Infinity Ward and Activision‘s sequel to Call of Duty – Call of Duty 2 – was where I sat up and really started to take notice of the series. That was because the game opens with you playing a soldier from the Russian perspective, rather than American, which I thought was a bold decision. Also: in this game you can actually choose which of the three campaigns to play from the main menu (although you do have to unlock them), which wasn’t the case in Call of Duty or United Offensive.

Graphically, it’s easy to see that Call of Duty 2 is a serious upgrade over the first game. The character models are more complex and better-animated; the textures are higher-fidelity, and the 3D environments are more detailed and realistic. What worked well in Call of Duty, like the HUD; the on-screen messages; the objective list; the compass; the control system, and the weapon restrictions are all carried over into this game.

Although the gameplay in Call of Duty 2 is essentially the same as previously, there is something about it that elevates it above the norm, and I reckon that’s the level of immersion provided by the presentation upgrade, and also because the designers I think made the difficulty curve a bit more gradual. The ‘trial by fire’ of the opening level is very well-designed, and also very atmospheric, but unless you do something stupid, it’s not too difficult.

The health system has been slightly tweaked, so that – if you’re badly wounded – you at least get the chance to move to cover, so that your health can regenerate over time. Personally, I think this is a better system than picking up first aid kits off the ground.

At a certain point during the first campaign the second campaign unlocks – the British campaign, starting with a night attack in El Alamein (Egypt) and then progressing onto Lybia, Tunisia, and then Caen, France, as part of D-Day. The third campaign – the American campaign – unlocks part way through the second, and begins with D-Day, progressing with Hill 400 and the Rhine river crossing into Germany.

You will still encounter the occasional ‘bottleneck’ in the game – it’s a Call of Duty tradition – but they aren’t too difficult to beat with a mouse and keyboard. Now if you asked me to do the same with a gamepad, it’d be a different story…

Overall, Call of Duty 2 is a considerable improvement over the first game. It doesn’t just look better – it plays better. It does have multiplayer, but I don’t know if it still works or not. I didn’t look.

Call of Duty 2 was initially released in 2005 and is currently, at the time of writing, still available to buy on Steam. Also at the time of writing: no Call of Duty games are available to buy on gog.com, which is a shame.

Final note: I noticed that I could Alt-Tab in and out of the game, which wasn’t possible for me in Windows in the first Call of Duty.

More: Call of Duty 2 on Wikipedia
Steam: Call of Duty 2 on Steam