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We’ve been lied to, all these years games have taught us that the war was won by a single (English speaking) individual, who took on many an impossible task single-handedly – taking out AA guns, tanks and huge amounts of enemy infantry without barely breaking into a sweat. Not so, says Infinity Ward, makers of Call of Duty – with their rather catchy promotional line of “In the war that changed the world, no one fought alone”.
Call of Duty, another first person shooter based in the closing years of World War 2, it’s not the most original of gaming concepts, but throwing you onto the battlefield with a squad of fellow soldiers alongside you gives the game a different feel to it than the usual superhuman, one man takes on the entire opposing army, feel.
For the majority of your time in the game you’re surrounded by teammates, who will offer covering fire, and moving targets for the enemy to be distracted by as you try to creep up on them, it makes a change from being out there all on your own with naught but an extensive array of weapons to keep you company. Also, you’re guided through missions by your commanding officer, who tells you where to go and what to do – a good way of keeping players on track (although the game is very linear, it’s hard to go too far from where you’re meant to).
The A.I. in game is very impressive, your teammates will duck for cover when they come under fire, and only attempt to return fire once there is a gap in the enemies offensive, this said no amount of A.I. can cover up the fact that the game is heavily scripted in places, certain people from your team (the Commanding Officer, for example) will not die, and the bit players that do fall by the wayside will be replaced as the battle goes on, meaning that you're never really fighting with a reduced squad. The graphics are slightly above average, but with a host of beautiful looking first person shooters coming out early next year, don’t expect this game to look fresh for very long.
The single player mission is perilously short, playing on the Hardened difficulty level I managed to complete the game after 4 hours of play – It was, admittedly, a top quality four hours in which you’re able to take in three sides to the war – as a British paratrooper, American marine and a Russian conscript, and the scenarios that each side take you into a thrilling – the British having to hold the bridge behind enemy lines (as seen in The Longest Day), the beginning of the Russian campaign is almost an exact copy from the movie Enemy at The Gates.
On the multiplayer side of things, it’s a promising start – but one where a few bugs defiantly need to be addressed before it becomes a favourite of the masses. Within weeks of the games release wall hacks appeared on the scene, and a plea was made to Activision to incorporate punkbuster into the online side of things, in an attempt to stamp out the cheating problem before it became rife. Also worthy of note is the bunny hopping, jumping around corners and spraying bullets at an unsuspecting foe is okay, leaping all the way across the map without once stopping is both hideous to watch and not good gaming practise.
That said, the multiplayer maps are of a good quality, although some heavily favour people who are adept with a sniper rifle, and can make other players life a misery, especially when you re-spawn directly in front of the snipers scope. However, after you’ve met your untimely demise you have the chance to watch the last 10 seconds of action from your killers point of view, meaning that you can see him sneaking up behind you while you were busy typing so glib quip, switching to his trusty pistol, and then bashing you to death with it – all while you were too busy in your own self-absorbed world. Killcam can be an invaluable tool though, and is especially helpful for finding that sniper who refuses to move, and keeps shooting you with pinpoint accuracy.
The final rating comes down to a case of quality against quantity, should anyone recommend a game on a single player mode that lasts for so little time? Not everyone has broadband yet, not everyone enjoys multiplayer frolics that does – true, there are certain missions that will bring you back to the game for a few more goes, but then what? The game has no real draw for the solo player to return.
Exceptional while it lasts, just a shame it couldn’t last longer…
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