FPS - Follows the interconnected stories of American, British, Canadian, and Polish soldiers as they fight through the Normandy Breakout, highlighting their collaborative efforts and bravery in pivotal World War II battles.
PROS:
++ Meaty campaign. The campaign felt full, but not bloated. It didn't feel like there was much filler. There was enough variety in the missions in regards to the settings, characters, and gameplay elements, that made the playthrough feel like a breeze to play. I also appreciated that the four "campaigns" felt more cohesive compared to prior games where the campaigns felt disconnected.
++ The "first" COD. This is the first game in the series that truly feels like a modern Call of Duty experience. Competent cutscenes, plenty of cinematic moments, solid voice acting and phenomenal music made this game a great experience. Even though WW2 has been done to death, I still got goosebumps and shots of adrenaline in certain scenes (e.g. holding the hill in the Polish campaign). I also really appreciated that there were more unique characters and personalities. It made each country's story more memorable.
++ Solid gameplay. Although some gameplay omissions were missed (sprinting and the ability to lean left and right), the gameplay was on par to COD 2's gameplay. Snapping on to enemies when aiming down sight made the gunplay feel fast and fluid while using a controller. Being able to throw back grenades was also nice. All the guns felt distinct and had more noticeable "effective ranges", so you couldn't just use the same gun for every combat scenario. My only real gripe is that damage felt inconsistent. Some enemies took more shots to kill than average, for example.
++ Phenomenal visuals. Environments were much more detailed and looked great when up-scaled to 1080p. Character models also looked great for a 2006 game. Effects were good, especially the phenomenal smoke produced from smoke grenades. Lighting was solid too.
CONS:
-- Setting. By this point, they've already made four games that all cover similar aspects of WWII. And I started feeling that the formula and setting was growing stale and repetitive while playing through it.
-- Unskippable cutscenes. Every time you load up the mission to continue your playthrough, the intro cutscene of that mission plays and there is no option to skip it. It was definitely a minor convenience, but noticeable nonetheless.
-- Forest Mission. The mission where you had to use smoke grenades in order to close the gap with the enemy was unexpectedly hard. This difficulty spike came out of nowhere, and all the future missions are easy compared to the last checkpoint of this mission.
-- Sixaxis integration. I get that they were trying to make use of the PS3's controller, but much of the sixaxis integration felt awkward to use so I ended up just turning it off.
-- Technical shortcomings. Lots of minor bugs; objectives not advancing, squadmates who stop following you, getting stuck on terrain, shots not registering, etc. Nothing game-breaking, but still lacking the technical polish of COD 2.
