For those not in the know, Call of Duty is a first person shooter putting the user in World War II as an Allied soldier, in my opinion one of the best ever made. Call of Duty 2 will be based on WWII also, but with lots of new missions and a big technology update. The menu, HUD, and interaction seem to be identical to that of the original Call of Duty. That's about where things being similar end. The graphics and game play are DaBomb!
This demo has you playing as a British soldier in the North African Theatre. You're on a transport truck in a convoy of tanks and other vehicles going towards El Daba, Egypt on November 6, 1942. Your mission, mark Nazi artillery cannons for a naval artillery strike. Right off the bat you'll notice the soldier models are improved from the original CoD. The red head soldier next to you is quite sexy with his freckled skin. Looking off into the distance you can see the heat coming off the desert sand distort your long range vision while planes battle in the sky and the best bomber ever known to mankind, the Stuka, takes out the tank directly in front of you.
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Once you're in the city, you're met with heavy resistance as you fight your way to the beach to take out that artillery. The visuals are off the hook and the sounds really bring you into the game. Not just the bullet sounds passing by you or popping your buddies helmet off right next to you and hearing his body hit the ground while his helmet flies through the air (I really love getting a headshot and watching the guys helmet fly off, be careful though, it doesn't always kill them and they'll pop right back up and put a cap in your left eye), but listening to your comrades bark out orders, call enemy positions, yelling to take cover all whilst hearing the Germans yell out commands of there own. There seemed to be a lot of unique dialogue from both armies as you worked your way through the city, very cool stuff. I don't know what it is with developers and crates, but I'll be damned if there aren't a ton of crates around. Do not use these for cover; they are destructible, about the only thing destructible. Another new feature that is really cool is the smoke grenade. This bad boy helps out big time when you need some cover to cross a path that is under heavy fire. These things almost work too well as the smoke plume is quite huge and lingers for a long time. I've never seen a real smoke grenade in action, but I kind of doubt that a grenade could put off that smoke. Regardless, walking through one can disorient you, but luckily the map in the bottom left corner helps guide you on your way. Something that changed from the original CoD is how you toss grenades. You used to select the grenade, usually the '4' key, and you'd use your left mouse button (fire) to toss it. Now you hold your grenade key down, aim, and release the key to throw it. Very nice feature which saves you time by eliminating the weapon switch that used to happen.
There is also dynamic lighting, which I'm sure everyone that has played Battlefield 2, Doom 3, and Half-Life 2 are familiar with. Adds a nice realistic element to the game as you can see from the screenshots where a soldier is firing is weapon from above me. The dynamic lighting and sound really help you pinpoint enemy locations.
Lighting Affects
I also noticed that things aren't as predictable as before. Sure you realize if you have to go into a house or closed in area, there are going to be bad guys and tossing a grenade in first is always a good idea. However, you don't have many grenades, and they didn't put bad guys around every corner. In fact, once you clear out a group of bad guys and think the coast is clear, it seems that if you move forward a new event is triggered and more bad guys in different positions pop up. So, if you're playing this game on a high skill level, you better pay attention to what you're doing.
The only thing I found annoying in the game was the constant "help screen" pop-ups every time you got near a weapon, but this may just be a feature in the demo that can be turned off in the final game.
Overall, great freaking game and a must own for FPS freaks as it rocks the clit like no other. Well done Infinity ward and Activision on an excellent sequel.
To view more screenshots, Click Here! and click "View as a Slideshow or just click around.
You can find a link to download the demo at www.callofduty.com
There is also dynamic lighting, which I'm sure everyone that has played Battlefield 2, Doom 3, and Half-Life 2 are familiar with. Adds a nice realistic element to the game as you can see from the screenshots where a soldier is firing is weapon from above me. The dynamic lighting and sound really help you pinpoint enemy locations.
Lighting Affects
I also noticed that things aren't as predictable as before. Sure you realize if you have to go into a house or closed in area, there are going to be bad guys and tossing a grenade in first is always a good idea. However, you don't have many grenades, and they didn't put bad guys around every corner. In fact, once you clear out a group of bad guys and think the coast is clear, it seems that if you move forward a new event is triggered and more bad guys in different positions pop up. So, if you're playing this game on a high skill level, you better pay attention to what you're doing.
The only thing I found annoying in the game was the constant "help screen" pop-ups every time you got near a weapon, but this may just be a feature in the demo that can be turned off in the final game.
Overall, great freaking game and a must own for FPS freaks as it rocks the clit like no other. Well done Infinity ward and Activision on an excellent sequel.
To view more screenshots, Click Here! and click "View as a Slideshow or just click around.
You can find a link to download the demo at www.callofduty.com
