Call of Duty (PC)

...tell you...

Call of Duty is the WWII game I've really been waiting for. It’s a rare occurrence that I would purchase a game when new (yes, I'm a cheapskate, and my computer is getting on a bit), but after playing the demo I knew I had to. If forced to draw comparison with another game, it would have to be Medal of Honor : Allied Assault, which is no surprise, given that the majority of the same team worked on CoD. And in a way, Call ...
...by Medal of Honor's equivalent. Call of Duty, in the limited experience I have had online, is a vast improvement on MoH - offering a much more satisfying playing experience. It's also fairly playable by 56k users, providing you stick to small games. There are a few different game modes, and many maps allowing you to play the different nationalities, including the Germans. Also included is a very handy "killcam" which shows you the last ... more

"Get your head down private!", the commanding officer barked at me as I dodged what seemed like the millionth bullet. Its not as if he had to tell me. I'd just been knocked into next week by a mortar and my head was still fuzzy from the blast. I took a few moments to catch my breath and regain my focus. People were dying around me - we were being pinned down by the fire from an MG42's and my buddies were relying on me. I inched my head around the fence and aimed down the sight of my rifle. I only had seconds to make this shot count before the torrent of steel would swing back my way and take me out....just a few seconds...

- Excerpt taken from Littlemissdrunk's War Memoirs...

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A WWII shooter in a sea of WWII shooters, and my specialist topic here on ciao it seems. So I have absolutely no guilt or hesitation in simply saying "Buy This Game Now". Of course, you'd like to know why - so let me tell you...

Call of Duty is the WWII game I've really been waiting for. It’s a rare occurrence that I would purchase a game when new (yes, I'm a cheapskate, and my computer is getting on a bit), but after playing the demo I knew I had to. If forced to draw comparison with another game, it would have to be Medal of Honor : Allied Assault, which is no surprise, given that the majority of the same team worked on CoD. And in a way, Call of Duty feels very much like its next evolutionary step. While in summary, the games sound very much alike, in experience CoD has raised the bar tenfold.

The first most noticeable thing that makes CoD really stand out from the crowd is the fact that you're playing alongside a squad of computer-controlled allies. For once, you're not completely in control of the action and pace of the game, as you have a commanding officer around for the majority of the time telling you what needs to be done at any particular moment. My little excerpt wasn't entirely far from the truth either, as your orders will come vocally over the scream of bullets and explosions, although a quick reminder is always just a button push away.

The second most noticeable thing is something that has been sorely lacking in previous games of its ilk - the rest of the Allies. Here, you get to play as three different soldiers - American, British and Russian - with appropriate weaponry, missions and of course accents, for each army. This is clearly a welcome change, especially being a Brit - bringing the game home a little more than it might have been otherwise. As you don't have a central character, the game has a slightly different way of drawing you into events. Unlike most games, where after the loading screen for the level, you're plonked down at the start and pointed in a certain direction, CoD draws you into the entire experience by giving you a lead up to the events. Rather than a simple cut-scene, where you are told what is about to happen as an outsider, you're actually placed *in* the cut scene, able to look around and hear what's going on. There are also occasional vocal/image based "briefings", and even the loading screens often take the form of each soldier’s scribbled plans or diary entries. This may seem like a very trivial thing, but it really has an impact, even after the first play through, especially as they are so very well done. Regardless of the fact that you never really develop one specific character in CoD, these lead-ins really do make you feel like a squaddie - just as bewildered and frightened as the rest, waiting for that moment when everything will explode.

The missions themselves have been given a nice little twist in many places. Rather than the typical "run along this interesting but linear path and shoot things on the way", here you feel much more as though you're actually fighting strategically. For instance, in the demo that was released, the first level had you and your company driving the Nazi's back out of a small village in France. On the next level however, rather than shooting off elsewhere, your squad were tasked with the job of now *defending* that village while the Nazi's tried to win it back. And this is seen in microcosm through much of the game play, with your squad advancing a block or two, then stopping and exchanging heavy fire with the enemy in a small stand-off, before eventually pushing further on. This almost takes the place of the now overly used stealth element that most games feel the need to include these days. You can't creep or tiptoe in CoD - no soldier, you'll never be a ballet dancer in those big old standard issue boots. You do however, need to hide an awful lot from oncoming fire. It plays very much like the way you see it on film or TV - soldiers advancing slowly, crouching and crawling along behind walls, trying to find a decent vantage point or just getting the hell out of the way. I can’t stress enough how nice (if that’s the right word) it is to play a game where you really feel as though you’re pinned down with only a few inches of brick between you and certain death from all sides. Although you do get to be a hero, this is no place for Rambos.
Which brings me nicely onto the point of realism - CoD has just enough of it to draw you in, but not enough to make the game dull. While you are forced to use cover as much as possible, you aren't forced to spend hours crawling along on your stomach (believe me, I've played some games like that) - and that's a highly appreciated balance.

With not only enemies, but allies (forgive the pun) to think about, the AI really had to deliver in this game, and I'm glad to say that it does. It can have its stupid moments, like any game, where your ally will seemingly ignore an enemy five feet away from them, or something similar, but all in all its very good. At one point, I went from a Multiplayer game to the single player game and *actually forgot* for a second that I was the only human playing. They can use cover sensibly, throw back grenades, put down suppressing fire, and take up covering positions. I'd go as far as to say that they teach you how to play as much as anything - given that never before have I gone online and seen humans playing in a team game instinctively in the same way in which your computer-controlled squad does offline.
Speaking of which, the multiplayer element is something I was dreading. After playing Return to Castle Wolfenstein online, I was very much let down by Medal of Honor's equivalent. Call of Duty, in the limited experience I have had online, is a vast improvement on MoH - offering a much more satisfying playing experience. It's also fairly playable by 56k users, providing you stick to small games. There are a few different game modes, and many maps allowing you to play the different nationalities, including the Germans. Also included is a very handy "killcam" which shows you the last five seconds of play from your killer's point of view - not only does it give insight to why you've been sent off heaven-ward, but also dramatically decreases the cries of "cheater!" that tend to abound in online play.

There are many other simple little touches that make this game work so well. Mortar blasts really do stun you, generating a trippy effect on the screen for a number of seconds before you're once again able to focus. Vehicles are brought into play sporadically, providing some very high-paced, adrenalin-pumping, trouser-browning moments. The pace of the game as a whole is varied, quickly switching from close quarters skirmishes to long ranged sniper affairs, occasionally throwing in something different, such as taking control of stationary weapons for some serious firepower. All in all, the frequency of this variation and the length of the missions make it very hard to get bored while playing.

As for cons? Well there are a few little niggles, no game is entirely perfect. The main one being that the game feels quite short. Think days rather than weeks (although on my first play through I did have it on the easy level, or "Greenhorn" as called in-game). After playing the game on all difficulty levels, I know that you'll have your work cut out for you when you try it as a "Veteran", but even still, it would have been nice to see, well, more game really.
Another little annoyance is one that plagues almost every game like this - the undying characters. There are some characters that just can't die for the purpose of the storyline. They could stand in front of the entire Axis armies with a big target sign painted on their chest and still get up after a few hundred-thousand rounds were shot into them. There is also the odd way that no matter how many of your squad die around you, in a short time the numbers seem to replenish. Both these things do hinder the ability to completely immerse yourself in the game, but once you get into the action, you'll often overlook such trivial niggles. And it has to be said that its a lot better than having to play each game feeling responsible for the lives of the entire squad, or worse, finding yourself stuck because you've no longer got any back-up.
One thing that may put people off is the replay value, or should I say the fact that there’s very little of it. The game is so very mindblowing purely because it has been scripted that way, and its very much like a film in that respect. Because of this, CoD is limited on how much replay it can give you, although the multiplater element is there for new, unpredictable battles at the push of a button and the click-whirrr of a net connection…

On the technical side, I can happily say the graphics are great. Surroundings are atmospheric and beautifully recreated, and effects such as water and smoke are carried off well. I've had the opportunity to play the game on both high and low spec computers, and even with most of the details and effects turned down, its still a pretty little thing. It may not be quite up to the forthcoming Half-life or Doom, but for what it is its more than acceptable. On the topic of playing on a low spec machine - my computer is barely over the minimum requirements, and with the details down, the game runs smoothly 99.95% of the time. There is the occasional sluggish second when the game auto saves (no need for quick saving here), but it is literally just a second before you're right back up to speed, and it usually saves at the more quiet moments anyway.

The sound in-game is superb. Real weapons-fire has been recorded, the voice acting has been done by professionals (Giovanni Ribisi, aka Phoebe’s odd brother from Friends being one such talent) and it’s all put to great effect. I'd thoroughly recommend a surround sound system if possible, as the directional awareness the sound delivers really works for you, and the general atmosphere.

The control system is fairly easy to get to grips with (and customisable, of course), so I'm confident that even a newcomer to the genre could master the game in a short amount of time. There is the ubiquitous tutorial at the start of the game, although it is nicely tied in to the storyline as the American soldier's first "mission".

Overall, Call of Duty is a joy to play from start to finish. Its yet another game that I'd suggest setting aside time for, because its something that's very easy to pick up, but incredibly hard to put down again. The environments are beautifully realised, the AI is intelligent enough to not be noticeable most of the time, and the action is varied but consistently good. Most importantly, it really sucks you in. Like a big old muddy mortar hole in the ground that you just can't pull yourself out of. There is so much adrenalin, immersion and real feelings of achievement when you finish a mission, that it’s near impossible to drag yourself away from the screen. And that, to me, is what a good game is all about.
 

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