In "Stalingrad," you don't even pick up a gun - you get to act as bait, diving from cover to cover as buildings come crashing down around you, and you'll find yourself replaying the mission just to get a good look at everything happening across the level. The Russian campaign opens with two similarly memorable missions. For example, the British campaign opens with two frantic missions set at Pegasus Bridge, a huge outdoor area that you'll try to defend using everything at your disposal - your weapons, your squad, mounted guns and even a flak cannon capable of destroying incoming tanks. Where Allied Assault had the stellar "Omaha Beach" mission, Call of Duty is jam packed with incredible set pieces, each more unforgettable than the next. These epic missions, more than anything else, are what sets Call of Duty apart from just about any other game out today. Sometimes you're working with a small squad fighting your way across the countryside other times you're just one face in a huge army swarming across a battlefield, making good on the game's tagline: "No Man Fights Alone." In each campaign, you assume the role of a particular grunt, but you're almost always surrounded by friendly soldiers fighting alongside you. Each of these parallel campaigns starts around D-Day and continues through Europe until the fall of Berlin in 1945. The game is split into three Allied campaigns: American, British and Russian.
As you might expect, there are a lot of similarities between the two titles, and yet Call of Duty manages to one-up Allied Assault at almost every turn. That game, more than any before it, used lots of scripting, cinematic presentation, epic battles and amazing sound effects to make you feel like you were inside a WWII movie.
If you've been following development of the title, you already know that that most of the team came from 2015, where they developed 2002's stellar Medal of Honor: Allied Assault for EA. Call of Duty uses an enhanced version of the Quake III engine, previously implemented in Activision's own Return to Castle Wolfenstein.Ĭall of Duty is a brilliant action game from beginning to end, and is packed with so many amazing moments that it's my leading candidate for the best PC game of 2003, and there's a good argument to be made that's it's the best WWII shooter ever.Ĭall of Duty is the first product from developer Infinity Ward. Battles will take place within towns, forests, POW camps, and more, with mortar fire, enemy snipers, and other hazards lurking at every corner. The one constant in each campaign is that players will not be alone in their missions, becoming part of a squad that fights together as a team, providing cover fire, dragging wounded comrades to safety, sabotaging key installations, and offering each other support. The British campaign involves the assault on Pegasus Bridge, while the Battle of Stalingrad serves as the backdrop for the Russian storyline. Vehicles such as tanks, jeeps, and more can also be commandeered for the war effort.įrom the American perspective, players will take part in the events leading to the D-Day Invasion after first being dropped behind enemy lines.
Players will experience the war through American, British, and Russian points of view, allowing them to step into the roles of three soldiers on the front lines who must endure three different operations. A total of 24 missions are available, spread across three separate campaigns. Players begin the game as an infantryman armed with a pistol and grenades, with additional weapons in the form of rifles, machine guns, and bazookas earned during their tour of duty. Developed by several members of the design team responsible for Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, Activision's Call of Duty is a first-person shooter set amidst the chaos and turmoil of World War II.