Call Of Duty

Gaming these days is all about updates. Nazis can now have their own shadows, and if they're lucky, flickering ambient lighting on their terrified faces as they scream in agony. One day perhaps, we shall see the reflections of the carnage in their very eyes, their pupils cloud over and their expression relax into a resigned blankness as they die ...Until then, there's Call of Duty. The much anticipated second world war shooter boasting jaw dropping set pieces, stunning atmosphere and larger emphasis of squad based combat than Medal of Honour has FPS fans hoping for a new standard in a single player experience.

Although the name's changed, the team behind Medal of Honour - 2015, now Infinity Ward - is essentially the same, so CoD is more or less MoHAA 2. This is obvious from start to finish, which is good almost as much as it is bad. Visually, it has moved on. Gun models have improved significantly since MOHAA, and the timed bombs explode with breathtaking colour, shaking the camera and lighting up your Thompson. Character detail is richer, but not hugely; and while textures are sharper, the scar marks from the dissection of the quake 3 engine do show sometimes in the indoor portions. No shadows, absolutely static chairs and tables, and Nazi wall hangings we've seen before quickly conjure nostalgia for its predecessor. Having said that, it does step up the immersion despite the limitations of the technology with nozzle fire that looks great, and enemies that respond with all the melodramaticism you might expect from a clown. They clutch at throats, shout in pain, and generally keep the firing entertaining for the games entire life span.

This isn't very long however, about eight hours overall, spanning three campaigns from the perspective of British, American, and Russian troops. The latter far superior, purely for the spectacle of the Stalingrad beach landing we've all been waiting for, and the taking of Red Square soon afterwards.
The legendary Omaha invasion was a classic. Every FPS fan remembers with a shaking hand, the day they burst out of a motor launch and scrambled up the sand with the whistling of MG fire past their helmet buckles. This has been recreated with an Enemy at the Gates style assault on Stalingrad, complete with flag bearing grunts and the court marshalling of deserters on site. However, because we've seen it before, it somehow lacks lustre. It's obvious what's going to happen so not as exciting as the original. This is the case with most of the game in fact. Nazi mansions, French countryside and Siberian facilities all retain a sense of comfortable reliance on a successful formula.

As promised, CoD boasts heavier emphasis on squad-based combat. Almost every mission sees you with several teammates, lining up along cover to pick off Germans across the map or blowing the door off a secret cellar. There's something not quite right here though. Your teammates will occasionally kill an enemy, but almost all the time they'll say "See if you can clear out that room!" or "Take down that sniper!" then wait for you. When you're done, they'll suddenly leap into action again. If they die, often another soldier will appear discreetly from behind some bushes to take his place. It seems their only real purpose is for the aesthetic quality of having lots of people on screen and because most of the missions take this structure, you're constantly reminded of how irrelevant they actually are.

The multiplayer is a refined version of MOH. Maps are taken from the SP missions, and modes are the usual TDM, DM, and objective based missions. TDM has been subtly arranged so that you spawn at key locations that the opposing team has to push you back from and vice versa. If your team is good, you'll keep pushing them back, round and round the map. It works well, because you'll generally be fighting across defined tactical positions, like a burnt out building or a machine gun nest. Guns have simplistic statistics like weight, accuracy and recoil making it easy to make your weapon choice and, a la Halo, you can pick up secondary rifles as you stumble across them. Bunny hopping players were an issue, but patches have already cured balancing issues like these and the mod community also seems active. CTF modes, new maps, and realism mods are already up, to name but a few.

Call of Duty is an update. No more, no less. Almost inevitably, it takes the crown of best WW2 shooter over Medal of Honour, but its the last of a dying breed. Completely orchestrated, totally predictable but fun while it lasts, it doesn't push any boundries, but instead totally refines existing ones. The short single player is made up for by a decent multiplayer and together, they make a solid FPS that many gamers will surely buy. Sadly though, Infinity Ward could have risen the bar so much higher.

Sam Goldwater