Brutally intense and constantly riveting WWII action
Call of Duty 2 is a game that came out with fairly high expectations after all the Game of the Year honors that the original Call of Duty garnered. While it does not blow any of those expectations away, it certainly meets them.
This game is incredibly intense from start to finish (which takes somewhere between 12 to 15 hours on normal difficulty, by the way), and the action is pretty much non-stop. If there was ever a game whose simulation of the maelstrom of war made you want to huddle in a corner and cry, this one is it. But cowering is not an option, because in most instances the enemies will just keep respawning if you do not press forward, a feature which began to irritate by the end of the game. Not a deal-breaker, just a sometimes frustrating game mechanic.
Despite these infinite and faceless enemies, the AI is very good, and you will see enemies flank you, distract you for an ambush, and flush you out with grenades. In most cases, the enemies will do more than just pop in and out of cover. They seem to actually adapt to the situation.
The sound and graphics are great in this game, even when you force it to DirectX 7 mode, but if you have an older system, know that utilizing said DirectX mode will allow you to run the game at acceptably brisk framerates.
The storyline of the individual soldiers you play still are fairly vague, and the missions don't really seem connected, but this was not a factor in the first game, and it doesn't really affect the experience here.
Along with the incongruous storyline, also returning is the same excellent gameplay from the first game, along with some nice tank driving diversions in the middle. These probably should have felt out of place, but for some reason they did not.
After beating the single-player, you should be adequately prepared for the game's online mode, which is also very good. The maps are varied, and the games I have played in actually create a real line of battle between the two teams through the use of spawn points that shift based on where your team is. This is unlike any other shooter I have played, and it really helps to lend a sense of realism to the online experience, which is why it has become my favorite part of the game.
Overall a highly recommended game.
