World War 2. One of, if not, the most horrific war ever. The Call of Duty series has been around for years now, the majority of them being set in World War 2. The developers have switched respectfully between Infinity Ward and Treyarch. Arguably, most people agree that Infinity Ward have done a better job with their Call of Duty releases than Treyarch. This is one thing which made me think about buying this game.

Personally, i'm not a WW2 game fan, i find the weapons annoying and boring, and prefer the more advanced warfare of modern technology. Most of you are probably saying "Why didn't you but Call of Duty 4:Modern Warfare (notably the only modern adaption in the series). Well the answer is this site.

If you're offered a game, most of you will probably go for one that you've been looking at for ages. Well, i'm not like that. I would end up getting a game which i have doubts on, such as this one. I'm also one to go for the latest in the series, i don't like buying previous games in a series, i just have to have the latest one so i feel 'up-to-date' as it were.

So, down to my analysis of the game. I began the single player campaign as soon as i could. By the end of the night, i had made it half way through the game already. Now, although this is on the easiest setting (i've never played a Call of Duty much), that's a short lifespan straight away. By this morning, i had completed it. In less than a day, i had done the whole Russian and American campaign. Which leads my onto my next point.

By the looks of it, according to Treyarch, the British weren't involved in WW2! I looked forward to playing as my fellow Brits (like you could on Call of Duty 3 - two in fact!). But no, you've got the Americans vs Japanese, and the Russias vs The Verchmact (or Germany).

I'll start with the American campaign, seeing as that's were you start in the game. You play as Private Miller, led by Sergeant Roebuck. I was happy to recieve my first Call of Duty Xbox achievement, for shooting a japanese soilder who was on fire, trying to set alight "Private Ryan". No awards for guessing what the achievement was called...

If that wasn't cliché enough, then read on. Somehow, even though you're a Private, like a lot of the other AI characters, you're given responsibility for crucial elements in a mission. "Wait, you're a Sergeant? And you want ME to retrieve the documents that would win this war?!" The obvious reason for this is because Treyarch want to get you involved in the game, but it's just so unrealistic.

One thing i did admire was the Japanese tactics. Everytime the American Campaign loaded up, i'd think "I wonder what they're going to pull next...". Although, once i got through abit of the game, i noticed these "surprise" tactics were becoming less and less surprising.

What was surprising was the Russian campaign. Seeing as America is probably a main target market for this game, well more so than Russia anyway, i enjoyed the Russian campaign far more. Although you didn't have to compete with the Japanese and their tactics, you did have to compete against brute German force. And the storyline for the Russian campaign seemed far more realistic; you weren't blowing up mortar pits every second, or having someone come at you with a bayonet every millisecond. You were just fighting and getting on with it.

Multiplayer. Although i haven't unlocked all the multiplayer levels, i've enjoyed the ones i've played thus far. I have experienced my first little bit of lag, but it was for a split moment, and it didn't affect the game too much to be noticable. You still have the features like create a class, which is very handy if you want to make the ultimate-rambo-super-soilder pack. The maps are vast, not in number, but in environment and surroundings. Vehicles aren't dominant at all, like most other games, were anyone in a tank wins. You still get rewarded with consecutive kill bonus's, with 3 kills getting you a scan for 30 seconds, showing you were everyone on the map is, 5 kills getting you an artillery strike, BOOM!, and 7 kills getting you the worst thing to face, the wardogs. They will run after you, and it only takes 1 or 2 swipes off them, depending on your current health status, to kill you. They also help your opponents find you, as they bark aswell.

After i completed the single player campaign, i also unlocked 'Zombie Mode' which i was looking forward to! It's much like Horde mode on Gears of War 2 for those who haven't played it, except your enemies are much more scarier, and you're stuck in a little hut, which you've no choice but to defend until you die. Also gets even scarier when you get zombies that run at you! At least when they're slow, you get a bit of time to aim and blow their heads off.

In conclusion, i'm glad i got this game. It's not what i call an amazing game, but it's entertaining in some ways. But it is also annoying in some ways. The lifespan isn't too great by the looks of things, but the multiplayer is sure entertaining. Lets see what Infinity Ward come up with when they release Call of Duty 6:Moden Warfare 2 (coming out in November i believe, although expect delays!)

Single player Campaign: 6/10
Graphics 7/10
Multiplayer Rating (based on Xbox Live): 8/10
Overall Rating: 7/10