Just like the first game, Call of Duty 2 features three different campaigns in which the player takes on the role of an allied aligned fighter. The first three campaigns follow a Russian fighter followed by four British campaigns and finally three USA campaigns. Each campaign has one to four missions within it. As each of these allied fighters you’ll carry out missions from Russia, to the deserts of North Africa, to France, and throughout much more of Europe. And if you’re wondering about the inevitable Normandy Beach landing that every WWII game has seen to include, Call of Duty 2 is no exception. Although this time around you’ll see the beach invasion from a whole different perspective which keeps this amazing battle fresh for even the most war hardened WWII game veterans.

The thing that really sets Call of Duty 2 apart from other WWII shooters is the immersion and the squad based gameplay that if you played through the game on regular difficulty, in the 10-15 hours it takes to complete, you might not even know was there. As you up the difficulty you really start to notice that yes you do have a group of soldiers following you around helping you along the way and yes they can be useful. On hardened and veteran difficulties you start to realize that the game amounts to a squad based shooter without squad commands. If you move to the correct trigger points throughout the level your soldiers will cover you and take out much of the enemy suppression. And while you’re sweating the 88 machine gun bullets grazing your ear you’ll at times take a step back and realize just how well the immersion within the game has been polished. There is so much going on outside of what you the game player are doing at any one time that it boggles the mind. Enemy AI coordinating attacks, tanks rumbling over the bombed out hole you’re laying in, air strikes rushing over head, and even naval strikes remind you that a single soldier isn’t the center focus of a world war.

The game mainly consists of finding cover for yourself and your battalion and then taking shots at the enemy held up in the cover in front of you. As you progress past each of these mini-missions you’ll hit a checkpoint that you’ll restart at if you die. These checkpoints are a godsend on veteran difficulty and I know I wouldn’t have made it through without them. Smoke grenades and hand grenades are essential devices at some checkpoints in order to suppress the enemy and both have been implemented excellently. The smoke from the smoke grenades is so well rendered and executed in an AI sense that you can be crawling through the smoke and be surprised by a German who is then also surprised to see you. This gameplay element in itself leads to many memorable moments throughout the three campaigns. And when a German does sneak up on you and ultimately kill you you’ll be greeted by a quote from a major historical figure such as Winston Churchill. My favorite by far was by Churchill and is, “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.”

While you’re fighting through the trenches and battlefields of WWII you’ll notice that your health in Call of Duty 2 is handled in a most unique way. Unlike the first game which used a health bar, Call of Duty 2 uses a sort of self healing mechanism. When you get shot your screen gets red and as you get shot or hurt more your screen gets even redder. If you find cover and wait out the red pulsing on the screen you’ll be fully healed and ready to fight again, but if you get hit a few more times there’s a good chance you’ll die. It sounds really easy and cheap but it actually feels and works extremely well when playing. It adds another level of immersion that games with a health bar lose. It also eliminates the med kits that every other game uses which as a byproduct also adds to the immersion. While playing the game you’re only concerned about fighting and choosing which weapon to fight with and this kind of focus really draws the player in like no other.