Call of Duty: Big Red One review:5 stars (Welcome change to a genre I thought I knew) - If your like me, you saw the medal of honor franchise stagnating, not exactly in decline, but there was little forward movement. Then along came Call of Duty Finest Hour. Wow. Well if you liked Finest Hour but didnt see what else could be done, look no further than Big Red One, which takes gamers into chapters of WW2 history that many people sadly dont know. Beginning in 1942, Two years before D-Day, and thus two years before any previous WW2 video game, this game brings the gamer, with the same squad of characters through the entire European theater, from the First clashes against the Vichy French in Algeria, to clashes with Afrika Korp and Italians in Tunisia. Unlike other games Africa is not merely a small two level affair, BRO gives it the sense of importance it deserves with over a quarter of the game happening there. Then its off to Sicily where you help knock Italy out of the war. I especially enjoyed fighting the Italians for a change, new weapons, vehicles and such. Once you get to France you realize just how tenacious the Germans are, and the game progressivly gets more challanging until you reach Germany itself. Definitely an amazing perspective, and a more realistic one. The average soldier did not, as Medal of Honor would tell you, end up in the OSS blowing up endless secret german or japanese weapons behind enemy lines, they would in fact be fighting inch by inch with their squad for the duration, and thats what stays with you when you finish this game, the sense of how long and hard the war was on the average soldier. Knowing that for the guys who landed in Algeria in 42, the odds were against them living to see the war end in 454 stars (Call of Duty) - Call of Duty: Big Red One is a solid WWII-based first-person shooter with tight controls and a convincing marriage of scripted cinemas and dynamic action. With bullets whizzing by, planes soaring overhead, and explosions rocking the battlefield, the game definitely captures the intensity of war that up until recently was only duplicated in movies. Sure enough, it's during these frantic moments, which are plentiful, that gamers will find themselves fully captivated and entertained.
But the experience is still not perfect. In its attempt to direct the action as it would a movie, the developer has either by design or by accident compromised the non-linear structure of levels and I think that is a mistake. I understand the choice, but in my experience it has at least partly backfired. The go-anywhere freedom associated with conventional FPSs is not in Big Red One. Players are sometimes unmistakably limited to set paths and running into invisible barriers occasionally breaks from the immersive true-world presentation that the title aspires to deliver. It's not a make or break shortcoming -- the game is still fun -- but it is nevertheless a noteworthy frustration.
5 stars (Xbox 360 Version) - I was able to get my hands on the xbox 360 version of this game at a walmart kiosk for a good 3 hours late at night. INCREADIBLE to say the least, game play was amazing, graphics blew away any PC or console i have seen hands down. Of course it was being show in HD and I felt like i was in the action, the characters were the best pixeled almost like real life. The standard xbox version is good, i own it, but the xbox 360 version which can only be played on the 360 is increadible....It is worth buying the xbox 360 just for this game its that good!!! I can only think the xbox live will be outstanding..... |
