Off the Shelf Media

When I played the first Call of Duty, I said it was a breath of fresh air, and I was a big fan of the health pack mechanic. Well, that only lasted for one game because it’s back to the classic red screen and heavy breathing when you get shot in Call of Duty 2. It was fun while it lasted. 

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare changed the series and the first-person shooter (FPS) genre forever with its gripping story, cinematic cutscenes, and non-stop action. A classic among the classics. As I played CoD 2, I couldn’t help but notice that it laid the foundation and walked so CoD could run. 

If I had to describe this game in one sentence, I’d say it’s the blueprint for every Call of Duty game moving forward. 

Gameplay: 2

Aside from the lack of health packs, this game is a lot of fun. Like the first game, the action is non-stop, and it throws you into the action quickly. The battles feel alive, and you need to stay on your toes. Even though the levels are linear by design, it feels open and gives you multiple ways to achieve your mission. There were a few times when I was pinned down by an enemy sniper, and I had to sneak around a building to pick him off before my squad could move forward. 

I like it when a bit of strategy can be thrown into a chaotic battle. Take the tank missions, for example. The tank missions are hard. First off, you play as the British tanks in the African desert. If you know your history, you’ll know the British weren’t known for their tanks, and tanks don’t do well in sand.

To be fair, the narrator warns you that tank warfare in the desert was going to be an issue. It’s a small thing that Infinity Ward decided to include, but it made a huge difference. You only play as the tanks in two missions, but they are challenging and require a bit of strategy. 

The controls are wonky, and navigating the sand is a challenge, as I imagine it was in real life, so you have to be careful. My strategy was for my allies to go first, take the damage, and I would go in and clean up the mess. Works every time. 

Other than that, it’s a Call of Duty game. The missions are memorable and fun. Some are more challenging than others. You’ll get a sniper mission or two, and it all wraps up where you defend a position for an extended period, die a lot, and eventually get lucky and beat it. 

Like I said, it’s the blueprint for every Call of Duty game in the future. 

Story: 1

Like the previous game, you play as the Americans, the British, and the Russians. Except in this game, you play as the British twice, which is fine with me because Captain Price rises from the grave to rejoin the fight once again. I like how the British campaign took up the bulk of the game. 

You start as the Russians in the Battle of Stalingrad, playing as Private Vasili Koslov. The Russian campaign isn’t much different from any other CoD Russian campaign. It’s cold, there are a lot of tanks, and you fight in a Trainyard. I will say it has one of the coolest moments in franchise history. 

You start in a metal pipe heading over to the train depot. Eventually, you get spotted and the Germans open fire. The bullets cutting through the metal pipe were a great visual and a cool effect. It’s something you see in movies, so it was cool to experience it on a mouse and keyboard in a game. 

The British campaign, like most British campaigns, takes place in Africa (or Afrika as the British spell it in this game), and it always felt out of place.  Yes, it’s historically accurate, but there had to be some battles closer to home, so I’m glad they were included. Playing in Battle for Caen was a breath of fresh air, and it tied into the American campaign, which made the game feel more connected and put together as a whole. 

The American campaign throws you on the boat storming Normandy Beach on D-Day, which is the highlight of the game for me. We’ve all seen the opening to Saving Private Ryan, and while this doesn’t hold a candle to that masterpiece, it’s a worthy effort. You storm the beach and immediately scale a hill to get to the bunkers and destroy the German artillery. 

The campaigns have characters, but outside of Captain Price, a lot of them are lifeless and forgettable. It’s harder to do when you bounce around different warfronts, but they pull it off with Price; they could have done it with the Americans, especially since their story intertwines with the British. 

They chose to go with history over narrative, so I can’t be mad at them for that. 

Atmosphere: 2

I’ll use one word and one word only: Chaos. The atmosphere of this game is chaotic. 

For a game that came out in 2005, this game feels incredibly modern. The levels are a bit longer compared to its predecessor. The action scenes are a bit more cinematic, and the graphics have a fresh coat of paint for the newer consoles of the time.  I played this game on my PC, but it was also released for the Xbox 360 back in the day. 

The explosions hit different. The bullets whizzing by and your enemies screaming at you hit different. The sound of tanks rolling in sent a different chill down the spine, especially when you’re running low on Panzerschrecks. The game throws a lot at you, and it’s up to you to keep your cool and sometimes take it one step at a time, especially when it’s the mission where the Americans need to advance up a hill. 

One of the coolest effects is the smoke grenades. You have to use them in the tutorial, but once you see them in action, they become useful in most scenarios. Smoke grenades are made for cover, and they completely engulf the screen and make it almost impossible to see friend or foe. They got me out of a few jams when I was at low health and needed a quick getaway to recover my health. 

Value: 1

In 2005, this game would have been in the $49.99 – $59.99 price range. Once the Xbox 360 and PS3 came out, game studios bumped the prices up so this game would be on the cusp of that. I can’t speak to the multiplayer aspect, but if I spent $60 back in 2005, I’d have been disappointed. 

This game is currently $19.99 on Steam, which is about $10 too much in my opinion. A 20-year-old game should not be that much, but if you can get it on sale, I’d say it’s worth it. The replay value isn’t that high, but if I ever feel the need to replay all of the Call of Duty games, I wouldn’t skip it either. 

Duration: 1

It took me 7 hours to beat this game, which is on par with games of that time. There are 27 missions in the game, and they all feel well-paced with plenty of action in each of them. 

The missions were well-paced and relatively even between the four different sections. The Russians had the fewest number of missions, but I think I spent the same time playing their missions as I did the Americans. 

I played this game on Regular, so that will explain the 7-hour “speed run” if you will. Like any CoD game, if you bump the difficulty up, that means the enemies throw way more grenades, and you’ll die a lot more. That’s not fun to me. While I enjoy the challenge, I don’t need my runtime padded with 3x more grenades than necessary. 

Total Score: 7/10

I enjoyed this game. I was 20 years late to the party, but I’m glad I got there in the end. While I was playing, I was constantly reminded of modern CoD games. Constantly using cover to regain health, endless waves of enemies if you don’t push forward, and realizing your squad is getting more and more useless as the game pushes on.  

This was the first game in the next generation of gaming at the time, and they came in with a splash. If you want an old-school feel with a modern vibe, this game is for you. Play it on the PC. The controls are way better with a mouse and keyboard. 

I’m sticking with sequels for my next review. We’re going back to the samurai with Samurai Warriors 2.  I’ll see ya there, but until then, y’all take care.