Call of Duty II, the only game where your allies don't die within 15 seconds.

It's true!

Which is why I enjoyed Call of Duty II.

First off, it's graphics is nothing special, especially after Half Life 2, Lost Coast revealed just how well the graphics will become soon. With the gameplay having no storyline whatsoever, other than following that of history, Call of Duty II needed something special, in order to rise above the rest of the FPS which appeared during the rush in October.

And it had.

Basically, you play a soldier in 3 different nations (different soldiers for 3 different nations), and try to defeat Nazi Germany and stuff, proceeding as how history said it will go (or actually how history went...).

However, you seem to have a huge amount of allies coming from all directions to help you complete your objectives. That's the key point of this game. Too many games have neglected the use of friendly AI in order to help complete a mission, allowing the AI to die in some huge fire fight within 10 seconds of their appearance.

Hence, while you have a few AI friends to help you out (More keeps coming to replace the dead though), unfortunately, you cannot simply rely on them to finish the game for you. You are the one who needs to move forward, allowing the rest of your squad to follow. If you happily sit on your ass and snipe the enemies, you will realise that the enemy too, has an infinite supply of reinforcements.

However, aside from the great AI, the story itself is rather bland. Basically, it's always the same destroy/kill/secure/protect style of play. However, that can be simply countered by the fact that this is a World War II game, not a game where you become the hero and try to rescue some VIP hidden deep in cell 4 or something. It's you, and your friends, vs the enemy.

The game itself is rather exciting. You will find yourself needing to take cover very often, since standing out in the open gives the enemy a clear shot at your face. You will also need to run away from grenades, helpfully indicated by a "grenade indicator", warning you or any grenades in your area. Of course, you can toss your fair share of smoke grenades and grenades yourself, but one thing it missed out was giving snipers a chance to know that the grenades are nearby, as the indicator disappears once you "scope in".

The sound itself was pretty well done, for all 4 countries (Russian, British, America and Germany). The accent is there, and basically, the guns sound like they are real guns too.

The multiplayer mode was, sadly, disappointing. There isn't a single local server nearby, and I am forced to play on a server with over 200 ping. Even then, most of the maps are rather big, turning the whole game into a sniper's game, or rather, a game where "If you get spotted first, you die, assuming I have a good aim". In games with more people, DeathMatches become a sniper's sport, if you can find a decent nest. However, a grenade, and you will find yourself flying sky high. The CTF versions are also available, but it's insanely boring, since there isn't an actual spawn point. Hence, you can find yourself spawning in front of your enemy flag, because the system uses a method which allows you to spawn near your team mates. There's also Survival mode (Think CS), and also HQ mode (No idea. Few servers are running it).

However, the idea of friendly AI actually helping you out cannot be ignored. I didn't really expect too much for this game, and quite frankly, it did surprise me. The realism, the AI, the sounds. They are all excellent.

Perhaps this is why it was the best of E3. Hehe.

8/10