Call of Duty 2 Image
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Generally favorable reviews - based on 65 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 211 Ratings

  • Summary: Call of Duty 2 lets players experience four individual soldier stories as they overcome insurmountable odds in multiple campaigns. Players have the freedom to follow each of the four storylines through for the ultimate character-driven experience, or they can engage in the historic battles chronologically for quick hitting action. Infinity Ward has also expanded the scope of combat to deliver a truly realistic battlefield experience. Squads now have the freedom to take on a variety of mission objectives, on expansive battlefields that allow for multiple paths and the ability to utilize actual combat tactics like outflanking and fire and maneuver capabilities. Call of Duty 2's new engine and A.I. technology set the stage for authentic squad combat and astonishing action. Concealment can be key as battlefield smoke or even deployed smoke grenades cloud visibility. Weather effects such as the dusty sandstorms of North Africa and whiteout blizzard conditions of Russia, for example, will keep soldiers glued to their bunkers. The team has also employed a state-of-the-art Battle Chatter System that brings the action to life as squad-mates bark out context-sensitive updates in real-time to players through an advanced A.I. system. [Activision] Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 63 out of 65
  2. Negative: 0 out of 65
  1. Something special. It's a war shooter that's both intoxicating yet grisly. From the game's first moments as a young Russian soldier learning the ropes, you'll be sucked in to combat.
  2. 100
    A freakin' work of art. It is, without a doubt, the best-looking console game to date, and the most psychotically intense World War II shooter to boot.
  3. A very solid launch title for the Xbox 360 but there’s still room for improvement, like some kind of enveloping physics engine.
  4. For those who can tolerate having their brain beaten numb by it, the game entails often enthralling, occasionally awe-inspiring sights and sounds. But little is there that’s new compared to much that needs renewal. [Christmas 2005, p.96]

See all 65 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 71 out of 83
  2. Negative: 9 out of 83
  1. The First great Shooter for the Xbox 360? You bet your whole 120 million dollar mansion it is. Not only that, but out of all the games in the Call Of Duty Franchise, this is the best. No, that's underestimating it. It is the ULTIMATE Call Of Duty Game to have. It is Infinity Ward's Masterpiece. Call of Duty 2, best played on the 360, is a testament to the modern day First Person Shooter. Unlike the original Call Of Duty, Call Of Duty 2 takes us to places in the war more epic and diverse than the Original. Normandy, the greatest and most gruesome battle of the War, is portrayed in CoD2. North Africa is portrayed in CoD2. Moscow is portrayed in CoD2. Stalingrad is portrayed in CoD2. It is an amazing experience. Not only that, but multiplayer is kick-ass awesome aswell. Very rrare in the Call Of Duty series a GREAT CAMPAIGN and GREAT MULTIPLAYER. Only two other in the Call Of Duty titles achieve this. Well done, Infinity Ward! Expand
  2. As one of the early Xbox 360 games, Call of Duty 2 was alot of fun and had nice graphics. COD2 is probably one of my most favorite WW2 based games of all times and it is alot of fun, shooter fans def. check it out. Expand
  3. TonyG.
    5
    5/10: Not too impressed: GOOD POINT: 1. Fully immersive, convincing environment, possibly the best I've ever seen BAD POINTS: 1. Not a very polished FPS. It may simulate the chaos of battle, but your enemies are anonymous and all game progress is just helter skelter. You can advance through many parts by simply running forward, which will cause your friendly troops to move up and kill everything in the area. 2. The interface is not playtested enough. It's hard to tell what weapon you're picking up. Several weapons do the same thing. OVERALL: Fun immersive experience that needs to forget about ambience and work on game mechanics. Stick to Halo 2. Expand
  4. Peter
    3
    Admittedly, I played this on a 360 demobooth in Game in the UK. However, since we often buy games based on demobooth action I feel that the following points are valid. MS UK or GAME UK have made a bbig mistake demoing the 360 with this game.. the graphics are very poor. Half-Life 2 has equally good if not better graphics. For example the textures are very poor. On items like crates instead of being able to see contents through the wooden slats, you get annoying white lines. On the level that was on the 360 I was playing (it looked like either Italian theatre or North African Theatre of war) there was a German Horch truck. When the avatar got within 1 foot of it, it was apparent how poor the textures were with no depth or definition. Considering that Halo 1 had fantastically detailed textures this is appalling. Additionally, when your squad are running through you and through sand bags one has to question the collision detection routines. This may be acceptable to the children and simple minded customers of the PS2, but since MS target market is supposedly a higher age and mentality segment it's not accpetable. If I want this poor quality of game I'mnot about to spend a total of £320 to play something that has moved consoles backwards. MS has made a big mistake by firstly not getting production levels sorted out for the obvious Christmas rush but they have released pathetic games for pathetic people. I'm glad I forgot to put my deposit down. I'm going to wait now instead of buying before Christmas and see what the PS3 does and I can guarantee that many customers will do the same. PS I have 4 kids and 4 Xboxes, so MS have missed out big time! Expand

See all 83 User Reviews