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Fun game overall, but multiplayer is imbalanced

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: May 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I won't go into the many merits of this game, which are well covered in other reviews. Flat out, it's the best single player FPS game I've ever played, genre notwithstanding. It's all in the details, which were lovingly crafted and polished for ultimate gameplay, atmosphere, and feel. Wonderfully cinematic.

I'm not completely knocking multiplayer -- it is cathartically fun -- but I have to comment on where it falls short. With a little bit of tweaking, it could be much better.

Here are my nitpicks:

1. Allied players, especially the Americans and Russians, have a distinct advantage over the Axis players through varied and superior firepower. The dated WWI-era Thompson SMG is the default small arm of choice for the Americans, and, oddly, it's deadly accurate at long range (although it's described in the game text and well known among military historians as being notoriously inaccurate) and takes about 1.3 seconds to reload during play (while on the run yet), as opposed to the comparable Axis SMG, the MP44, which takes at *least* twice as long. Why? Also, both guns are roughly equal weight in real life, yet American players are able to run and bound smoothly with the Thompson through any map/terrain like greased gazelles with their butts on fire. Conversely, German players carrying the MP44 poke along clumsily like Rush Limbaugh after Thanksgiving dinner and get caught on every door and window jamb they pass.

2. The MP44, one of the best designed SMGs in WWII bar none, is exasperatingly weak and inaccurate in CoD. On many occasions I had to empty an entire clip to down a foe at close range, whereas the Thompson SMG or .45 ACP knocked me over in one or two shots like I was an inflatable stand-in. The Thompson's large .45 caliber cartridge should give the gun a much steeper muzzle climb than the MP44, but it doesn't. Hardly any is noticeable.

3. The Russian PPsH SMG is ridiculously powerful compared to the MP40 or MP44. Yes, I know each drum held a whopping 71 rounds in real life and the gun was oddly reliable for being a Russian small arm, but the game still needs balance for proper gameplay. I suggest having it take longer to reload, which is realistic; drum magazines are notoriously cumbersome and finicky to load properly.

4. My biggest complaint about multiplayer game mechanics is how random runners and shooters have an enormous advantage over prone and covered players. I know these "campers" are viewed with general disdain, but think about it: did soldiers run and dance around like epileptic madmen firing randomly during combat? Neg. They sat still and took cover, only moving when necessary, and it's obvious why. It's a WWII FPS simulation; it shouldn't be played like DOOM or Quake gore-fests. One should be able to use tactics for survival and victory, yet the players with the best kill ratios are those that tape down the Move Forward key and just run around randomly at full speed, shooting like postal workers on crank. And accuracy should decline markedly while running, but it definitely doesn't in CoD -- while playing an Allied player, I can pick off a hidden German sniper at 100 yards using a Thompson on full auto while hurdling rubble and dead bodies.

5. Suggestions to the designers for future mods or sequels: Add fatigue. Keep players from just running around constantly. Also, it'd be cool to have the console option of occasional weapon jams, just like reality. And adding weather would be interesting too.

6. Finally, offering friendly fire as a multiplayer option is ludicrous. There's ALWAYS at LEAST one a-hole who enjoys shooting his own players, or worse yet, it offers the opportunity for an opposing player to leave his original side and join yours to kill you and your compadres to help his team. Toss it.

MP great, SP not so much

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: October 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I don't do the on-line gaming, so can't comment on that. But this game rocks when played on my LAN against friends. Great graphics, good maps, fun game types, solid choice of weapons, and great game play.

But the single player was a bit of a letdown. The game is WAY too scripted, which especially hurts the replay ability (after playing through the game just once, I now already know exactly what to expect when & where, where most the bad guys are hiding, when they'll jump out, etc.). The scripting also hurts the firt-time run through in that it eliminates most of the choices you can make--you're forced to do things the way the game designers want you to, and don't have the option of finding alternate approaches, flanking the enemy, etc. Most of the missions were just plain too easy as well--there were only 2-3 missions that weren't a cakewalk to me, using the default difficulty setting. Increasing the difficulty basically only provides a slight increase in opponent accuracy and damage of their weapons.

For me, the MP LAN play makes the game worth it, but if you're looking for a good SP shooter, I really don't think this one fits the bill.

Excellent

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: December 31, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This just might be the FPS world's crown Jewel.Gameplay is immaculate, and the graphics and sound are supurb. My ONLY gripe is how quickly I beat it. In a year when this game and Far Cry have graced my PC, my computer feels well taken care of.

Thanks, Activision. Thanks, Infinity Ward. You have made a masterpiece.

On to the expansion..

HOW TO TOUR EUROPE AND GO HUNTING--AT THE SAME TIME!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: November 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

If you go to Google and type in "vietnam video games", you get about 5 million results back. But, if you type in "world war 2 video games" you get a whopping 48 million results. What should this tell you? That the video game market is FLOODED with World War 2 games. So why should you or should you not pick this one? Well, let's start with the good.

THE GOOD:

Call of Duty has a user interface that is solid as tank steel! Your controls are pretty much the same as in most FPS's, actually a bit better, because I never had to remap any of my controls. The default controls were perfect right out of the box.
Next is the save game system. The game saves automatically after every single major firefight and event in the game. You will probably NEVER have to go to the main menu mid-game, click Save, and type in a name for your saved game. The save points are on average about every 5 minutes or so, depending on the situation. But even BETTER, is when you quit the game and come back to it, you just simply press the "Resume Game" button on the main menu and you're back in action, right where you left off! Just 1 mouse click after loading the game!!!

You get to play the game as the Americans, British, and the Russians. As a result, you fight all over the European theater, not just around Germany. The Russian levels are clearly inspired from "Enemy at the Gates" and the game does an outstanding job of recreating that environment.

As for weapons, no matter what nationality you're playing as, you have grenades, a small pistol, a rifle and a machine gun. There are other weapons that are lying around, like anti-tank weapons and heavy machine guns or flak guns. Even tanks, in some later levels. The weapon variety is very balanced.

There are some really huge firefights in this game, which means you get to kill as many Nazis as you can possibly dream of, but at the same time, expect to die ALOT!

I had no clipping problems (something that DID happen to me often in Medal of Honor on my PS2). Like I say, this game is well put-together.

Least of importance to me: Graphics. But the graphics are certainly very good.

THE BAD:

The major problem I see with this game is that it is not consistent. At times I get the feeling that this game is really trying to be a serious, realistic WWII game. BUT, at the same time, there are moments where this game just feels too much like I'm playing an arcade game.

For example, the weapons, the enemies, the environments, the Germans shouting in German things like: "Ich wiederhole, wir werden angegriffen!", is all very convincing and realistic.

But then there's the unrealistic side. You can't open doors (I'm still debating if this was a good game-concept idea or not, but in US Army urban warfare, they taught us to NEVER ignore a closed door. No, you go through EVERY door and EVERY room until the whole house is CLEAR.). You can't even climb objects you would think you should be able to climb. Once I tried jumping a small wooden fence. Nope. Had to use the gate. Oh please. I know I conquered obstacles tougher than that in Basic Training.

Perhaps worst of all, is the inconsistency with objects. Even something as simple as a lightbulb, spotlight, or chattering radio, you are unable to destroy. So for those that love to blow out lightbulbs and play with in-game physics, this game is probably not for you.

But then, there is the level where you can command a tank. And, wonder of wonders, sometimes if you shoot at a building, a huge chunk of wall will come off. Very rewarding, I must say, but, again, it'd be nice if all levels were this destructable by you and not just this one.

Another object inconsistency experience: On the bridge map, I'm able to use the flak gun to take out a tank. The next level is an exact continuation of the next, same map and all, but for some reason, the flak gun doesn't work. Then on the next level, same map, the flak gun is suddenly interactive again.

If you end a mission with an MP44 and a Kar98, you will start the next mission, which is a seamless continuation of the previous, with some default weapons and your trophy weapons from the previous level are . . . gone . . . MIA.

Fixed weapons have infinite ammo and don't even overheat.

You can beat Single player in about 10 hours, which is really short. I'm not rating this game on its multiplayer aspect because I haven't tried that yet.

OVERALL:

Yeah, I know. I make this game sound bad. But really, it IS a solid game, I'm just afraid that it doesn't push the FPS genre in any new directions, it doesn't do anything innovative. Please don't say that the "blurry muted confusion state" after a bomb goes off near you is revolutionary. It was done first in Medal of Honor. Nothing new. The only real new thing in this game is that you get to play a realistic Russian campaign. One thing I would love to see in a FPS is weapons that jam/malfunction. How's THAT for realism and innovation! Or a FPS that takes place in World War ONE!

If you want a realistic, more open-ended FPS, try Operation Flashpoint. If you want innovation try Half-Life. If you want to run around scared try Aliens vs. Predator. If you want to kill thousands of Nazis and follow a Hollywood-inspired linear storyline, then Call of Duty is the game for you.

Still an awesome game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: December 19, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Though this game came out a few years back, this game is still awesome and folks who havnt played it can get a great gaming experience at half the cost of a new game.
The graphics are great, doesnt make you feel like you are playing a dated game.
The multiplayer is excellent and free. Though i have had this game for 6 months i never tried multiplayer thinking that a subsrciption is required. Well you dont need a subscription or pay any fees, and the thrill of competing with "real" people as opposed to CPU is awesome.
Also since many of the battle settings are out of movies (like "enemy at the gates" etc.) it makes you feel like you have been to those battlegrounds, which is just great.
All in all, I would recommend people who havnt played this game to try it out.

For FPS Fans

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: December 08, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I read PC Gamer magazine and they've been hyping this game for months (makes you wonder if they get a kickback), and just gave it a 93% score.
So I picked it up at Microcenter where , btw, it can be had for twenty nine ninety nine.

Overall, it's a good game, but not great.
The sound is top notch. The graphics are variable. The textures are not that great, but the animation is pretty good. I echo other reviewers in saying that scenes/environs in the Russian campaign are amazing to behold, what with streams of soldiers advancing amidst explosions, bodies being tossed around, and bombed out buildings.
The gameplay though is disappointing. It is too linear for one thing. You pretty much go where they tell you. Doors that don't open the first time, might open later after you finish the next numbered objective. So that's a little lame. It's also rather short - about as short as Max Payne, but without the compelling story. This would have really bothered me had I paied the price best buy or amazon are asking.
The environments are not explorable. You can't jump over some low walls and some edges you are simply not allowed to jump off of , while other lethal falls you can jump down without damage.
The enemy AI is not great either. They use cover, but that's about it. They don't try to flank you nor use covering fire. Still, at other times, you hide in the shadows and try to use stealth yet they spot you from 500 yards off. AI really hasn't advanced much from Halflife.
But the game is still enjoyable enough - you really can't go wrong with a game where you shoot nazis. There are also a couple of missions where you're driven around in a vehicle being chased that are pretty fun. If you're a first person shooter fan then pick this up, otherwise wait for the price to come down.

a great game.....at the same time, a great disappointment

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 14
Date: November 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is actually way~better than 'medal of honor'

As a private of 101st Airborne, you feel like you are a member of 'Easy Company' in Band of Brothers when you destroy four '88's in Normandy.
Capturing the bridge of Caen canal as British Airborne is also great....although using 88mm flak right next to the bridge was pretty funny...rather silly

By the time when you sabotage 'Tripitz' you will start to feel a little confused....IF YOU ARE A SERIOUS WWII BUFF!

Not only the mission itself is pathetic but you see these Kriegsmarines (German Navy) holding....MP44! Really? I am not sure....

Not only that, there are tons of WAFFEN SS troops 'in the middle of Wehrmacht! (German Army)

By the time when you become a Red Army soldier in Stalingrad......you get shocked.....not because the game is so realistic....but you can see Waffen SS officers commanding Wehrmacht infantry... at the same time Mark IVs stand right next to them with beautifully painted 'ambush scheme'

They applied this scheme in late 1944....and this battle was in 1942
NOT EVEN A SINGLE DIVISION OF WAFFEN SS HAD AN ACTION IN STALINGRAD!

Overall, I would rate this game pretty high.....but if you are addicted to WWII, you will definitely feel some sort of disappointment due to their incorrect historical appliance

Booooring...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 11
Date: November 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Let me start off by saying that this ISN't the worst game ever, but considering this is supposed to be the big follow up to MOHAA(supposedly created by the MOHAA people), I was really let down, especially since I spent 50 bucks on this game. Also, let me say that this is a review of the Single Player Game. This game rocks for Multiplayer!
The Good:
This game had some excellent upgrades from MOHAA. Certain realism factors were done extremely well: tracers, sounds, character textures, dynamic lighting, and an unbelievably well-done AI.
The BAD:
The biggest drawback is that the game play gets to be very, very boring. There is no realy story to speak of and all you ever do is shoot Nazis. Yes, this was MOHAA gameplay, but something was missing. The environments, although well textured and lit and all that good stuff, but when I play this game I feel like I might as well be playing Super Mario Brothers on NES. There are no doors to open, no choices on how to move through a map, there are no problems to solve, and the indoor environments are like playing the second level of Contra. There is a house (chateau) that you go into on one mission in which every single room looks exactly the same. And it's not really rooms, it's just a whole bunch of hallways that look exactly the same.
I had played the Demo for this game before I bought the full version and I had very high hopes. The gsquad based combat that you get on the demo level doesn't carry over through the rest of the game with the same quality. Each level is exactly the same except you're in different environments. This translates into one word. BOOOORING.

Now THIS is a war!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game got me to realize how truly important sound is to a game. Really, there isn't too many "oooh, look at that eye candy" moments in the game. The graphics are nice, but nothing spectacular. But with all the noise and commotion going on, you forget all about it. From that moment in the first mission when your allies drop in all around you in parachutes and enemy MG's starts to fire up...you are immersed!

I was, at first, a bit confused when the game switched over to the SAS side. I was getting used to being called Private Martin, and all the sudden, people are calling me Sgt. Evans! The game switches again to a Russian campaign, then finally, you get final missions as Sgt. Evans and Pvt. Martin to finish the game off.

The single player game isn't a long one, but a very satisfying one. It's worth playing over in the 'veteran' mode (I think that's what the highest difficulty is). Although you'll have to save pretty much every time you kill an enemy, it's quite a fun challenge! It helps you learn the higher reflex tactics needed if you want to succesfully transition to online play. Or you can just belly flop into it. Multiplayer is fun, and as of now the online players are helpful sorts and try to work as a team.

Speaking of multiplayer, one great aspect of FPS these days are the mod community. Already there are mods in the works, and with the games popularity steadily rising, I only see good things for the future of CoD and its mod.

This game will stay in my HD (which is now down to 3 GB) for quite some time.

good

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: September 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have downloaded the demo and I have to say it is great. I played the mission at least 6 times in a row. It is the same creators as MOH so it is alot like execpt MOH graphics are slightly better and weapons seem to be alot more historicaly accurate. But the great thing about it is that u can use your gun sights and pick up different weapons. The best feature is that you are with a squad, which in Moh only a few missions had u working as a team, the rest were just lone wolf types.

all in all this is a great game, and I will buy it but I still say that they should make games about world war where u are the german soldier and in different theaters and operations. For example North african campaign/theater, easter fornt/ operation barbaroosa, greece/italy, and france/poland/denmark/norway. plus the pacific.

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