PlayStation Hardware & Games

Killing Nazis? Again? Alright. . .

Video: 4.5
Sound: 4.5
Gameplay: 3.5

What is so appealing about World War II shooters to gamers? Is it the ability to take down Nazis? The experience of being in a war? Is it a flashback to veterans of the war? The appeal astounds me, but that doesn't stop companies from making these games to an obviously hungry public.

In Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, you are a grunt, fighting with the infamous First division (marked by their red "1" on their sleeves) along their campaign through Northern Africa and Europe. You get to experience it all —the chaos of war, the camaraderie of the men in your platoon, the…chaos…of…war.

There is a lot of battle in this game. Sometimes, you get to drive a tank or operate a very large weapon that allows you to take tanks out with a few shots —for long stretches of time. When that is done, you spend time running around ruins of European villages and trenches in North Africa, firing a large assortment of period-authentic weapons.

The game is fun but repetitive. I don't enjoy the WWII shooter genre that much; it has something to do with the way I can just turn the game off while soldiers who were there like my grandfather couldn't easily do that. (How's that for a downer?) That being said, this one wasn't bad. The AI is particularly clever and made for a bit of a challenge, constantly keeping you on your toes.

I have some issues with the cut scenes, in particular with the character Brooklyn. As you look amongst your brothers in arms (wrong game, I know), you get to learn who is who. Naturally, there's the spunky guy with the fake accent from the Bronx, but they call him Brooklyn anyway. It's not funny or amusing, and it's just as repetitive as the gameplay. I hate him. For some reason, that turned me off to the game. Silly, I realize.

The graphics are truly fantastic. The villages are textured perfectly, almost so you feel the stone. There's lots of smoke, as is natural in war, but, on your system, it'll look like something broke inside. (That's a horrible analogy, but what do you want? I'm on deadline). Your fellow soldiers (including the insipid Brooklyn) look fantastic. In a nutshell, the game is as close as you'll come to living Saving Private Ryan's battle scenes.

The sound is just as good, if not better than the image. The bullets truly whiz by. The explosions deafen you. The Dolby works over-time. The music, composed by Graeme Revell, is exciting and tense. I like the directional cues, such as when the troops on my right will talk to me from the right.

The game is a stunningly beautiful work of art. I just wish it was more fun to play. It does provide eye and ear candy for your home theater system, and it successfully scratches the itch for those who can't get enough of those WWII first person shooters.