Call of Duty 2: The Big Red One is the sequel to highly popular title on the consoles, Call of Duty: Finest Hour. The Call of Duty series, in whole, is one of the freshest first-person titles currently out on the market. Would this sequel live up to expectations and improve on the foundation that was built with the original?

I must tag this warning on the review right off the bat. This isn’t the same Call of Duty 2 that is currently being played on the PCs and soon to be released on the Xbox 360. Call of Duty 2: The Big Red One is strictly on this generation of consoles and is entirely separate from the PC/Xbox 360 series. The Big Red One is developed by Treyarch, creators of Spider-Man 2 and Ultimate Spider-Man. Collaborating on the project is also Gray Matter Studios. They already have a short history with the Call of Duty games with development on the expansion pack for the PCs, Call of Duty: United Offensive.

Call of Duty 2: The Big Red One focuses on the infantry division called of course, “The Big Red One.” The Big Red One nickname is for the U.S. First Infantry Division, which in fact is the oldest division serving the U.S. Army. The nickname comes from the shoulder patch all the soldiers wore on their uniforms. Their motto is “Duty First” and they focus on sticking together. Other mottos that aren’t official for the division include “No Mission Too Difficult” and “No Sacrifice Too Great.”

he variety in gameplay is still present. Ranging from driving tanks, jumping in the seat of mounted guns, operating tons of turrets and shooting down any type of aircrafts that may cross your path, Call of Duty 2 does it all for the limited amount of time the game spans. The gameplay becomes stale when you realize all the linear levels it contains. The linear levels have the feeling like they have lost options and routes for the lead characters to take along his missions. It becomes repetitive at times and can be over-bearing to finish the game towards the end.

There are moments where it drags along at a tiring pace. You’ll no longer want to ever sit in a turret again with the tediousness of how the game manages that aspect. With being stuck in the turret and having to kill numerous enemies in the same fashion, Call of Duty 2 does have it’s moments that aren’t so graceful.

On the topic of missions, Big Red One is heavily scripted. Over the course of 13 missions, you’ll journey throughout Africa, Italy and of course Europe. Scripted into the battles are explosions, ongoing battles in the background and AI that puts up a good fight. The computer AI isn’t the most intelligent I have encountered in a FPS but it is certainly doesn’t drag the game down from its high pedestal.

One area the GameCube version seriously lacks in though is the online portion. Actually wait, not only is it the online portion but the whole multiplayer aspect itself. It’s bad enough that the other iterations don’t support split-screen action but to sit here and realize that no one will be able to play Call of Duty with me is disappointing.

Before I move on, I want to spend time providing the great voice actors of the Big Red One the spotlight they deserve.

Richard Speight Jr., James Madio, Michael Cudlitz, Rick Gomez, Frank John Hughes, Ross McCall, and Rene L Moreno, may not be names you immediately recognize but they all were a part of the HBO series Band of Brothers. All of them have been brought together to deliver the fantastic voice acting that is present within the Big Red One. Speight’s biggest claim to fame could be Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day starring Will Smith. Madio has been a part of movies such as Shark Tale, Hook, and The Basketball Diaries. Rick Gomez has had roles in Sin City, Ray, and The Animatrix. The list can go on but all of these voice actors have established themselves within the video game industry and even have their stamp on Hollywood already.

The last thing to speak about is the graphics. They aren’t up to par with its cousin that appears on the 360 and PC. Though I will not compare it to those versions due to it’s an unfair comparison with high-end PCs and the next generation console in the Xbox 360. The GameCube version holds up nicely when put side to side to the PS2 and Xbox version. It doesn’t run as smooth as the Xbox but it certainly looks better than the PS2 version in my own opinion. One thing that I wish Call of Duty contained more of is cutscenes. Cutscenes within Call of Duty 2 are nonexistent.

The taste that is leftover from my experience with Call of Duty 2: The Big Red One is actually decent. Sure there is no online, multiplayer, and drawbacks on the graphics but that didn’t stop me from playing the campaign of The Big Red One. The campaign holds up the title for the short run you’ll play it for but once that run is over, you’ll wonder what left is there to do with a FPS with no multiplayer.

Gameplay: 8.0
It does make strides in the right direction over it’s predecessor Call of Duty: Finest Hour, but the reputation of being a Call of Duty game is a hard one to live up to with the PC version releasing just recently.

Graphics: 7.5
A few framerate problems at times when things become haywire but nonetheless, nothing noteworthy that detracts from your experience.

Sound: 8.3
Not up to Call of Duty standards with the effects but the voice acting is superb.

Difficulty: Easy
If you have played any Call of Duty or FPS before, this will be easy to pick up and play.

Concept: 7.0
I give them two thumbs up for at least trying to tell a story within the confines of the WWII backdrop. What isn’t original is that, of course, the game still takes place in WWII, the most over-used plot and setting for a game.

Overall: 7.4
If you are in desperate need of a new FPS, pick up Call of Duty 2: The Big Red One. Avoid at all costs if you are looking for your next FPS to show off to your friends as they’ll never get the chance to play with you.