As many real-life veterans and history buffs will recognize, the sequel's subtitle is an affectionate name for the United States Army's most decorated division, First Infantry. Or how that creepy guy who offered to help you learn to shoot pool got just a little bit too close.First-person shooter enthusiasts are drafted back to the European theatre of World War II, in Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, the follow-up to 2004's successful Call of Duty: Finest Hour. This is understandable for the purposes of providing compelling scripted sequences, but you really feel throughout most of the game that your hand is being held, almost like going to the shooting range and having someone behind you hold the gun while you pull the trigger. It's really too bad that the whole game is basically on rails, as you're told from the get go exactly where to walk, where to shoot, what areas to explore, and even what order to complete each objective in. The chatter from your squad mates really seals the deal for the audio presentation, as their guttural warnings can really make you jump sometimes. They serve useful purposes, though, kicking down doors and alerting you as to what flank enemy fire is coming from. The action is squad based, so you'll always have a couple of soldiers watching your back, or getting in the way when you want to rush through a door to surprise some enemies. The meat and potatoes here is the single-player campaign, which will take you, as a Private working his way up the ranks, across multiple battlefronts, storming beaches, and generally kicking German tail all across Europe and Africa. They're lending their voices to a strong looking game as well, as the graphics feature very nice looking backgrounds filled with bits of scenery, intricately modeled vehicles, and characters rife with expression and little individual details. The voice talent was drawn from the Band of Brothers HBO series, who put on a strong performance even if they are reprising their own roles.
Who can forget timeless characters like Brooklyn, the braggart with a heart, and the tough-as-nails Sarge, who'd give his life for any member of his unit? Well, these characters may be entirely forgettable if you've ever watched a good WWII movie, or even a decent WWII made for TV movie, but you can't fault the voice actors. While the exploits of The Big Red One are beyond measure, Treyarch went the more personal route, and tried to breathe life into the individual soldiers that make up your particular unit. Here's an idea kids, try tricking your parents into buying this game for History class purposes. You'll learn all this, and more, in black and white informational 'Military Channel' newsreels, that come off with the sort of bravado and inspirational tone of wartime propaganda. During World War II, 'The Fighting First' was the first unit to reach England, the first to fight the enemy in North Africa and Sicily, the first on the beaches of Normandy in D-Day, and the first to take a German city. If you've been watching the television commercials for Call of Duty 2, you're probably watching scenes from the Xbox 360 game, which isn't to be confused with Call of Duty 2: Big Red One for last generation's systems.Ĭall of Duty 2: Big Red One serves as homage to the 1st Infantry Division.
There are a couple Call of Duty games in stores, dangerously close to being lost in a battlefield littered with the bodies of digital soldiers and painstakingly recreated scenes from one of the darkest times in World History.