Call of Duty 2 (2005)
Infinity Ward's second and last foray into the World War II installments of the hit Call of Duty series brings another series of viewpoints of the war in Europe. It's credited as the first to introduce staple gameplay mechanics such as nearby grenade indicators and automatically-regenerating health.
First released
Oct 25, 2005
Aliases
COD2
Franchises
Call of Duty
Developed by
Infinity Ward, Pi Studios, LLC., Hands-On Mobile, Aspyr Media, Inc.
Published by
Activision, Hands-On Mobile, Aspyr Media, Inc.
Platforms
Mac, Xbox 360, PC, Xbox One
Genres
First-Person Shooter
Themes
World War II
Rating
ESRB: T, CERO: 15+, PEGI: 16+, PEGI: 12+, BBFC: 15, ESRB: M
Releases
- MAC - Call of Duty 2 United States
- MAC - Call of Duty 2 United Kingdom
- PC - Call of Duty 2 United States
- PC - Call of Duty: Warchest United States
- PC - Call of Duty 2 - Collector's Edition United States
- PC - Call of Duty 2 United Kingdom
- PC - Call of Duty 2: Game of the Year Edition United Kingdom
- PC - Call of Duty 2 - Collectors Edition United Kingdom
- X360 - Call of Duty 2 United States
- X360 - Call of Duty 2 Japan
- X360 - Call of Duty 2 United Kingdom
- X360 - Call of Duty 2: Game of the Year Edition United Kingdom
- X360 - Call of Duty 2: Game of the Year Edition United Kingdom
- X360 - Call of Duty: The War Collection United States
Community reviews
*Warning: Spoilers* Epic installment in the series with a fresh new experience.
Call of Duty 2 is a big upgrade from the first one, from a time that game developers actually cared. In the basis, it is still a WWII shooter, like the first one, but with some new perspectives, storylines, improvements and a leap in graphics.
In Call of Duty 2, you get three separate storylines which you play in order. First, you play as Vasili Koslov in the Russian army, who fights in the battle of Stalingrad during the German invasion. After that, you are warped to the British army as Sergeant John Davis, which is stationed in Egypt in the fight against General Rommel. Halfway the campaign, you are switched to yet another character, David Welsh, a tank commander who is tasked with destroying enemy artillery. After the battle, you take on the role of John Davis once again in the defense of Matmata.
Lastly, you play as Bill Taylor, an American soldier which fights in the battle of Pointe Du Hoc. Afterwards, you play three more missions deep into Germany, on your way to Berlin.
The variation of the missions, characters and different cultures is what made this game so great. It shows many historical battles and let you experience the, sometimes hopeless, battles of the war. It really tells a story, something that is greatly missing in the Call of Duty games today.
The graphics in Call of Duty 2 are a huge improvement over the first game. Weapons, animations and environmental design are greatly improved and the game felt so realistic at the time. The new blood animations and the corpses that stay on the ground for long periods of time, really improved the experience. There is still no ragdoll in this game so the death animations of the enemies are still “static”, but that does not matter. There where, even then, also mods to make the game even more realistic like more blood, and even dismemberment. It was even more epic and realistic with those mods installed.
The only problem I encountered was a bug in the animations of the enemy soldiers, in which their mouths still move and produce silent slurs, while you just put a bullet between their eyes. This really freaked me out as a kid.
The sound design has also been greatly improved. Shots and grenades sound great and the enhanced bass in the explosions really gets you in the game. Enemy soldiers now throw slurs and insults at you which are hilarious when you understand German like me.
The new mechanics in which you need to take cover to regenerate is a welcome addition. I am used to games with health bars and finding medical kits to stay alive, but here, all is not lost when you just have 1 HP left and the enemy is coming for you. On the other hand, this removes some of the thrill to stay alive and find canteens or med kits, like the first Call of Duty or Medal of Honor.
Most of this review is from pure nostalgia, but nevertheless, Call of Duty 2 is just as good as I remembered it today. It is a huge leap from the first game and a worthy successor.
I would definitely recommend this classic to everyone.
In Call of Duty 2, you get three separate storylines which you play in order. First, you play as Vasili Koslov in the Russian army, who fights in the battle of Stalingrad during the German invasion. After that, you are warped to the British army as Sergeant John Davis, which is stationed in Egypt in the fight against General Rommel. Halfway the campaign, you are switched to yet another character, David Welsh, a tank commander who is tasked with destroying enemy artillery. After the battle, you take on the role of John Davis once again in the defense of Matmata.
Lastly, you play as Bill Taylor, an American soldier which fights in the battle of Pointe Du Hoc. Afterwards, you play three more missions deep into Germany, on your way to Berlin.
The variation of the missions, characters and different cultures is what made this game so great. It shows many historical battles and let you experience the, sometimes hopeless, battles of the war. It really tells a story, something that is greatly missing in the Call of Duty games today.
The graphics in Call of Duty 2 are a huge improvement over the first game. Weapons, animations and environmental design are greatly improved and the game felt so realistic at the time. The new blood animations and the corpses that stay on the ground for long periods of time, really improved the experience. There is still no ragdoll in this game so the death animations of the enemies are still “static”, but that does not matter. There where, even then, also mods to make the game even more realistic like more blood, and even dismemberment. It was even more epic and realistic with those mods installed.
The only problem I encountered was a bug in the animations of the enemy soldiers, in which their mouths still move and produce silent slurs, while you just put a bullet between their eyes. This really freaked me out as a kid.
The sound design has also been greatly improved. Shots and grenades sound great and the enhanced bass in the explosions really gets you in the game. Enemy soldiers now throw slurs and insults at you which are hilarious when you understand German like me.
The new mechanics in which you need to take cover to regenerate is a welcome addition. I am used to games with health bars and finding medical kits to stay alive, but here, all is not lost when you just have 1 HP left and the enemy is coming for you. On the other hand, this removes some of the thrill to stay alive and find canteens or med kits, like the first Call of Duty or Medal of Honor.
Most of this review is from pure nostalgia, but nevertheless, Call of Duty 2 is just as good as I remembered it today. It is a huge leap from the first game and a worthy successor.
I would definitely recommend this classic to everyone.
Okay
STORY = 5/10
GAMEPLAY = 7/10
ENJOYMENT = 7/10
RATING = 6.3/10
GAMEPLAY = 7/10
ENJOYMENT = 7/10
RATING = 6.3/10