Call of Duty

From thecrankyhermit

Call of Duty
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Companies Infinity Ward, Activision, Gray Matter Interactive
First release date Oct 29, 2003
Original platform(s) Windows
Current official platform(s) Steam

Freelook FPS

Call of Duty
Spiritual successor to EA's Medal of Honor series, and a trendsetter for numerous war themed shooters to come. Three self-contained allied campaigns - U.S. Airborne, British SAS, and Soviet Red Army - surpass MOHAA's high standards for cinematic production values and spectacle. The emphasis is on squad combat; you almost always have fellow soldiers by your side moving with you, fighting with you, charging, flanking, drawing fire, and often dying, but never autonomous to the point where they don't need you. The campaigns avoid retreading familiar ground from other WWII games; you will return to Normandy, but as part of the 506th paratrooper unit scattered during the night drop before D-day. The Soviet campaign stands out; opening with the doomed first counter-offensive in Stalingrad, every moment evokes feelings of grimness, desperation, and despair, as you and dozens of poorly equipped comrades face endless barrage from artillery and dive bombers as you futilely fight toward a bombed-out square, deeply entrenched with machine gunners effortlessly mowing your men down. The campaigns are very tightly scripted with no opportunity to meander, as the series would become known for, but it's all in service of what it does well; delivering an authentic feeling experience of being thrust into a massively pitched WWII battle.

Followed by an expansion United Offensive by Gray Matter Interactive in 2004. Not the same game as similarly titled consoles' exclusive Call of Duty: Finest Hour.

Key people Michael Giacchino