Call of Duty 2 is an intense and well made sequel, but it fails to improve on the high standards set by Call of Duty.
Call of Duty was one of the best World War 2 shooters ever created, which sets the bar pretty high for Call of Duty 2. Call of Duty 2 meets the standards set by Call of Duty, but goes no further. Call of Duty was a great game, why change that formula? Well, theres no point in buying Call of Duty 2 if it doesn't offer anything new. Call of Duty 2 is a small step forward, but a huge leap backwards for the series.
Call of Duty 2, like Call of Duty, lets you play as a soldier from Russia, Great Britain, and of course America. In the middle of the Great Britain campaign you will get the chance to play as a tank commander. This mission is, in fact, made pretty well and is pretty entertaining, but the real meat is in the other missions. The missions are just as intense as you would expect them to be and offer up some varied objectives, such as laying down targets for the artillery to shoot at or sniping enemy mortar teams. Each mission feels pretty fresh and every mission is intense thanks to the revampred AI. The AI for the soldiers on your side are excellent, they take cover well and even call out the positions of the enemies. The enemies will now throw grenades, lots of them, so the game never lets you stay behind one piece of cover for too long. Luckily for you there is a new grenade indicator that tells you where nearby grenades are. While this may seem a little cheap, the grenade indicator will save your life countless number of times, especially playing on veteran difficulty.
With all that said, there are a few flaws that keep this title from surpassing its similar predecessor. While the AI is one of the best new additions to the Call of Duty series, sometimes the AI is just plain dumb. Sometimes your own guys will duck for cover when a grenade is right in front of them. Although, the biggest problem is when the enemy AI waits for a few seconds before shooting at you, but these minor problems only occur every once in a while. Although, the one addition that really hurts the game is the fact that you have no health bar, when you are hurt, simply duck behind some cover for a few seconds and you will be fine. This may sound fine, but it takes alot of intensity out of clearing out rooms and advancing on the enemies position, you don't really have to be careful.
There are some of the small list of changes from Call of Duty that I did enjoy such as how the game makes you use a lot of grenades. By the American campaign you will be used throwing smoke grenades in the middle of an intense fire fight and throwing frag grenades into a house packed full of nazis. The only other addition is just the added touch of polish from the fierce melee attacks to the sights of a rifle.
Speaking of rifles, this games weapons are extrordinary, from the Luger to the Bazooka, every gun feels so solid. You can tell that every gun is created with every detail and it really adds a lot to the game. Also the games enemies drop a very wide variety of weapons which adds a cool touch to the game. Call of Duty has the same weapon carrying system as Halo and Halo 2, which is that you can only hold two weapons at a time, this fits in perfectly with Call of Duty 2.
On highest settings Call of Duty 2 will take your breathe away, sadly, unless you have an exceptionally fast computer, you will have to upgrade your computer to see it. Or atleast to see CoD 2 on highest graphics with an FPS in the double digits. Although, when you turn CoD 2 on highest graphics you will understand why it is so important to upgrade your computer, you can see every stitching in your characters jacket and every dirt speck on your gun.
Call of Duty 2 has to have one of the best audio ever created in a game. There is no music (besides at the end of a level), CoD 2 leaves you to hear the real sound of war, bullets wooshing above your head, mortars flying down in front of you and the yelling of allies and enemies. CoD 2 is one game that would have to be heard, if CoD didn't sound just as great.
The other great thing about CoD 2 is the multiplayer. With ability for up to 64 players on the same server to play is great. The other thing that is cool about the multiplayer is that CoD 2 has a Kill cam which shows you the last 5 seconds before your death from the person who killed you. While I am not a big fan of the added weapons in multiplayer, the multiplayer in CoD 2 is sure to keep you playing for a while longer.
In the end, Call of Duty 2 is a great shooter with great level design and wonderful AI, I just cant recommend it. I reccomend buying the first Call of Duty and its expansion pack. If you already have both of those games and if you are a big fan of Call of Duty, Call of Duty 2 might be worth your fifty bucks, but I am just warning you that it will feel familiar.