Call of Duty 2 & COD1 United Offensive

[Jason]

Well I finally beat Call of Duty 2, the first half of the game was painful and just bad. The second half was pretty damn fun. Nothing really great about the game, just that it had some fun battles. Although it could be that Hour of Victory makes Call of Duty 2 look better, because I started playing COD2 before I started/beat HOV, hrmm

Worth playing? Yeah... yeah... if you liked the Band of Brothers mini series and Saving Private Ryan.

Call of Duty United Offensive has a really cool British campaign so far, you start off in a B-17 bomber. You get to move about it to other position and do other tasks while in battle with what seems like a million enemy planes.

Some screenshots below of some "stuck" enemy soldiers... blew them up with grenades in a mission they call Operation Husky... in Sicily... SAS, interesting name eh, nudge nudge wink wink





COD UO's Operation Husky is not like H&D2's, it's more like the movie "the Guns of Navarone"

[Lars]

COD-series plays like quake in a ww2 setting. Nothing realistic can be found there 

[Jason]

All games are unrealistic Lars because they are games. Tired of that complaint about games, they are games. H&D2 is a game and very unrealistic as well, the reactions and amounts of troops in the missions is beyond unrealistic but it is my favourite game to play. It's just a game to play for fun, and the intense battle sequences are done very well in this game - however it did increase the amount of unrealistic features in games. We can certainly blame COD for all those dammed flashing positions to place dynamite. H&D1 did dynamite placing the best, it's your choice where

A game is meant to be fun, I don't believe games should be ultra realistic, I have no wish to actually shoot a human being. In a game it is obvious (for the time being) that the 3d models are just that, fake.

I'm bored and want to play anything world war 2 while I wait for H&D3

[Lars]

Sure all games are unrealistic .. but this series like MOH are ?berunrealistic. I mean get hit by 500 bullets and endless spawning enemies till you go forward and you deactivate them by an trigger .. bah.  It makes a little fun but it only takes 2-5 hours till you see the end. I think there are better choices wo waste your money

[Jason]

Yeah I agree, there are degrees, H&D is definitely the "most realistic". COD1 has health packs, COD2 doesn't, just has the new system every game uses where you hide behind a box and wait... not sure what I prefer, medic packs or waiting... H&D1 was the best and Rainbox Six - no unlimited health. H&D1 should have had slow downs like Rainbox Six where your player moved slower. Miss the old days of gaming

[geosouv]

Hi everyone,

I finished United Offensive a few days ago and wrote my review about it. I think it was a truly great game. Much better than COD. Graphics were very improved, especially the explosions and fires were awesome. There were some beautiful details in the skies, like birds flying in Sicily missions or bombers flying in Soviet missions. Also, the sky was a lot more realistic than in COD. The sky in COD was static and totally unrealistic. Soldier animation was quite smooth this time around while in COD it was awful.

Aside from the graphics, the gameplay had tons of improvements. The first improvement was the ability to sprint. Very useful indeed. The highlight videos and debriefings were a great addition after each campaign. What really impressed me was the letters of your Soviet soldier to his girlfriend, Natasha. I think in these letters, the true nature of war was depicted, rather than warlike games like the Soldier of Fortune series. The game, as I saw it, definitely had some antiwar moral.

The weapons in the game were a lot more and more interesting than COD. Especially weapons like the SVT-40 or the Gewehr 43 were awesome. Also, the game's objectives were a lot more interesting this time around. The objectives in COD were quite repetitive. Perhaps the biggest improvement was the use of vehicles. In UO players get to use a lot more vehicles like speedboats and a lot more heavy weapons like anti-aircraft guns. Also, the British mission on the bomber was a great experience.

The game is a lot more intense than COD, and therefore more difficult. This was neither good or bad, it depends on how experienced FPS gamer one is. The multiplayer I found to be the most impressive feature of the game. The team oriented mentality rather than lone wolf (COD) was a great addition. Also there were three new multiplayer modes to play and a whole new ranking system, the forefather of COD 4 multiplayer.

The only real problems I encountered in this game were, the buggy frame rate in many points, which was really annoying and the reload procedure of some new weapons, especially semi-automatic rifles.

Overall I think it was a better game than the original COD and a must have if you own COD or if you are into WW2 shooters.

Duke, I am surprised you didn't like UO. Do tell us your opinion and exactly what you didn't like about it.

[Duke0196]

Duke, I am surprised you didn't like UO. Do tell us your opinion and exactly what you didn't like about it.

In fairness to COD1: UO ... it has been a while since I played it so I really can't remember a lot of the game.

To best answer your question, however, I just enjoy a more tactical-based game with a more sandbox environment. Linear games like the MOH or COD series make me feel as if they are just funneling me from Point A to Point B. Of course, linear games have their moments especially when you trigger some great cinematics or cut-scenes.

To be honest, it was only this year that I purchased COD2 and COD:WAW (COD5). I purchased COD2 specifically to play a mod based on the Spanish Civil War (SCW); whereas Jason recommended COD: WAW since he knows I like Pacific War-themed gameplay. I may also re-install COD5 when the SCW mod team finishes their new SCW mod for COD5.

[geosouv]

Maybe you should give it another shot Duke. I am sure you will like it. Tactical shooters are generally more interesting but traditional FPS have their value too. Tactical shooters have a lot more interesting objectives, including secondary objectives and are much more realistic. It depends on your mood and what you want to play.

[geosouv]

Miss the old days of gaming

We all miss the old days of gaming Jason my friend. But, fortunately many old games will play on modern operating systems, so we shouldn't give up on them. In fact, I don't own a single game created after the year 2007! I do this deliberately, because newer games just don't have all that much work in them and generally newer games just don't have it. Fortunately, H&D 2 is fully compatible with windows 7 so we will keep on mastering our skills until H&D 3 comes along won't we? Also, as you must know, most old games like Soldier of Fortune 2 or Deus Ex and Deus Ex: Invisible War are fully compatible with windows 7 if you just turn on the compatibility mode. But, if everything fails, you can always install two operating systems now that windows XP 64-bit is available. And the prices of hard disks these days are quite low, at least here in Greece. Though external hard rives are a bit expensive but who cares, you just install an internal HDD and you are done.

Don't know how to install XP after you have installed 7? Check out this link. I have done this procedure many times and it works just fine. I currently have two operating systems installed on two different HDDs. The forum is pretty much the best there is for windows 7. Very reliable.

[geosouv]

Duke,

You said that COD: UO was very similar to COD. Well, since the game is actually an expansion pack, which means it uses the same graphics engine, the same sound etc., isn't it reasonable that it feels similar to the original game? I mean if it was COD 2 and it was very similar to COD then that would be a problem. I think UO was as original as an expansion pack could be and the gameplay was very much upgraded. Not to mention Gray Matter Interactive was a very experienced action and FPS development team.

[-ViTaMiHnM203-]

Fortunately, H&D 2 is fully compatible with windows 7

No, it is not. Just one example; was this ever resolved?

[geosouv]

@-ViTaMiHnM203-

Interesting topic, I was referring to the single player mostly, I don't really like multiplayer gaming in general. Actually no, the problem was not resolved. Jason is working on it.

[-ViTaMiHnM203-]

Oh really? How did you come about this insider information?

[Duke0196]

Maybe you should give it another shot Duke. I am sure you will like it.

Quite possible. As I said it has been awhile.

Tactical shooters are generally more interesting but traditional FPS have their value too. Tactical shooters have a lot more interesting objectives, including secondary objectives and are much more realistic. It depends on your mood and what you want to play.

I think you hit it right on the nose when you mentioned mood ... at least for myself. Sometimes I may be in the mood for an FPS ... but I usually remove it after I complete the campaigns. I don't find the same replay value but that doesn't mean I won't come back to it later down the line.

[Duke0196]

Duke,

You said that COD: UO was very similar to COD. Well, since the game is actually an expansion pack, which means it uses the same graphics engine, the same sound etc., isn't it reasonable that it feels similar to the original game? I mean if it was COD 2 and it was very similar to COD then that would be a problem.

True, therefore let me quantify my statement. I have often mentioned I am not much of an FPS / linear game fan so that also taints my viewpoint. It could be my comment may reflect that I "feel" that even a "new" FPS still "feels" the same to me. Oft times its still "run 'n gun" with the main difference being the graphics are probably of a new locale and hopefully better "eye candy" than the previous game.

To put it in perspective, COD was released in 2003, but I did not buy the Deluxe Edition box set until 2005 or 2006. This included both COD and COD:UO together; therefore, when I started playing COD:UO I had just finished the American, British, and Russian campaigns from COD. At the same time, I was playing H&D2, Deadly Dozen 2, modding Ghost Recon, and dabbling with Brothers in Arms Road to Hill 30. All tactical shooters.

COD2 came out in 2005, but I only purchased it this year and that was so I could play a mod about the Spanish Civil War. It wasn't so I could play COD2.

My passion for Pacific War campaigns is known by a few on this forum. Yet, I only purchased COD: World at War (COD5) this year after some favorable comments from Jason even though it had been released in 2008. I played through it, found the USMC campaign interesting, but haven't bothered to install COD:WAW on my new system.

Obviously, my FPS interest is not the same as yours. I might get more out of the game if I was into MP but I am not.

I think UO was as original as an expansion pack could be and the gameplay was very much upgraded.

The originality could be there but I really don't recall much of UO. As for gameplay, I once read the biggest changes in UO was to the MP gameplay .. new maps & types of competitions. Since I am not an MP player ... these additions were lost on me.

You mentioned sounds earlier ... believe it or not ... I may not have cared for UO's Battle of the Bulge campaign due to some sound effects. I don't recall if they were included but I dearly dislike the crunching snow sound used in most games. It is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. It sends shivers up my spine. That's why I dislike playing the Operation Snowball in H&D2 even though it has some decent missions. The forum poll definitely shows it is a popular campaign.

And following up on sounds, I dislike the inability to not turn off the music. I know they go to a lot of effort to add the music but they should give the player the ability to turn it off if they so desire. I for one dislike any background "mood" music.

Not to mention Gray Matter Interactive was a very experienced action and FPS development team.

I'm sure they did a fine job and many folks who truly appreciate FPS games enjoyed themselves.

Later ...