"Engaging play, graphics set this shooting game apart

Now this is more like it.

“Call of Duty 2,”a sequel to the award-winning World War II game, moves to the Xbox 360. It was one of the launch titles for the new system, and it’s definitely something 360 owners should try out, if not buy outright.

The player controls Russian, British and finally American troops as they fight the Germans in the ruins of Stalingrad, the North African deserts and during the D-Day invasion. The game is primarily a first-person shooter with a little tank-driving — and demolition — thrown in.

The game asks players to clear out underground bunkers, pick off hidden enemy snipers hundreds of yards away and fight block-to-block, trying to retake a captured town. Early on, the player must sneak up to a tank and plant explosives. Later in the game, “COD2” lets the main characters call in air strikes against the enemy Panzers.

The mission objectives are clear, and they generally arrive only one at a time. There’s not a huge to-do list, and the player doesn’t have to search the entire battlefield to accomplish some obscure task.

One of the best sequences comes during the African campaign. The player is in the back of a truck, manning the gun, while another squad member takes the wheel. Except the other guy is an awful driver, he doesn’t know his way around, and the surrounding streets, windows and rooftops are packed with enemy troops.

The player never knows where the next shot is going to come from and so is forced to constantly look everywhere. Every so often, the truck rounds a corner and runs smack into an enemy tank. (Don’t bother shooting the driver; “COD2” frowns on friendly fire.)" [more]