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| Source // MobyGames |
When playing Call of Duty, I could see how it was a different experience to Medal of Honor. Knowing where the series would go, it was easy to see little pieces of distinctly CoD-like gameplay here and there. It was the foundation that needed to be put in place before envelopes were pushed, and boy did Call of Duty 2 push those envelopes...
Cranking the action, the pace, the sounds and the warfare up to 11, Call of Duty 2 is the very definition of Call of Duty - before that definition was rewritten, obviously. What I mean to say is that we're about to strap into a tour of the Second World War the likes of which we've not seen before.
Frustrations
But first, we've got to pretend potatoes are grenades because the Soviet army can't afford to practice with real grenades. The harsh realities of war.
I took that screenshot five years ago, when I played CoD2 over a month, a few hours at a time. I only know that because of the timestamps in the filenames and the paragraph of notes I wrote. Thanks past me. What were you thinking way back then? That five screenshots would be enough?
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| Source // MobyGames |
There are three single-player campaigns in CoD2, taking you through Soviet, British, and American battles across the world. In each, you are probably named, but feel distinctly nameless, despite everyone around you having their own names. It's a reminder that all these soldiers were people, wanting, no doubt, to return to normal life as soon as possible, but instead fighting over a ruined Stalingrad, blood covering their eyes.
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| Source // MobyGames |
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| Source // Steam |
Fun Times
And there are a lot of people fighting over Stalingrad. The sheer numbers of AI soldiers running around the place, hurling potatoes grenades at each other, unloading round after round of precious, dwindling ammunition in the hopes of stemming the onslaught, is a sight to behold.
The levels are large enough to encompass all these people, and while some feel like corridors, many caught me out as I learned how this bit comes out here, and that part links to this part. Of course they would, that's how cities work. I must be easily amused.
Eventually, we take down the German HQ and liberate the city from the German forces. I say eventually, but it was probably after just a couple of hours, spread across multiple levels. The action is so thick and fast, and the nature of the missions pick you up and whisk you away to the next fight with no chance to pause for breath. CoD2 does not want you to stop, but this was the end of the Soviet story (at least, it's the last screenshot I've got, and my memory doesn't allow me to remember what else happened).
The British were up next, in an unexpected theatre of war: North Africa.
Wait, is it a new theatre? There was sand in a previous game, wasn't there? Or am I thinking of Medal of Honor? Let's just go with my initial thought: 'Oh, we're in North Africa now, nice.'
The Second World War has been depicted across every type of media imaginable. While a great many of those mediums do tell stories of the war that aren't America vs Germany, games usually tend to stick with what works, which sadly means they all seem to feel the same.
CoD2 feels the same in the sense that the controls are exactly what you'd expect, and are comfortable to pick up and get used to, but because of that, the gameplay can be transplanted to new areas, telling stories that haven't been told.
If CoD was a game to prove the gameplay works, CoD2 is a game to use it to tell us new stories. So let's charge through the desert with a bunch of tanks.
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| Source // Steam |
When the desert sands start to disappear, it is replaced by the stone walls of an Egyptian town. The streets are deserted and claustrophobic, and it's not long before hell breaks lose all over again, with ambushes forcing you to defend yourselves, and dust and smoke making your job that much more difficult.
Again, though, there is so much going on at once. Soldiers everywhere, their shouts filling the air. Firefights lurking around every corner. And then another anti-aircraft section.
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| Source // MobyGames |
Further Frustrations
It's a minor quibble, but it felt like CoD2 was making sure to include gameplay from CoD, because whatever happened in that first game worked, so we need it in the sequel, right? After working our way through the sandy streets, we then had to defend somewhere from a swarm of aircraft. Why? Because that's what happened in the war? Maybe. I've no idea. I bet it was more because we need an anti-aircraft sequence, where can we put it?
After swatting them from the sky, our British campaign comes to an end. Another few action-packed hours have gone by, and now it's time for the Americans to tell their tale.
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| Source // Steam |
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| Source // MobyGames |
Further Fun Times
It may start at D-Day, but this time, there are cliffs. And the panic at the bottom is nothing compared to the panic at the top. The sound is overwhelming. The screen shakes with every explosion, and there are plenty of them, too. Soldiers are everywhere. This is an invasion, alright. There's no time to worry about your fellow soldiers - you need to worry about yourself.
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| Source // Steam |
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| Source // MobyGames |
While it is another telling of the Americans marching through a wet and muddy Europe, it does at least pack their story full of action. Again, while everyone is named, I'm not really feeling any connection to anybody, but let me tell you that when the bodies start to pile up, you might take stock in what's gone on.
There wasn't a lot of time to reach across the keyboard and hit the screenshot key in CoD2. When there was, the result is something like that. German troops covering the floor, their last-ditch charge upon our position a failure, their lives the cost. You might have been on the fixed machine gun, keeping them back at a distance. You won't have been on there for long, as you're forced to switch positions and help your squad fight on another front, as another ten, twenty, thirty Germans pour into the level.
And once more, after a few hours fighting through the countryside and pushing through ruined town streets, the action finally comes to a close, and the campaign is complete.
It ends a bit anti-climactically, but I guess that's war. For some, it just... stops.
Final Word
It was, as I say, five years ago that I last played Call of Duty 2, but I played it all because it was short, kept my attention, and was easy to get swept up into. The gameplay isn't doing anything new, it's refining what came before. The stories and characters feel a little distant, but that might be because I've completely forgotten them over those five years. It didn't feel like I was the hero, but merely the survivor. While those around me fell, I didn't. I'm not a supersoldier, I'm just lucky.
But it might be better than that. I guess I'll have to go through it again one of these days. It wouldn't be too difficult to do so, and because it's CoD, I'm practically guaranteed nonstop action. You really do know what you're going to get in a CoD game, and CoD2 is perhaps when that all kicked off.
Oh, and there's some basic multiplayer content if that's your thing.
Fun Facts
Battle-chatter will come out of your squadmates' mouths, informing you of incoming threats from the vast numbers of enemies that are soon to descend onto your position.
Call of Duty 2, developed by Infinity Ward, first released in 2005.
Version played: PC, 2005.