Call Of Duty

By Kristan Reed Published 3 September, 2003

Kristan checks how Infinity Ward are getting on with the COD demo.

'Call Of Duty' Screenshot 1

As much as we loved Medal Of Honor: Allied Assault, it was as scripted and linear an FPS as you could ever wish to play. It seems that whatever you did, until you reach a predetermined invisible barrier the game would just sit and wait for you, with your assembled squaddies crouched patiently until you lead them forward.

It makes for a great looking game when you're playing by its rules, but if you feel like being mischievious and going off for a cup of tea, your men will still be sitting there as if nothing ever happened. If you're expecting Call Of Duty to stray from this constant lead-you-by-the-hand template, then you'll be disappointed. On the other hand, if you appreciate the cinematic atmosphere and all-action approach then this Call Of Duty refines the idea to excellent effect.

This keenly awaited demo level is set on the night of D-Day, June 6th 1944 in the shattered, burning village of Ste. Mere Eglise, five miles from Utah beach. It's all a bit chaotic; nobody's been dropped when they were supposed to, and you've lost touch with your unit. Having managed to hook up with the five strong Baker Company headed up by Captain Foley. You start the mission approaching a narrow field with a minefield on either side, with the goal of taking out the three Flak Panzer Anti Aircraft tanks that are busy shooting up the skies of the village, and capturing the area from the Nazis.

The noise of chaos

'Call Of Duty' Screenshot 2

From the off, the level is alive with detail, noise and the chaos of war; men parachute into nearby fields, a posse of Allied planes soar overhead dodging thunderous anti-aircraft fire, while the deafening sound of gunfire is emitted from nearby flaming wrecks of destroyed buildings, evidently the former homes of civilians.

The first task is pure Allied Assault; rush for cover as the enemy fire whistles past your ears, while your comrades charge, huddling up against whatever lies between soft flesh and hot lead. Having picked off the collection of Nazis ducking in and out of window frames, you crawl under a gap in the fence toward the ruins, moving through the building, collecting whatever health packs or weapons that you can find scattered around. Approaching the adjacent building, you dive through a window, closely followed by the rest of the Baker Company, and endure a close quarters firefight before your team takes their position at the back exit.

Predictably, there's a whole bunch of Nazis to take out first, which is a fairly easy task, before you head for the bombed out remains of the village church. At this stage, you get to see what the deafening noise is, with an AA gun trained on the night sky shooting a massive trail of hot tracer fire into the air. Clearly they've got to go.

Tick tick tick. Boom!

'Call Of Duty' Screenshot 3

With them out of the way, you get to blow up the first Flak Panzer Anti Aircraft tank by planting explosives on a translucent target with the 'use' key, which is another obvious lift from Allied Assault. Seconds later, a huge explosion erupts and you're off to destroy the second of the three, but not before carefully picking off everyone in sight. Before you know it, it's all over and you're left contemplating playing it again on a harder difficulty level. So we did.

On the second of four difficulty levels it's almost pointlessly easy (Easy mode must be like god mode); with so many health packs dotted around you're in no real danger of dying unless you're particularly frivolous. The third of four ('Hardened') didn't exactly feel that much more difficult either. Less health packs, maybe, but barely more of a challenge.

It's hard to make an informed decision on Call Of Duty from such a small slice of the finished game (which features 24 levels across four campaigns), but ostensibly the obvious initial conclusion to draw is that it's not as much of a leap over Allied Assault as you would hope and expect from such a talented team.

Polished, but we've seen better

'Call Of Duty' Screenshot 4

For example, Infinity Ward claims to have basically rewritten almost every aspect of the Quake III graphics engine that still beats away at its core, but it's by no means a generational leap over Allied Assault. Sure, it's more polished; the scenery is more alive, better textured and has a far better animation system, but it doesn't wow like other recent FPS engines we've witnessed, although it ran on our P4 2.2GHz, GeForce4 rig at full detail with nary a stutter. Maybe Call Of Duty will impress more in the full game (for example, with the promise of being able to render 300 men on screen at once), but this rather shallow demo does little to prove anything out of the ordinary.

The AI is another moot point. Again, there are significant signs of improvement, especially the way your comrades get out of your way, or issue instructions to "take out the left flank" and the like. Similarly impressive is the efficient way they duck and take intelligent cover in whatever surroundings you find yourself in, and path finding is way more convincing than we've seen to date, with no discernable occasion when the AI players wander into walls or each other like lemmings. On the other hand, it's all confusingly let down by the way your mates still appear to behave like cannon fodder at times, while seemingly endless reinforcements arrive whenever they do die. It's odd to say the least when you see your comrades gunned down, only to see them magically replaced by new soldiers from nowhere, just in time for the next section of the level. Whuh?

It's also hard to draw too much from the available weapons in the demo: the Allied weapons in the level include the Colt 45, M1A1 Carbine, Thompson Full Auto and M2 Frag Grenade, plus their German equivalents. They're solid, believable, and look great, but feel and sound almost identical to the weapons used in Allied Assault. An obvious thing to say, maybe, but it's a fact, and contributes to the sense of déjà vu that prevails.

Controllable controls

One area that has had a pleasing tweak is the control system. The system employed now allows for three stances: Stand, Crouch and Prone, which are assigned to Space, C and Shift respectively unless you remap them, and hitting jump brings you out of either, which helps enormously when trying to make a sharp exit. Just as neatly implemented is the system of alternate fire, with the right mouse button assigned to allow you to aim down the sight by default, giving you a better degree of accuracy at the expense of speed.

Call Of Duty is undoubtedly a highly polished exercise in WWII combat, and is as entertaining as any scripted, linear FPS should be. But the feeling remains on the basis of this demo that Infinity Ward hasn't done a great deal to break away from the rigid, linear Allied Assault template, leaving a sense of an incremental improvement rather than a revolutionary product. It's certainly not "ten times better than Allied Assault" as some of the hysterical preview coverage has suggested. But despite our early playable reservations, we still await the full version with interest and hope that in the words of Captain Foley, "You ain't seen nothin' yet".

Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (24) Latest comment 9 years ago

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  • templar-wizard #1 9 years ago

    from the demo, im really looking forward to this one. its like medal of honour but with 10xFun and huge armies.
    those russian videos are wild... wild!

  • Stachey #2 9 years ago

    It does feel like a more polished version of allied assault.

    Btw you can get more then just the guns you start out with - you can pick up the germans guns too, mp40 etc

  • FWB #3 9 years ago

    The third of four ('Hardened') didn't exactly feel that much more difficult either. Less health packs, maybe, but barely more of a challenge.

    Yep. Try the hardest difficulty though. Maybe I'm just shit, but I found myself dying over and over again. You can take about 2-3 shots. Thank-god (or maybe not) for quicksave/load.

    Good overview. Its nothing new, the AI is not remarkable, but I like it. I'm not too bothered about the weapon selections either, since I really like those rifles. And on the plus side, the lack of graphically leaps means it'll, hopefully, run fine on my machine. The demo was perfect.

    those russian videos are wild... wild!

    I'd just like to point - not that'm bitter - out that the Russians had a wonderful tactic in WW2 involving the use of Poles, Czechs and other slavic people, to "soak up Nazis bullets".*



    *I take that from a Lonely Planet guide. That links is actually quite an amusing read, with the remarks the author makes.
    Edited by 2 at 03/09/03 @ 10:33

  • Killerbee #4 9 years ago

    Sounds good, but is it just me or is anyone else feeling a bit tired of all the WWII themed FPS games of recent years? It always seems to be either that or a Sci-Fi setting and I have a bit of a yearning for something... I dunno... contemporary?
    Edited by 1 at 03/09/03 @ 10:34

  • FWB #5 9 years ago

    contemporary

    OFP? DC?

    Otherwise Joint Operations should cover that for you. Personally I'd like to see something historical. Imagine the Rome: Total War screenshots as a FPS.

  • Sko #6 9 years ago

    Was turning up the brightness the first thing anyone else did when they started the game? Screw atmosphere, I wanna see what I'm shooting at! :)

  • krudster #7 9 years ago

    Yeah, bang on. First thing I did was whack the brightness up too.

    I don't think we'll ever stop having WWII games thrown at us, but maybe the AI and scope of the game will improve to make up for the constant retreading of old ground...

  • Chris Gardiner #8 9 years ago

    Sounds good, but is it just me or is anyone else feeling a bit tired of all the WWII themed FPS games of recent years? It always seems to be either that or a Sci-Fi setting and I have a bit of a yearning for something... I dunno... contemporary?

    I want a good western!
    Edited by 1 at 03/09/03 @ 11:15

  • jiroczech #9 9 years ago

    Chris G: I think there's a Western themed FPS coming out on XBox?

    FWB: I hope you're just out of practice ;P - I found it pretty easy going even on the hardest difficutly level *struts*

    Overall I think it looks pretty good, even with all the scripting - something to tide us over till HL2, Stalker, Far Cry?

  • FWB #10 9 years ago

    FWB: I hope you're just out of practice ;P - I found it pretty easy going even on the hardest difficutly level *struts*

    I think "shit" is probably a better term. :)

    In fact Panzerfausts are single use, hand-held anti-tank rockets. One is required to decommission three Flakpanzers in the demo (Anti Aircraft tanks).

    There's only one WW2 game I've seen that has panzerfausts and its not even supposed to be historical: RTCW. Every other one uses regular AT weapons (it'd be nice to see the Russian AT rifle too). The Germans produce millions of them and they were picked up by the Russians who used them for destroying buildings (for combat purposes, of course :) ).

    Several times we swear we saw our comrades gunned down, only to see them magically reappear from somewhere in time for the next section of the level. Whuh?

    I think Whizzo mentioned this so I did an little experiment. Just before assaulting the last flak position I stood there mowing down my guys over and over again. There are two of them who you can't kill (they drop dead and then get up again), the rest do, indeed, keep spawning. I hope that's changed in the final version.
    Edited by 1 at 03/09/03 @ 12:00

  • Merefield #11 9 years ago

    I'd just like to point - not that'm bitter - out that the Russians had a wonderful tactic in WW2 involving the use of Poles, Czechs and other slavic people, to "soak up Nazis bullets".*

    Well, it's not like every army in the world has at least, at one point, sent in what it considered to be its "lower class grunts" as cannon fodder in a tactical manoeuvre.

  • FWB #12 9 years ago

    Good point. But I take every opportunity I can to bitch about our wonderful neighbours. :)

  • Merefield #13 9 years ago

    By the way, FWB, the comments you made the other day about the weakness in BF1942 where you can drop in behind enemy lines and take a flag solo...have you noticed the new "Push" style map coming out for the Desert Combat mod in which you have to take the checkpoints in order?

    Goes someway to solving that issue...though its not quite the "only if neighbour taken" solution you were talking about

  • FWB #14 9 years ago

    Indeed I have. It should be interesting. Its good to know that its possible to code something like that. If it works I hope other mappers follow. I'd quite like a "push" version of the original maps, especially the RtoR ones.

    I wonder what happens if all the Iraqi checkpoints get taken, whether there's no way back?

  • Merefield #15 9 years ago

    I quite like the approach taken by the fantastic Sony online multiplayer tank game, Tanarus where each of your own bases emit energy to fuel your tanks...if you stray too far from them for too long, your batteries go dead and you are defenseless. Hence you tend only to take neighbouring bases...

    Obviously this is more appropriate in a sci-fi setting rather than WW2 and one without flying vehicles!

    In addition, to cap a base, you have to have a special loadout which you have to substitute most of your weapons for...which means you rely on stealth, surprise and/or the cover of your team mates to win a flag as you go in in a fairly vulnerable state.
    Edited by 2 at 03/09/03 @ 12:36

  • FWB #16 9 years ago

    Those are actually pretty neat ideas. Sadly I doubt we'll see the implemented.

    I'd also like a Natural Selection mod for BF. I've not played the HL one, but it sounds pretty cool.

    There are times when I wish I knew something about computer programming. :)

  • Merefield #17 9 years ago

    Well (sorry for remaining off topic here), in 1942, you could create a kind of "Command" vehicle - probably something with little weaponry and little armour -...perhaps you could use a modified APC...which had to be driven next to a flag and sit there a certain amount of time to win it - and take away the ability of soldiers to cap a base. I'm sure that that wouldn't be too difficult to hack...
    Edited by 1 at 03/09/03 @ 13:03

  • FWB #18 9 years ago

    Knowing nothing about coding I can't say, but it sounds simple enough, except it might cause problems with taking flags inside of buildings. I guess you could just require a combination of vehicle and infantry.

    I also like the idea of supplies for tanks. It might encourage teamplay.

  • Merefield #19 9 years ago

    It might encourage teamplay.

    Yeah, in the end, that is what devs should pursue to make future games more interesting, fun and rewarding.

    ...back to topic...

    btw, I'm sorry, but with all its linearity and scripting, Call of Duty might as well be a DVD! If I can rent it, I will.

  • pablo2001jedi #20 9 years ago

    Played the single player demo....its much better than Medal of Honor, although still linear game play in single player. Cant wait to try a multiplayer demo!!!!

  • FWB #21 9 years ago

    Kazem - then why not just come up with some storyline about reinforcements?

    Ranger - indeed, but its really, really missing the forward lean function of Vietcong. Where's the BAR, btw?

  • pjmaybe #22 9 years ago

    That's one big assed demo.

    Have to wait till later tonight to play it though.

    Pooh.

    Peej

  • kissoon #23 9 years ago

    Where's the demo?

  • pjmaybe #24 9 years ago

    Dunno - found it on www.avault.com