, I decided to just stop since I want to experience the overarching story without being confused on certain story beats, so screw it, I've played the first call of duty somewhat recently, so why not replay Call of Duty 2 and get some of the achievements I've been lacking, which all revolved around beating missions and the campaign on veteran difficulty.

This was loads of fun, and brung back so many memories, but wow is the veteran difficulty a pain in certain areas of the game. Playing 3 different campaign sections, each playing a different ally, you're tasked with the same ideology; kill and obliterate the Nazi regime. The first section (The Russian campaign) was a great introduction for what's to come, and had a few moments that felt like the game was just punishing you for playing on such a hard difficulty. I did like with this game, there's no more health packs, and your health regenerates overtime, making this game way easier than the first game, but still, certain parts of this game would of been actually impossible if that was the case. The second campaign (The British campaign) was a step up in difficulty bringing tank war in the mix, but actually playing as the tank was fairly easy. What made this campaign more difficult was the missions where you're tasked on killing massive amount of guys, oh and they love to ambush, so having guys come around corners and already shooting at you was all too common. One particular mission that was a pain was a sniping mission where you sit on top of a building and have to shoot soldiers shooting mortars. Thank God there were auto save moments during that because if not, I would have just gave up there. Now the really hard part of the game was the 3rd campaign (The American campaign) in particular a mission where you have to storm a beach and infiltrate and destroy the artillery guns. The lack of auto saves during this mission was such a pain, and had me struggling so much. Definitely died 40 times or so before I was able to finally smoke grenade my way into a bunker and finally get that auto save but yet, there were plenty more moments in this campaign that just seemed impossibly hard for no reason, the other being a mission where you have to infiltrate a bunker that has an infinite bad guy spawn, and have to smoke grenade and aimlessly shoot your way in. Another mission I died more times than I wanna count, but it was rewarding to finally get past it. There were a some other parts that seemed obnoxious, but at this point, I was expecting the worst, so the rest of the campaign didn't phase me. Beating the last mission and seeing those end credits were a relief to say the least.

In all, I think this game was pretty good. If you want a real challenge, definitely play this on veteran and prepare for a relentless beating.