Call Of Duty 2

by ACTIVISION

Product Features

• Unprecedented enhancements from stunningly realistic graphics to seamless gameplay, thanks to the revolutionary COD2 engine
• Fight in a wide range of locales and environments across the European Theater - even fighting The Desert Fox across the scorching sands of North Africa
• Multiple real-world WWII missions - Use rocket-propelled grappling hooks alongside your Army Ranger squad to storm and scale the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc against a relentless German counterassault, and slog through urban chaos as a tank hunter in war-torn Russia
• Rely on your squad more than ever - The new context-sensitive battle chatter system has Allied soldiers react to the events around them -- they'll draw enemy fire, lay down cover for you, use foxholes and moving tanks for cover, and warn you of incoming enemy troops and hostile fire
• Choice-based gameplay and open-ended battlefields allow you to individualize your tactics and play missions in the order you see fit

Product Details

• ASIN: B000ARJ1RQ
• Media: CD-ROM
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,417 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Call Of Duty 2 redefines the cinematic fighting game. It's a complete wargaming experience with more immense, more intense, more realistic battles than ever before. Beautifully rendered graphics, dynamic lighting and shadows, groundbreaking AI, and choice-based gameplay innovations make this the most intense WWII shooter yet. Go online for Axis vs. Allies team-based multiplayer action, building on the intense Call of Duty multiplayer modes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent effort., October 31, 2005

By 

A Reader (CA, United States) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Call Of Duty 2 (CD-ROM)

Call of Duty 2 makes no jump in the art of the WW2 first-person-shooter (FPS) but it is a refinement on the previous titles. If your system could play Call of Duty well you probably won't have any trouble with your hardware on this one. Graphics are better especially the smoke and the environments are the best yet in a WW2 title. Sound is outstanding for both sound-effects and voice. The human models are well done but not to the standard of Half-Life 2. AI is much improved as well.

The best new features are the missions and damage modeling. You are not tied to one path as much as in previous games. There are multiple routes and approaches to take to finish an objective although still not as free form as one would wish. One big change is that your damage/health is no longer displayed. You get red flashes and blurry vision when you are taking too many hits. Simply getting out of the line of fire for awhile will heal you. This is by far the best approach to damage/health in a FPS yet. It prevents you from being penalized for a bit of bad luck when in an area without medkits. It also eliminates the whole silly searching for medkit concept completely. If you take too many hits without a breather you will die but the game will restart at the last save. This whole approach keeps the game moving and overall has a much better feel to it. All FPS shooters should adopt this approach.

Perhaps the single best feature is that even if you do almost nothing the mission will progress. This works out very well on those few missions where you are either stuck or can't quite figure out what you have to do or, better yet, you just want to do something else. The missions are still heavily scripted which limits replay a bit but they are done in a more segmented way that allows for the mission flexibility. You can at least replay the game trying different approaches to the missions.

One minor downside to the game is the save system. You cannot make any manual saves. But the game does auto-save at key points and these are rarely a problem. Some are perhaps not quite where you would want to save but close enough. Again the system keeps you in the game and keeps things moving.

There are other issues as well: MG42s with endless ammo and no overheating. The tank missions are bit too fast moving; it is almost like flying fighters instead of tanks. Another annoyance is the three campaigns; you are forced to go in the order of Soviet, British, and American. There is also still no way to play the Germans. The game is very brief as well, maybe 20 hours or so to complete everything.

Overall while in makes no giant leaps for the genre it does make some solid advances and the overall quality makes it the best WW2 shooter yet. Anyone new to the genre will love it and veterans should appreciate it as well. The game even gives a refreshing twist on D-Day with Pointe Du Hoc missions. Recommended.

71 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars MORE OF THE SAME, November 10, 2005

By 

SBJ400 "SBJ400" (Mt. Laurel, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Call Of Duty 2 (CD-ROM)

OK, OK...I know what your thinking. You see all these 4 and 5 star ratings before my review and say this must be a fluke.
It isn't. There are many people that are die hard loyalists of this series. No matter how repetitive this game is, they will always give it high marks.

At first, I really thought this game was great. My first hour of play was exciting. Then the old faults and linear problems popped up like in the first edition of COD.

Trust me, try playing F.E.A.R. and you will see how lame and outdated this game model is. $50 is way too much to spend on this game.



THE BAD -

1- VERY SHORT PLAY TIME
I finished this game on the veteran setting in under 7 hours. I sincerely was not trying to beat the clock. I like to take my time and savor every moment of a game. I was hoping it would last....it didn't.

2- GRAPHICS ARE FAIR
The graphics engine is new in this sequel which is a blessing but you better have a fast CPU and VGA card my friends to get quality visuals! There are moments in this game when the rain, weather effects and large numbers of enemies are cranking out so hard on you that your processor or card will start to chug and vomit. Sure you can solve this problem by turning down the settings, but what is the point of a new graphics engine based game if you can't enjoy the beauty right????

3- LINEAR GAMEPLAY
Once again...the COD developers have proven themselves to be the kings of linear/forced gameplay! What is linear gameplay? It means that basically, you only have one path to follow, and triggers spots to hit to change the gameplay. Example - Say you have to destroy 3 artillery crews. You have to follow down one particular path in a town, you must clear the buildings and the enemies don't stop coming at you until you clear out one artillery base. You basically spend this game rushing forward head first into every single battle, causing great frustration and it does get old and boring after the 5th time in a row. If you think your going to hide behind a wall, pick off the enemy and clear the building...your going to run out of ammo! In other words, you don't have a choice. Full speed ahead. In some cases that is fun and exhilirating. At other times, it sucks.

You also know when enemies are going to hit you too. Linear game play is predictable. You attack an area, clear it, then move to attack the next target. As you approach, the enemies pop out ahead of you and get into formations. Lather, rinse and repeat....YAWN!!!!!

4- AUTOMATED ATTACKS
In some of the battles, there are secure spots to hide in. However, once you're there, you'll get bombarded with grenades. I watched where they came from...lol No enemies are there, they just magically are thrown from the ground. This is to prevent you from taking advantage of shelter and once again...forcing you to run head first into the battle. LAME!!!

5- NO HEALTH PACKS
THIS REALLY SUCKS! It has a new system. Instead of hunting down health packs to recover and fight on, you automatically rejuvenate! I could take bullet after bullet and not die. Ergo, there was no risk!!! No price to pay for being foolish. Here is how it works. An enemy pops up and pelts me with bullets. As I get hit, my health endurance goes down. If I don't take cover so I can recover, I will die. The screen starts to get more and more red as an indication of how close to death you are. Hide behind a wall for 5 seconds to recover and your good to continue.

In some ways, this seemed like it was a neat idea to try. Overall, I think it is a failure. It was too easy for me to beat the game because I did not have to preserve my health levels. On the other hand, it was nice not to have to collect health packs. Still, it was too easy.

6- CAN'T DISABLE THE STUPID MUSIC!!!
Once again, Activision...in cooperation with their tremendous egos...has decided that they know best and you don't matter. So guess what...? You cannot turn off or turn down the music in this game. They repeated the same offensive tactic from COD. This is so annoying. The realism goes out the window when the music is so loud and intrusive that you cannot hear explosions or bullets! I am not joking...it is really that loud at times!


However, I know software, so I hacked critical files in COD and I hacked COD 2 to disable the music! Up yours Activision! For other people that cannot do this...look around at some game cheat sites. I will be posting the instructions in HOW TO form.

7- THIS IS BASICALLY COD and COD:UO in a DIFFERENT WRAPPER!
Basically, if you have played COD or the expansion COD:United Offensive...you have already played COD2. Yes, it is that sad and that much of a let down. In fact, I honestly feel COD and COD:UO are better in a majority of ways.

8- COMRADES GET IN THE WAY
Activision still has not fixed the issue of your idiot squad mates not getting out of the way quickly! Nothing is worse than entering a door and having the enemy lob 2 or 3 grenades at you. You try to get out the door but your moronic mates are just standing there blocking the door. BAM, POW....your dead! Start over and don't enter the building. Lesson learned!



THE GOOD

1- IT IS FUN
I am not saying this game is horrible or not worth playing. I am simply saying it is not worth $50, it certainly has been done so there is nothing new or dynamic about this game that you have not felt in the original COD and that there are other games out there like F.E.A.R. that really will blow you away with creativity.

This game does have its moments. I love WW2 FPS games.

SUMMATION -

This game was long awaited and could have been great. It turns out, that it is not that great. Been there, done that. No one made a hardcore effort to introduce something new and fresh to the FPS genre.

Save your money and either wait for this to go below $35 or go buy COD and COD:UO and get 3 times the band foir your buck if you have not already played them or finally and definitely the best option...go buy F.E.A.R. or Quake 4. Both of those games are much better than this and will keep you happier for a much longer period of time.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much better than COD and COD UO, November 15, 2005

By 

MilitaryMan (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Call Of Duty 2 (CD-ROM)

I have been playing this game for several weeks now. The graphics in this game are much better than the previous versions. There is much more debris (burned-out and burning hulks of tanks, halftracks, etc.) and terrain (thicker bushes, high grass, trees) adding much more realism to the game. This added detail also adds greatly to the multiplayer experience because now you will find you need to use tactics more instead of running around aimlessly. Patience, concealment, and tactics pay off far greater in this version.

This game has changed a lot (enemy radar, no healthpacks, no running, grenade detector, better graphics, better maps) and in many ways stayed the same. It's different, it's the same, but overall, I think it is much better than the previous versions.