Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
Big Rad One
Published: November 17, 2005
It's clear the PS2 was really being stretched here, though. The framerate does stay fairly solid most of the time, but the graphics detail wasn't at the forefront - or at least the textures were traded for smoothness. It was a smart move, and though some may poo-poo the use of motion capture technology, it has a place here when the Band of Brothers cast act together. Smaller details like realistic smoke billows and a few bits of environmental destruction help thicken up the atmosphere considerably.
Above all else, though, the atmosphere belongs to the audio. The very idea that you're in the middle of a battlefield means that by default there has to be so much going on that you get a sense of that panic or adrenaline shot that soldiers had back then. This doesn't necessarily mean you have to constantly hear bullets whizzing by or purely accurate gunfire from each of the game's weapons (though that's there, and it sounds incredible); it can be something as simple as hearing your squad talk to you, or call out threats.
The cacophony is the experience, and here the audio design team really shines. We already mentioned the participation from some of the Band of Brothers guys, and their work is admirable (if sadly underutilized), but everything, from the exquisitely polished sound effects to the score that Graeme Revell penned for the game, it's enough to make a home audio system weep with joy - and it's only a Dolby Pro Logic II mix.
I don't want to skim over the fantastic work that went into the soundtrack, either, as it's probably one of the most subtle reasons for certain parts of the game having the kind of emotional impact that they do. It's not just soaring title themes and more somber undertones when something more tragic happens, but just about everything in between, too. The music has a way of getting under your skin and charging you with a kind of "hookay, time to kick ass" feeling that I didn't even notice until someone else in the office pointed it out.
So in the end we're left with a WWII shooter that's perhaps too heavily scripted and confined for it's own good. Until there's enough muscle under the hood with consoles, though, this is going to have to be the balance that's struck. Do you favor throwing someone into a living action movie or do you give them the tools to create stand-alone experiences so they can make their own?
With the limited horsepower at hand, the developers opted for the former, and while there are a few moments where the immersion is broken, it's still overall one of the most intense and powerful first-person shooter experiences on consoles, and easily ranks as the most enjoyable one on the PS2.
