Visually CoD 2 is amazing in high def. How amazing? Let me put it into perspective. I rented Call of Duty 2 for the Xbox 360 around the launch, before I received my review copy. At the time I was playing the 360 on my regular TV. About a week ago, I was walking through Future Shop and saw some dudes standing around playing the Xbox 360 kiosk. I had never seen the war game they were playing and I thought to myself that it was a new demo of a new game. Man it looked out of this world! The best I'd ever seen. It wasn't. It was Call of Duty 2 in high def. I immediately hunted everywhere for the X360 VGA adapter and managed to find the last one in Vancouver (they're all over the place now...buy one if don't have an HDTV but have a good monitor!) I couldn't believe the difference. I'm no "graphics whore" by any stretch as gameplay HAS to come first but wow, CoD'2 visuals are mighty impressive. The varied environments from the snowblown streets of Stalingrad, sandswept African desert and the cobblestone roads of rural France, every level has something else to marvel at. Running at 60 FPS, CoD 2 never looks grainy, choppy or ugly and unless you've got a super duper PC gaming rig and a copy of the PC version I'm betting you haven't seen this game look as amazing as it does on Xbox 360.

Before you think CoD 2 is all beauty and no brains, take note that Infinity Ward packed some pretty special AI into the mix on both sides. While there were a few occasions I would have loved to have been able to command my fellow soldiers to do my bidding (ala Brothers In Arms), for the most part my AI team held their own against the German army. I noticed a few occasions where they just couldn't manage to pick off the bastard who was targetting me while I was trying to do something important - like use the anti-aircraft gun to shoot down attacking planes for example - and while that was frustrating, I simply took matters into my own hands and shot the sonuvablix myself. The enemy AI on the other hand are a sneaky bunch. They'll dive out of the way of grenades, duck for cover and even manage to crack off a few shots in your general direction before they're taken by the hand of death. You can even watch them crawl along the ground after being shot as even when they're mortally wounded, they're always up to something.

Gamers with a kick ass home theater system and no neighbors within earshot to complain about it will be in audio heaven. The sounds of war will rattle your home if you give it the opportunity. The entire audio presentation in CoD 2 is simply award-winning. Instead of pumping you up with epic orchestral fanfares which would be completely lost in a sea of gunfire, explosions, wind and shouting, Infinity Ward provides the sounds of war as your soundtrack. The constant chatter of your mates is also noteworthy as there is quite a hefty supply of dialogue and all of it echoes with the panic, stress and jubilation you could imagine on the battlefield.

Where CoD 2 stumbles is on the online battlefield. Unfortunately I don't know anyone within driving distance who owns an X360 so I couldn't investigate SystemLink LAN play nor did I entertain the thought of playing splitscreen which I consider to be for younger gamers who have much better eyesight than this old dude. So naturally I was pumped to jump online and shoot up cyberspace. Online matches include Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture The Flag, Headquarters and Search & Destroy. The first few matches I played were so lag ridden that before I could disconnect, the game did it for me. I reconnected later that evening and online was excellent with minor lag. Later that same evening I went back online and was disconnected because my connection was almost non-existent. That being said, when I have been online I have had a great time. Granted I can't compare this to the 64 players online that the PC version of CoD 2 sports (that figure is off the top of my head so apologies if I'm incorrect) but when online works, it's an excellent time. The advent of the Kill-Cam, which shows you exactly who shot you and from where, helps to eliminate as much as possible those who have nothing better to do than camp and snipe at everyone from their special hiding spot - at least their location is always revealed. This gets them moving around to another location (if they have a brain) after each kill which gets them out onto the battlefield where you actually have a chance at revenge. The environments used online are completely opened up and don't feature as many obstructions as the single player component which means they're huge. That's actually a slight hinderance to the flow of the online game as only 8 players are allowed at once - which means any game becomes a cyber version of hide and seek - especially if you're dealing with one of those lowlife sniper types.

Call Of Duty 2 is a great addition to your budding Xbox 360 but if you've already got the PC version happening then there isn't any reason to defect, especially since the online component of the PC version works like a charm. Armchair soldiers of all ages (this game is rated T for Teen) will dig its white hot, white knuckle single player intensity and owners of HDTV's and Dolby 5.1 will be in WW2 heaven. Sure beats playing with those green plastic army men out in the sandbox.

By Vaughn Smith
CCC Site Director

There are only so many ways you can approach a retelling of one of the most important days in the history of war, but game developers the world over are doing their best to recreate the events and make them as realistic as possible.

D-Day on the beaches of Normandy during World War II is one such hisotoric battle and while it has taken on pop culture status thanks to various incarnations of the event found in games (Medal of Honor, Call of Duty et al) and movies (Saving Private Ryan etc.) game developers love to revisit that moment in time and strive to recreate the insensity, horror and carnage that took place.

Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 2 is one such title and if you've been less than impressed with previous offerings of D-Day existing within the T rated confines of the Medal of Honor series, prepare for pure hell on Earth. While a videogame can obviously never hope to create all aspects of such a cataclysmic event, gamers will be able to participate in the closest reproduction of Normandy ever attempted.

Keeping in line with the originals premise, you will still be able to play as American, British and Russian soldiers during recreations of historic battles. As you progress you will be able to unlock various "vignettes" as you go so that you aren't forced to play through a particular campaign to the end and will be able to take part in various battles that might not fit into the timeline you've been following up to that point.

First Person Shooters have been holding the hands of gamers for far too long now, thanks in part to scripted events that would automatically take place once the player reached a particular area or milestone. Playing through the first time was always a treat, but subsequent replays left the experience feeling far too predictable. Infinity Ward is moving away from heavily scripted events and will lead players on a wild adventure which will mean terror is always a heartbeat away and will never play the same way twice. Enemy and teammate AI has also been significantly improved and along with that, Infinity Ward has recorded over 20,000 lines of dialogue for realistic "battle chatter".

Word on the street is Infinity Ward is already in pre-production on CoD3, even though the second game isn't due on shelves until later this Fall. We're expecting the list of followers to grow exponentially once the sequel hits the streets.