In the year 2005, it was safe to say that the console first person shooter was more
towards the end of the tunnel than the beginning.
A year later, the advent of the XBOX360 and PS3 would provide for the first person experience
to be mostly multiplayer, where thousands upon thousands would explore the Internet's
capabilities.
The Call of Duty series is an excellent example, but before it became geared towards multiplayer,
it was a fantastic console shooter, one where you aren't just one man on a mission all the
time, but working with a regiment of troops, doing your best to put a stop to the Nazi
war machine.
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, developed by Treyarch and published by Activision, is the
first in the series to focus entirely on the game's namesake infantry division, a few good
American boys caught up in the intense theatre of World War II.
Featuring a voice cast of characters from the HBO series Band of Brothers, including
James Madio, Ross McCall, and Richard Speight Jr, the personality of each soldier may cause
you to develop a fondness for them, whose regiment you are in command of as a sergeant.
Typical FPS script goes into effect, however: move and shoot.
And sometimes blow stuff up.
The exciting part comes in when you are in control of war equipment other than your rifle,
such as this tank that you control through the North African desert in search of the
Vichy French in cahoots with the SS, headed by Philippe Petain.
You can also control anti-aircraft flakvierling guns to blast enemy Stukas out of the sky
as they whiz by your position and explode into flames.
With help from the Military Channel, Big Red One does well to describe your campaign through
the use of black and white propaganda film reels of the 1940s, offering sort of a reminder
just what the times were like back then.
I miss the way that Call of Duty excited audiences with spectacular gameplay.
A simple compass on the bottom left of your screen marks enemy positions, and the almighty
star on your map serves as your objective point.
The weapon diversity is commendable, and you can use anything from M1 Garand bolt-action
rifles to machine guns and grenades that your enemies drop.
Although Big Red One may have been overshadowed by the anticipation of Call of Duty 2 for
the 360, it still serves as a decent FPS in the World War II style that was dying out
through
the mid 2000s.