So long as there are players, there will be CoD -- Albert Einstein. Probably.
When I embarked upon this quest to play all these games, I knew there would be some key titles of video gaming history that I would get to experience for the very first time. I was always going to tackle the list in order, but I could still get a head start on some of the exciting ones, right?
Near the top of that interesting list was the original Call of Duty. It was hard to ignore. I like my first-person shooters, but by the time I got around to liking the genre, it was for the likes of Killzone and Battlefield, and not the juggernaut that was Call of Duty. I don't know why - they're competent games from what I have played - but I was drawn to the underdogs instead, and so I don't know too much about CoD.
I know it started with the Second World War, and I know it was competing against Medal of Honor. What I didn't realise was just how intertwined those two series' are, with the developers of CoD all having worked previously on MoH: Allied Assault.
What could they get up to in this game then?
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| Source // Moby Games |
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| Source // Moby Games |
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| Source // Moby Games |
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| Source // Moby Games |
Fun Times
In a word, action. If Medal of Honor was about story, Call of Duty is about action. It's so much about the action that I played through the entire game, long ago now, and got a grand total of four screenshots for future me to work with. Thanks, past self...
It's a short enough game to churn through in a long afternoon or so if you're ready for it, but I'm going to see how far my notes get me for this write-up.
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| Source // Moby Games |
CoD breaks up its story of the war into three chunks, each following a different soldier from American, British and Russian forces, usually accompanied by quite a few AI companions, blindly firing in the general direction of your German opponents.
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There are often a lot of people in the area at once. Obviously, you've got waves of enemies spewing out of doorways that lead nowhere, manning machine guns which will scare the living shit out you if you're caught unaware, but you also see the rest of your squad darting from cover to cover and laying down suppressing fire.
I use that term loosely, in that I don't think that's what they intend to do, but it's accurate - because they're not. You can't rely on your teammates to make things easier for you by thinning the opposition numbers. At best, you can hope to use them as a distraction while you act out the action hero and get all the jobs done yourself. Plant this bomb, blow up this tank, man this machine gun... You will feel like you're in an action movie, especially when there is something around every corner.
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| Source // Moby Games |
You can scramble around the levels on your stomach, or crouch everywhere in the hopes of not being seen, but there are plenty of moments where CoD wants you to go loud. Very loud, indeed. Stealing French cars and taking German conveys head-on, kinda loud.
It is fast, frantic, mission objectives change faster than you're able to read them... you don't play CoD so much as buckle up and get ready for the ride as you are swept through the highlights of the war. That is a terrible choice of words.
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| Source // Moby Games |
Frustrations
My notes end with "Thank goodness for playing on easy", and I think the reason for that is that while the game is presented as though you are a bit of an invincible action hero, you really aren't. If you turn a corner and the enemy has their eyes and weapons pointed in the right direction, you're getting shot at.
With no regenerating health, that means diligently approaching new areas with loaded weapons and a steady aim, which can be a little bit of a challenge when there are Germans popping out of doors when you least expect it, or more likely, when they fall to the floor but haven't died yet, and you're caught in the middle of a reload trying to finish them off, forgetting you have a melee attack.
It's not the end of the world when you succumb to the horrors of war, but you'll not want to do it too often - it gets in the way of what is a jam-packed adventure that flows from one set-piece to the next, with you stuck in the middle of it all.
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| Source // Moby Games |
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| Source // Moby Games |
Further Fun Times
The great thing about CoD is that it is so easy to get back into the fight, and it moves along at such a pace that you don't often see a good stopping point. Suddenly, we've changed nationalities not just once, but twice, and are now packed into a boat on the Volga River, about to be marched into the rifle lottery.
You'll recognise it from Enemy at the Gates, but you won't have experienced the perils of storming up a hill in the middle of a bombed-out Stalingrad with nothing to fight back with until you play some CoD.
This was the one part of the campaign where I took screenshots, muddy and brown as they are. They don't do CoD justice, to be honest. It's a cinematic game, yes, but it tries to place you in the middle of it all, where you're not a star, but just another soldier... who then goes on to be the luckiest of the lucky, capable of shooting any and all weaponry you find, killing untold numbers of the opposition...
Alright, it's not perfect, but it's ambitious. Where other games could match the scale of the levels, only CoD crammed them full of action. MoH had moments where you manned the machine gun of a jeep and terrorised an airfield. CoD sticks you in a similar position, but it's you who is in fear of your life instead.
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| Source // Moby Games |
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| Source // Moby Games |
Oh, and it lets you drive and shoot a tank. That was unexpected, I wrote in my notes, despite the carnage I've gotten into over the previous five hours or whatever...
Final Word
I don't know how long it took me to get through, but I know that I stuck with Call of Duty until the end credits, and was glad to have done so. It was challenging in places, even on the easy difficulty, but that was close to five years ago now when I wasn't so used to the WASD controls.
While I haven't replayed it since, remembering that it is relatively short might mean going back and playing it again sometime, but having completed it, there's less of an incentive to see it once more. I went through it, it was a good time, I can say I've played it, what's next?
This is a CoD title from that transitional period between what MoH offered, and what CoD would become. It allows you to aim down your sights and tackle the German army head-on, but you'll still be looking for health packs and desperately hoping for some support from your squad.
It's clearly made a mark in video game history, but that mark will soon be improved upon. Going back to see what it was like is recommended, it's a smashing game, but I don't think it has that Doom-like replayability, regardless of its age.
If you want a Second World War shooter from the early 2000s, you can't go wrong with either CoD or MoH. I had a better time with CoD, and more success for sure, but can see the merits of both... but only one of them is still around as a series today. Maybe making things larger than life is what gamers want after all?
Fun Facts
A big focus was put onto character AI to make each battle feel somewhat unique, rather than rigidly scripted. It sounds promising. I can't say I recall it feeling too intelligent, though.
Call of Duty, developed by Infinity Ward, first released in 2003.
Version played: PC, 2003.