Call of Duty 2

I’ve been playing Call of Duty 2 over the last couple of weeks. This afternoon, I completed the last of the single player campaigns. I played the original Call of Duty and its expansion, United Offensive, about a year and a half ago. I really liked the original, which was quite similar to Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, another favorite of mine. In CoD 2, you play as three different soldiers: Private Vasili Koslov in the Soviet campaign, Sergeant John Davis in the British campaign, and Corporal Bill Taylor in the American campaign. The gameplay was similar to its predecessors, but even more immersive (if my memory serves me). Some of the firefights were pretty intense. Almost every part of the game featured squad level combat, instead of the lone gunman nature of many first person shooters. CoD 2 switched its damage model to a regenerating health system. At first, I wasn’t thrilled with it. However, it grew on me over time. It was nice to be able to stay in the moment, swept up in the combat, without poking around for health packs.

The length of the single player campaigns was just about right for me. There were three campaigns for the Soviets, four for the British, and three for the Americans. At the end, the game treats you to a nice cinematic mini-movie while the credits roll.