Long before I decided to become a reviewer, I used to jot down brief thoughts on the games I was playing in order to capture my feelings at the moment of completion for personal archival purposes. Since then, I’ve of course evolved my craft into full-fledged write-ups, but I do think there is enough merit to some of these earlier critiques to warrant their publication, especially for titles I do not intend on replaying (in the near future at least). I’ve thrown in some updates, but this is one of them.
STORY
-Epic opening cinematic
-Story is pretty standard: a retelling of some of the events that went on in the later stages of World War II (exception being the first Russian missions, which take place during Stalingrad). The introductions to these missions are either boring slide show presentations or even more boring diaries/mission documents to read.
-Unskippable tutorial (ruins replay value).
GRAPHICS
-The few building interiors you enter are beautifully-furnished -- paintings, Nazi drapes, etc...
-Exteriors look good for the most part as far as these past graphics were concerned.
-I like the blurred slo-mo that occurred whenever you died- made it more realistic.
-With regards to the death animations, it felt like the developers tried doing things that were just out of their coding reach. Most times enemies go down as normal, but other times there’s a jerk in the transition -- for example, shooting a guy who tries to get back up will sometimes result in him instantly returning to a stand kill animation, or enemies that fall over balconies do so with a lag.
-Found it darkly amusing that you can adjust the number of corpses on screen.
SOUND
-Voice acting is surprisingly mediocre despite solid actors like Steve Blum, Jason Statham, Michael Gough, Giovanni Ribisi, and Neil Ross rounding up the cast. I attribute this to bad ADR direction over the VAs though.
-The lip-syncing is also not good, though the characters at least have surprisingly solid (if a bit uncanny) facial expressions (this is not fixed on the highest graphical settings).
-Soundscape does a good job making you feel like you're in the heat of a firefight: gunshots and explosions have a realistic din to them.
-Unfortunately, most of the firearms sound relatively the same, with bullet impacts continuing that aural trend (minus broken windows and water).
-No splashing sound when you step/walk in bodies of liquid.
GAMEPLAY
-Having a health bar is an interesting aspect considering contemporary CoDs went with rejuvenating health (veteran difficulty has no health packs, so I assume hardened has fewer health packs than Normal Mode).
-There is a decent amount of diversity to the missions (car driving, tank plowing, house raiding), but for the most part it is standard.
-The early part of the Russian campaign was of notable interest since you're not even given a gun and will be shot at by barrier troops if you try and fall back. Unfortunately, it too inevitably settles into run-and-gun missions.
-Interestingly, there is less time spent with the Red Army than US & British forces.
-Allied AI is surprisingly good for the time. Bit of a double-edged sword in that your comrades almost always stick very close to you: on the one hand, this can impede your movement, but on the other, they’ll go forward and kill enemies for you.
-Allied AI being largely immortal does impede the difficulty a little, though at the same time they aren’t good at shooting long-range targets, so perfectly balanced as all things should be.
-Enemy AI, on the other hand, are idiots. They don't move based on how you shoot: if you snipe down a bunch of them, the others don't react, instead continuing to twiddle their thumbs in place.
VERDICT
-Can't say I recommend it at full price ($20.00 USD) because it just doesn't offer much gameplay (took me 6-7 hours to beat on normal) and no replay value.
TRIVIA
-There is a Sgt. Foley, Captain Price, and Makarov in this game.
-End credits have an interesting side-scrolling animation of a mission in progress.
-Appreciated the homage to Serving Men and Women at the end (surprised modern Call of Duties stopped doing it).
STORY
-Epic opening cinematic
-Story is pretty standard: a retelling of some of the events that went on in the later stages of World War II (exception being the first Russian missions, which take place during Stalingrad). The introductions to these missions are either boring slide show presentations or even more boring diaries/mission documents to read.
-Unskippable tutorial (ruins replay value).
GRAPHICS
-The few building interiors you enter are beautifully-furnished -- paintings, Nazi drapes, etc...
-Exteriors look good for the most part as far as these past graphics were concerned.
-I like the blurred slo-mo that occurred whenever you died- made it more realistic.
-With regards to the death animations, it felt like the developers tried doing things that were just out of their coding reach. Most times enemies go down as normal, but other times there’s a jerk in the transition -- for example, shooting a guy who tries to get back up will sometimes result in him instantly returning to a stand kill animation, or enemies that fall over balconies do so with a lag.
-Found it darkly amusing that you can adjust the number of corpses on screen.
SOUND
-Voice acting is surprisingly mediocre despite solid actors like Steve Blum, Jason Statham, Michael Gough, Giovanni Ribisi, and Neil Ross rounding up the cast. I attribute this to bad ADR direction over the VAs though.
-The lip-syncing is also not good, though the characters at least have surprisingly solid (if a bit uncanny) facial expressions (this is not fixed on the highest graphical settings).
-Soundscape does a good job making you feel like you're in the heat of a firefight: gunshots and explosions have a realistic din to them.
-Unfortunately, most of the firearms sound relatively the same, with bullet impacts continuing that aural trend (minus broken windows and water).
-No splashing sound when you step/walk in bodies of liquid.
GAMEPLAY
-Having a health bar is an interesting aspect considering contemporary CoDs went with rejuvenating health (veteran difficulty has no health packs, so I assume hardened has fewer health packs than Normal Mode).
-There is a decent amount of diversity to the missions (car driving, tank plowing, house raiding), but for the most part it is standard.
-The early part of the Russian campaign was of notable interest since you're not even given a gun and will be shot at by barrier troops if you try and fall back. Unfortunately, it too inevitably settles into run-and-gun missions.
-Interestingly, there is less time spent with the Red Army than US & British forces.
-Allied AI is surprisingly good for the time. Bit of a double-edged sword in that your comrades almost always stick very close to you: on the one hand, this can impede your movement, but on the other, they’ll go forward and kill enemies for you.
-Allied AI being largely immortal does impede the difficulty a little, though at the same time they aren’t good at shooting long-range targets, so perfectly balanced as all things should be.
-Enemy AI, on the other hand, are idiots. They don't move based on how you shoot: if you snipe down a bunch of them, the others don't react, instead continuing to twiddle their thumbs in place.
VERDICT
-Can't say I recommend it at full price ($20.00 USD) because it just doesn't offer much gameplay (took me 6-7 hours to beat on normal) and no replay value.
TRIVIA
-There is a Sgt. Foley, Captain Price, and Makarov in this game.
-End credits have an interesting side-scrolling animation of a mission in progress.
-Appreciated the homage to Serving Men and Women at the end (surprised modern Call of Duties stopped doing it).
Very nice
Yılına göre değerlendirirsek mükemmel bir oyun. Günümüze göre degerlendirirsek yine gayet iyi. MWIII'den daha uzun.
This review contains spoilers
Legend
I didn't expect much going into this game, but I was taken completely by surprise by how much fun I had. The story was amazing with some iconic missions with really cool set design, such as the missions on Pegasus Bridge, the Tirpitz and Brecourt Manor. The entire Soviet campaign was ruthless, making a valiant effort to capture the tragedy of war.
The best part about this game is the gameplay itself. The rawness and simplicity of the gameplay mechanics result in a super satisfying and fun gunplay system with a certain charm that seems to be lost in newer FPS games.
The Call of Duty franchise started with a banger and I 100% recommend this game to FPS fans for an excellent story with great gameplay.
The best part about this game is the gameplay itself. The rawness and simplicity of the gameplay mechanics result in a super satisfying and fun gunplay system with a certain charm that seems to be lost in newer FPS games.
The Call of Duty franchise started with a banger and I 100% recommend this game to FPS fans for an excellent story with great gameplay.