I used to be a total spazz for video games and computer games. I rarely have time or money for them anymore, but I enjoy them once and a while and try to keep up on the new stuff--which is why I downloaded, installed, and ran through the pre-release demo for Call of Duty II. (Warning! Loud, awesome trailer there.)

So I think that actually makes me more qualified than some complete techhead to review games meaningfully. What do I, as Joe Average who might kill two or three rainy evenings a year playing these things, think about this one?

I'll tell ya:

ATMOSPHERE: This is pretty intense, and it's frighteningly realistic. Bullets start whining by you and you really do get flustered--your head moves to dodge them. When you smack somebody with a rifle butt, your whole frame of reference shakes with the blow.

And even with my stuttery old PC, it looked like a movie. I'd say it was beautiful, but it's really pretty ghastly when your squadmates get blasted and pile up like driftwood, so I'll just say it's beautifully visualized. As someone who actually owned a Pong set as a small child, I am in awe of how this game looks and sounds. It's as close as I want to get to the real thing.

The enemy are smart, too. I got waxed several times when I thought I'd put a Jerry down, only to have him whip out a Luger and drill me as soon as I looked away. I took to doing the "just to make sure" shot like that marine in Fallujah, but with no Kevin Sites around to video me.

That said... LINEARITY: This demo still has that carnival-funhouse-ride feeling of inevitability to it. Go here, shoot these guys, move to the next space, shoot these guys, pick up some weapons, go through the gate...the same order every time. It's too much like a movie in that respect. The demo involves an assault on El Daba in Egypt, and I found myself wanting to run down the alleys, climb stairs, kick doors, and try the same assault from different angles, with different plans. Because it's so beautifully rendered you want to be able to walk around in that world. I wanted to grab a Bren gun, scale the blasted minaret, and engage the enemy snipers at range from on high. Just tell me my objectives, and let me figure out how to do it.

Another example of the game's linearity is the German MG42 machine guns. You see the Krauts lugging these around and setting them up; then when they do, it's anchored in place and effectively useless because its arc of fire only covers where your troops used to be before you killed the gunner.

In this respect COD2 is inferior to the last game I played seriously, Ghost Recon. There you could move all over the map and complete your objectives the way you wanted to. Go in hot on the enemy camp, flush 'em out with grenades, or stealth 'em with suppressed weapons? The same scenario was interesting several times over for that reason.

Ghost Recon was, I guess, a different sort of game in that it was very much about programming and developing your squad to complete missions. That became kind of a bother since the AI controlling your squad was moronic and they'd usually stand there and let the commies shoot them. The way I played it it was more of a first-person shooter like COD2, but with much more freedom of movement.

It still didn't let you switch weapons and pick up ammo like you can in COD2, though, and it's nowhere near as cool-looking.

Bottom Line: I can't tell you go out and spend fifty bucks for it, but I do advise you to try that demo and just enjoy all the work that went into this game. As for me I plan to look for it in the bargain bin come September or so.

Posted by: seedubya at 03:04 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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