Call of Duty 2

The Good
The graphics are cosmetically better than the prequel, with eye catching lighting and shadows. Just like the first game, you experience the war from the American, British and Russian perspectives. Though the Battle of Stalingrad isn't too different from what you've seen before, there are notable battles intriguing enough to play, including the Second Battle of El Alamein, Point de Hoc and Hill 400.

There are some new welcoming features such as the grenade warning indicator, smoke bombs for cover, a decent arsenal of weapons and some vehicles to mount and maneuver. Each mission does present an interesting number of objectives on the offensive, defensive and covert parts. It's neat that in a couple of those missions you can complete the objectives in any order you wish. Then it's nice to make the acquaintance of Captain Price in the British missions.

The Bad
Much that the first game had to offer is tarnished by a volley of flaws from the upgraded engine and additional features. This is where the traditional reddening screen from taking wounds and regeneration begins in the rest of the series, which makes it hard to see who's shooting and shakes you off your otherwise perfect aim (especially sniping). There's no fun in most battles as you spend half the time ducking and covering from grenade after grenade, ruining the pace you would expect from a shooter.

Then come the many minor problems. For one, it takes so many more bullets to kill a single enemy (even on the easiest difficulty) with torso shots than it would in real life. It's disappointing that you can now only carry two weapons, not including a sidearm for a third. And there's no way to sprint, as was the case in United Offensive. Lastly, there's little in the way of music and none coming from the brilliant Michael Giacchino. And the sound effects are awful with constant chaotic yelling erupting from soldiers who sound like they escaped from a looney compartment.

The Bottom Line
The game mechanics take a lot of getting used to if you're so acquainted with the first game. It fails to capture the real feel of warfare and the fun ends quicker than it begins. When you've breezed through all three campaigns, there's just no real incentive to replay them again. This sequel feels kind of like it's riding on the back of the prequel and not showing off its full potential. If you get bored of this game, you'll be begging for another Call of Duty 1 expansion pack. Don't miss out on this game, but don't think you'll miss playing it after you finished it.

The Good
An old game I got from a friend and which plays only on my XP laptop. This is a fun and fast paced FPS which was greatly inspired by SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and BAND OF BROTHERS. Even some of the dialog is lifted directly from the movie/HBO pieces.

I didn't care too much for driving the tanks but being a military grunt was awesome. Get used to higher ups ordering you to always be on point or do the impossible because, well, it wouldn't be much of a game if you got to hang in back.

Lots of replay for this game allowing you to choose the scenarios at various difficulty levels, too. Barriers and peeking around corners are vital towards your survival. On another note they actually take the time to detail how it was back in the day so you get introductory clips in black and white. Not bad for those who know little about WWII.

WHEN PLAYED: July and August 2010; PLAYING TIME: 15 hours; REPLAY VALUE: B plus to A minus; OVERALL GRADE: A minus.

The Bad
Mostly technical. I hated not being able to play it on my Vista desktop and had to do it on my laptop XP but that's not the fault of the game.

The Bottom Line
Assuming you have the platform for it this is an admirable WWII FPS. Enjoy!

The Good
Finally, the AI teammates amount to something. They actually covered me while fighting enemy AI. They sometimes felt off, but that's all part of the time.

Also, this is an awesome story-driven, single-player experience. I don't know much about its multiplayer, but the campaign is all about cinematic action gameplay. It always felt nice to have an intro where your teammates talk trash or do stuff before things go south. I liked that.

I have never complained about CoD music, and I'm not about to start today. It was awesome, especially since there's a lot of variety in missions and levels. The music made it all that much more immersive.

About guns, they were great. There's not much to choose, but what was there was well-designed and never felt odd to use. It all sounded nice as well. I loved the

The Bad
I can't find anything objectively bad about this game. Heck, even the hardest levels were well-balanced. I wish the campaign was longer, but that's not a bad thing.

The Bottom Line
This felt like a classic. I don't care what anyone else says, it is one to me. That feeling of getting dropped into a beautiful scenario with a bunch of AI teammates that bicker while all hell breaks loose around the team, you can't describe that one. It was a great game.