|
Sports & Gaming -
Gaming
|
|
Call of Duty 2.This game is the sequel to the critically acclaimed first-person shooter Call of Duty, and has all the essential ingredients required for an engrossing war game simulation. Based on one of history's most unforgettable events, Call of Duty 2 lets players experience four individual soldier stories as they overcome insurmountable odds in multiple campaigns of World War II. Players have the freedom to follow each of the four storylines through for the ultimate character-driven experience, or they can engage in the historic battles chronologically for quick hitting action. Along with the new missions, the game features an enhanced engine, advanced artificial intelligence, and even more authenticity than before.
The game has some stunning graphics and challenging environments ranging from the snow enveloped streets of Moscow, to the blistering deserts of Africa to the lush green French countryside. The graphics engine does justice to each of the locales. Players have the option to play in either DirectX 7 or DirectX 9. Although the game works fine on both, a good 3D card will notably enhance the experience. The realism is fantastic and each setting is created in great detail.
The sound of the game is very detailed and authentic. The ambient' sounds, voices (mostly screaming and yelling), and dramatic musical score are guaranteed to provide an aural treat to those with surround sound. The steady yet terrifying rumble of an approaching Panzer tank, the distant howl of approaching planes, the thunder of the mortar fire and the harrowing whistling sound of approaching doom from above, and the nerve racking clinking tell-tale sound of a grenade will remain indelibly etched in the minds of those who try their hand at this game. The game play is nothing short of being absolutely compelling and insanely addictive. The gameplay is also, more varied. The player has to take on unique tasks, such as repairing severed communication cables in the city of Stalingrad. The fighting is furious, bloody, fast-paced and unrelenting. The Russian campaign features brutal, close quarter combat. The African campaign also features more of the same, but offers more room to fight as compared to the Nazi infested houses featured in the Russian campaigns. However, the multi leveled houses are infuriatingly difficult to navigate as the Germans are not only on the streets and inside the houses but are on the rooftops as well. The European campaign features an interesting combination of the various challenges of the previous campaigns. There is close quarter combat in the quaint little European villages, long distance sniping, as well as multi-level combat. The European campaigns are the last ones in the game and are of a higher difficulty level than the rest.
Call of Duty 2 cannot be termed as the typical first person shooter game - taking an accurate aim is hellishly difficult while standing and almost impossible when running. Right clicking the mouse button makes the view shift in such a way that one gets the impression of taking aim while holding the gun to the face. This ensures that Quake-like tactics such as strafing and circle strafing are avoided to maintain balance and accuracy. A few gunshots or a short burst from the machine gun is enough to kill. Another radical design change is the health status. Gone are the days of the health bars. Instead each hit to the player causes a slight bloody mist at the corner of the screen, which grows as the hits increase, eventually causing death.
The game also features a few missions where the gamer can control vehicles. The desert campaign has a few missions where the fighting is done using tanks. Other than that, another short part consists of maneuvering' a giant antiaircraft gun.
Call of Duty 2 has received numerous perfect and near-perfect reviews from the media upon its release, as well as praise from many others. However, there a few flaws as well. A major criticism of the game is the lack of a manual saving ability, forcing the player to rely completely on the auto save function of the game, since neither regular nor quick saving is featured. While the automated save functions works well enough for the most part, it can make the game extremely annoying when failing to work properly. source Spider Mag.
|
