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Call to Arms

World War II shooter will leave gamers breathless

Review by Chris Blake

Did you Know? It is estimated that more than 84 million soldiers fought on all sides in World War II.

GAME: Call of Duty
PUBLISHER: Activision
GAME TYPE: First-person shooter
GAME RATING: Teen
MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: English-language version of Windows 98-XP; 128 MB RAM; 700 MHz Pentium III or equivalent; 1.4 GB hard disk space; 32 MB 3D video card supporting hardware T&L

MULTI-PLAYER SUPPORT: Internet and LAN
REVIEWER�S OPINION: 4 out of 5 stars

It was a war that spawned atrocities unlike any man had seen. It was a war fought by what many call the greatest generation. It is also the war that red-eyed PC gamers seem to most love recreating during late nights spent blasting through Nazi forces.

The world of PC gaming is certainly not at a loss for World War II-themed titles. The past few years have seen classic titles like Medal of Honor and Battlefield 1942 become the talk of the gaming world. Well step aside, because there�s a new hero coming to town: Call of Duty.

WHAT�S IT ABOUT?

Well, more than half a century ago there was this war... OK, just joking � anyone who hasn�t heard of World War II is pathetic and needs to spend less time playing video games.

Now back to our more educated readers. Call of Duty follows three intertwined campaigns through the dying days of World War II. Starting out on D-Day and finishing with an all-out raid on Berlin�s Reichstag (that�s the German parliament house), gamers will get the chance to guide American, British and Russian forces into battle.

In each campaign, gamers take the role of a different no-name soldier fighting alongside his band of brothers. The theme of the game is �No Man Fights Alone,� so there are supposed to be no Rambos here.

PLAYING THE GAME

Call of Duty starts out in boot camp, where young soldiers are taught how to move around, crouch, crawl and climb. Weapons training is also provided, teaching soldiers how to use their rifles, machine guns, grenades and explosives.

Once you�ve got the hang of it, the missions begin. There is no story line or fancy intros to each level, just some photos and a list of instructions revealing whether you are going to be fighting as a Russian, American or Briton.

On most campaigns you start out as a small group of soldiers with a few set tasks, such as disabling enemy anti-aircraft guns. Often times you will have a senior officer ordering you to do something. Once you successfully complete a task, a new one will be provided or a new campaign will begin.

This group action works out quite well during the big battles, such as the level where you have to defend a bridge through a long night of German attack, waiting for re-enforcements.

It is the smaller levels where I found the group action would fail. On one level, you have to infiltrate a German battleship and steal some documents. That�s fine and all, but once your buddies get whacked, you�re left crawling around the underbelly of a Nazi ship alone. Call me a sissy, but taking on the German navy all by my lonesome isn�t my idea of fun.

What is fun are the levels where you get to drive a tank around and blow up buildings and the levels where you are riding passenger in a car being chased by Germans.

The gameplay is quite simple � there are no complex keystrokes to learn. The weapons are also very realistic, each with it�s own characteristics and specs. Also adding to the realism is that you can carry no more than two weapons and some grenades.

THE FINAL VERDICT

Call of Duty is a very realistic game. As you�re storming up the hills of Leningrad without a weapon and a hail of machine-gun bullets are whizzing past your head and mortars are sending you into a shell-shocked haze, there will be no doubt you are at war.

Nearly every section of the game is carefully crafted to provide intense gaming action that will leave you ducking for cover and grabbing for your sidearm.

But be warned, Call of Duty is a short game. It took me only about 10 hours to beat it. There is a supposedly great multiplayer element to this game, but since I have a snail-speed Internet connection and no friends, it's hard for me to comment.

As realistic as this game is, however, 10 hours may be all you can take.

Vocabulary

atrocities (n): terrible, cruel and violent acts, especially in a war
pathetic (adj): weak, useless and not successful
intertwined (adj): twisted together so that they are very difficult to separate
task (n): a piece of work that somebody has to do, especially a hard or unpleasant one
re-enforcements (n): backup or help
infiltrate (v): to enter or make somebody enter a place or an organisation secretly, especially in order to get information that can be used against it
underbelly (n): the underneath part of something
hail (n): a large number or amount of something that is aimed at somebody in order to harm them