Cod Review Complete

[+Fates 63]

Well....this was not easy. I was chuggin right along with this review when AAO 2.0 was released....AARRGGGGHHH.

 

Anyway...dont' think I made my squad mates happy, but I focused and you can now read the whole thing:

 

Call of Duty Review

 

Oh yeah, I also opened up a TAC SIM Gallery as well...gotta have our own space!!

 

You can view the Gallery HERE

 

CHeers!

Fates

[SpyHawk 0]

Well written review. While i've experienced only the demo aspect of the game, you convinced me to purchase the game sometime this weekend.

[+Fates 63]

If you enjoy the demo's then you will not be dissapointed with the Game. The Single player is great! I'm a little dissapointed with the MP side of things, but as new MODS com out, I think I'll be quite happy.

 

One of the greatest features, and one that I forgot to mention in the review, was the KILLCAM. You know as well as I that there is nothing more then chatter on everyones Voice chat about "HOW THE HELL...did he see me...??" Well...the KILLCAM solves that problem.

 

The Killcam will give you an instant last few seconds from the perspective of the man that shot ya. No hidden secrets.

 

This is a GREAT feature...One I'd like to see in AAO

 

Cheers!

 

Fates

[+pcpilot 181]

Good review Fates. It about sums it up. I liked the killcam too, very snazzy. Ought to be in all FPS. I noticed the AI bots can sometimes bunch up in a narrow spot but with a little effort, they seem to move out of the way as you try to advance. I liked the way they sometimes took some of the pressure off me in combat by going thru a door first, etc. Though sometimes you would here a command like "COVERING FIRE!" and no one would shoot. Maybe it was meant for me?

 

I agree the console use to change preferances is a pain. I cant beleive they didnt realize this. There should also be a way to setup a six button mouse like my MS Explorer without me having to reinstall its software, (I dont like it). I can do 4 button settings and thats all.

 

I loved the single player campaign as the Americans, the race in the car was way cool. :D Just started the Brit campaign and so far so good.

 

All and all, I think you are correct, this is an excellent game and should prove to be even better with a aptch or two and some community MODS of the caliber of BF1942 mods. Your score for the game is appropriate.

[+Fates 63]

Thanks a bunch pcpilot.

 

I hope to do even better on the next review. Hope to have some suprises for everyone. You are just now starting to get to some of the interesting stuff in the game...great stuff.

 

The AI is quite incredible in single player. Wish they could have stuck some in the MP version as well. They do tend to follow each other, but the moment they come into view, they are spreading out quite well and covering fire incredibly. There's a point in the Brit campaign, where you have to take the Pegasus Bridge and then hold it. The damn Nazi's seem to come out of the woodwork. I only wish that this map was a little larger to allow you to flank the buildings. THey purposely close it up and limit your ability to flank. It's a classic task of little AI in...but keeping PC (player characters)out. Not really fair, but the AI do a great job of supressing fire.

 

<C>

 

Fates

[Guest Guest_pcpilot]

Three things Ive noticed since playing the campaigns...

 

1st, I get nearly thru the Soviet campaign and let a freind play the game. He tries to start a new game in single player and winds up not being able to start a new game without wiping out my current game. A message said the saved campaign would be lost. That sucked. Since when cant you start a new game? Other games allow you to start a new game, just save it in a different slot. Thats bad enough.

 

2nd, But then he tries to play one of the already played scenarios. He plays it thru several sections and then plays past where I was in the game. This caused the game to overwrite my campaign! I lost it all! There should either be a quick battle generator or you should be allowed to replay scenarios without affecting the campaign.

 

3rd, What? No scenario editor? With no quick battle generator or at least the ability to replay scenarios without losing a campaign, a scenario editor is a must have to keep the games' replayability good. The developers must have figured the games strength was multi-play. Thats fine, Im a mp sorta guy myself, but to so severly limit single play like this is seriously undermining the games' longevity I think.

 

Conclusion? Unless these issues are addressed in a future patch or addon, Im inclined to think the previuos score of 4.5 should drop a whole unit to 3.5, it just doesnt quite hold the same place in my esteem. Its like an incomplete game without these rather standard features...my personal opinion. Its still an excellent shooter. I love the sound effects and the scenarios are really well scripted and exciting, even tense. I like the way the AI bots duck and run for cover, or sometimes charge you. I even had a couple of them pick up and throw my grenades back at me! Actually saw them do it, liketa gave me a heart attack. Now thats good!

 

Just be careful you dont let your freinds play a game if you have a campaign going while they are visiting your house... <_<

[+Fates 63]

1st, I get nearly thru the Soviet campaign and let a freind play the game. He tries to start a new game in single player and winds up not being able to start a new game without wiping out my current game. A message said the saved campaign would be lost. That sucked. Since when cant you start a new game? Other games allow you to start a new game, just save it in a different slot. Thats bad enough.

 

I was not able to duplicate this. I have every level saved, and I started a new game without erasing any previously saved game. I would maybe save you game under a different name, rather then the autosave default. That might help differentiate between the seperate games.

 

2nd, But then he tries to play one of the already played scenarios. He plays it thru several sections and then plays past where I was in the game. This caused the game to overwrite my campaign! I lost it all! There should either be a quick battle generator or you should be allowed to replay scenarios without affecting the campaign.

 

Once again, if you save the game under a different name, you can always scroll down to it in the list and start from there.

 

3rd, What? No scenario editor? With no quick battle generator or at least the ability to replay scenarios without losing a campaign, a scenario editor is a must have to keep the games' replayability good. The developers must have figured the games strength was multi-play. Thats fine, Im a mp sorta guy myself, but to so severly limit single play like this is seriously undermining the games' longevity I think.

 

This is something that I'm sure you may see in third party development. I can't blame the developer for not spending time and money and delaying a game when there are a lot of talented individuals out there that will work for free to make the game better. There are already a considerable amount of mods for the game, If I see a scenario editor emerge, I'll be sure to post it for ya.

 

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Fates

[+pcpilot 181]

Fates, I went thru the manual with a fine tooth comb and was not able to find how to save a game, (other than F5 Quicksave), and give it a name of my choosing. I tried to do just that in the load/save game menu and nothing I try seems to allow me to change the name of my scenario.

 

If I then instead attempt to start a new campaign, the game tells me that I will lose the saved campign I have, probably like you said, because of its default name, which I cant change.

 

Id appreciate any suggestions you might have, Im stumped here. Its not like Im a newbie in computer gaming, but I cant seem to figure this out. Maybe Im thinking too linear or something.

 

As for the mission builder, Im starting to rebel at paying more than $40 for a game. $50 is just too much. Ive spent too much on games now, some of which were flops and therefore a waste of money. (Hidden and Dangerous comes to mind. Im starting to wait more and more for the games' price to go down as it ages and look more and more in the bargain bin. (I didnt buy this game by the way, it was given to me by a freind). When a software company charges me that much for a game, I want my money's worth. A mission editor is not a huge leap I think. Most games have some sort of editor right out of the box. They obviously used one to make the scenarios. Why not just release it with the game with the standard proviso, that I've seen so many times, that its not supported? Everyone will agree that it vastly improves the replayability of the game. Hopefully, this company like some others in the past, will release the editor later on. I would prefer that more than a community made editor unless it could be shown the community editor was in some way better. If you do see an editor, let us all know, Ill do likewise. Hope I dont sound too much like Im whining, just offering my heart felt opinion as a long time consumer... ;)

[+pcpilot 181]

I found it Fates! Jeeze Im an idiot! <_< I didnt notice the extra "save" tab when I tried to save the game during gameplay. I was looking everywhere but there I guess. When I clicked that, I was able to name the game and save it. Now I dont get that message anymore. If there is a way to look stupid, Ill usually find it...

 

A friend in the Military Gamers group gave me a link also to a website that has a map editor and some modding tools I think included. The site is called CallofDuty.org. Its a start eh? :)