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Platform Filters:   All Platforms  Xbox   GameCube   PlayStation 2   PC   Game Boy Advance   Site Sections:   Updates  News   Games   Publishers   Developers   Reviews   Previews   Release Dates   Editorials   Glossary   Contact Us		Review:       21st December 2004: Call of Duty: Finest Hour  Head to the frontlines of World War II's most epic and bloody battles - is this the finest of the first-person shooter genre? Posted by John Grothier - Xbox,PlayStation 2,GameCube - UK and Europe The first-person shooter genre is here to stay. Already this year we have been treated to Halo 2 and Half-Life 2, as well as a handful of war-based shooters. Call of Duty: Finest Hour is a console port of the highly acclaimed PC original, where players head to the frontlines of World War II and fight in some of history's most epic and bloody battles. Call of Duty: Finest Hour puts players in the roles of Russian, British and American conflicts, so hear at least is something more original than just playing as GI Joe all of the time. So, like its PC counterpart, Call of Duty: Finest Hour tells the story through three perspectives and gives gamers the chance to play authentic combat missions covering the war-torn North African, Eastern and Western Fronts. The missions range from epic battlefield conflicts featuring hundreds of soldiers, to coordinated tactical assaults, sabotage, stealth and also sniper missions. Players can engage in vehicle combat, which includes the freedom of movement to get in and out of vehicles as duty calls. So how does it play? Well, Call of Duty: Finest Hour does not have the same impact on the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Game Cube as the PC version. Controls are fairly responsive and you will have access to authentic weapons from that era- like the Thompson and PPSH submachine guns and also Kar98 rifles. Players can only carry two weapons at any one time, along with grenades and explosives, but unlike most first person shooters, sometimes it's impossible to tell if you are inflicting damage on your enemies and a sense of frustration creeps in. Also the level of difficulty for the three different campaigns changes noticeably as you play through the Russian, British and American missions, and usually with only one checkpoint in each mission, Call of Duty: Finest Hour very quickly becomes incredibly frustrating. The feel of the weapons in the game are not up to the current crop of FPS's and grenade throws in particular are very poorly implemented - again the term frustrating come to mind. The Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions of Call of Duty: Finest Hour feature online multiplayer for up to 16 players. Here, gamers will find eight maps as well as four different game modes. Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and Search and Destroy are all included. The Search and Destroy mode is a team-based event, where one team must set a bomb on a particular target, while the other team must stop them before they prime the bomb. While the online play is nothing special, it does seem to run fairly well with little in the way of lag - even when the games are crowded with many online players. There is however, no split-screen play at all. The graphics in Call of Duty: Finest Hour are adequate at best, with simple, blotchy textures and bog-standard weapons and effects. Worse still is that the game suffers from slowdown frequently, particularly in a hectic fire fights or when a grenade or explosion goes off near to the player. Also for some reason the PAL Xbox version of Call of Duty: Finest Hour has small black bars running down the left and right-hand sides of the screen, which is especially noticeable on large or widescreen televisions. Also the 60htz mode leaves a huge black bar down the right-hand side of the screen, and the lack of a screen adjust option means that there is no way to correct this fault. The sound in the game is also poor, with unclear weapon sounds alongside bland uninspiring music; also the game features either particularly dull or terribly overacted voice talent. However, the games narrator, actor Dennis Haysbert, does a fairly good job, but even this effort is lost in the overall presentation of the game. Call of Duty: Finest Hour is another multi-platform port of a classic PC title, that hasn't had enough time spent on making it the title it should have been. Perhaps if publishers spent more time on making the game work well on one platform at a time, we may all get a better product. Overall you may be glad that your mum has kept the receipt this Christmas, as this is nowhere near the finest of first-person shooters. John Grothier             Latest Images:		Review Scores:    Graphics:   Sound:   Gameplay:   Length:   Overall: Click here for our Review Score Guidelines.  Review Summary:  Take part as a Russian, British or American in this intense, first-person shooter based on the PC original, Call of Duty. Charge against the Germans in Stalingrad or take part in the British PPA Commando raids in North Africa, or the American-led tank battles in Belgium. Poor textures, bland graphics, frustrating gameplay and below-standard sound make this an average first-person shooter. Multiplayer for Xbox and PlayStation 2 only for up to 16 players - no split-screen play.  Related Games:  Call of Duty: Finest Hour for Xbox  20  Screenshots  1  Review  1  Related News Article Click here for All Game Information. Call of Duty: Finest Hour for PlayStation 2  9  Screenshots  1  Review  1  Related News Article Click here for All Game Information. Call of Duty: Finest Hour for GameCube  1  Review  1  Related News Article Click here for All Game Information. Call of Duty for PC  7  Screenshots  1  Review  1  Preview  1  Related News Article Click here for All Game Information.
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