Answering the Call
We go hands-on with Amaze Entertainment's portable treatment of the Call of Duty franchise.
Published: February 26, 2007
There is shortage of copycat games in this industry of ours, so when Activision decided they were going to take a poke at the niche Medal of Honor had carved out across the PS one and PC, most sighed, nodded and expected more of the game. Thanks to heavy scripting, a slightly different perspective and the same attention to sound design and graphics, though, the PC debut of Call of Duty was an impressive one indeed. It took the console games a couple of tries to get the hang of things, but eventually it clicked.
The series has graced all current Sony systems now save for one, the little 3D powerhouse known as the PlayStation Portable, but rather than saddling current series developer Treyarch with the task of shrinking the experience down, Activision instead turned to Kirkland, WA-based Amaze Entertainment. Though they may have churned out the painfully bland Hammy Goes Nuts, the COD team at Amaze seems to be taking most of what they learned from earlier PSP projects and plying it toward a project that encapsulates the same script-heavy gameplay of the console big brothers, but... well, smaller.
Roads to Victory is anything but a departure from the truisms of the franchise. You'll split your time between the American, British and Canadian forces (in that order) across more than a dozen different skirmishes and upwards of twice that many actual missions, and you'll do stuff like man turrets and blow up 88s or take out the odd half-track with a conveniently placed Panzershrek. In short, it really is the whole COD experience made portable.
Of course, before we were able to really dig into the meat of things, we had to come to grips with the controls. Amaze included a handful of pre-set options for the controls, but the default that most first- and third-person shooters seem to be going with --analog nub for movement/strafing and the face buttons for aiming -- seems to work best here. To help cut down on thrown PSPs and sailor-blushing cuss-fests, a simple auto-aim system was implemented. If an enemy is out from cover and firing on your, and you're looking relatively close to them, a red circle will appear over their upper torso/head.
Since the game happily supports the kneeling/prone stances (though no jumping) that have become a staple of the series, the reticule can actually shrink, providing better accuracy if you're sitting still or steadying yourself. It's still not a guaranteed headshot (for that you'll want to hold the L Button to zip into iron sights and take the shot yourself, but even then you'll have to learn how the various M1 Garands, Thompsons and MP40s actually shoot down the sights), but when you're on the move and getting pegged by incoming fire, it's nice to not have to fight with the aiming just to return fire.
Like the more modern versions of the franchise, should you soak up a couple of shots, you need only find cover until the read border that creeps into your field of view subsides, and here on the PSP where precision isn't exactly plentiful, it's never been more welcome. Some may knock the lack of realism, but then they probably like dying 86 times per level. Not us, so we'll stick with the auto-regen, thanks.
Firing falls under the usual default right finger (that'd be the R Button for those still scratching their heads), but the auto-aim actually rewards you for being close to the target with the odd headshot, though it's obviously not needed. Tapping or holding down on the d-pad will shift you between standing and crouched or prone, tapping or holding up lets you lob a grenade or potato masher at a crowd or cook it off a bit, and right and left on the d-pad switch between your two weapons or reloading, respectively.
The series has graced all current Sony systems now save for one, the little 3D powerhouse known as the PlayStation Portable, but rather than saddling current series developer Treyarch with the task of shrinking the experience down, Activision instead turned to Kirkland, WA-based Amaze Entertainment. Though they may have churned out the painfully bland Hammy Goes Nuts, the COD team at Amaze seems to be taking most of what they learned from earlier PSP projects and plying it toward a project that encapsulates the same script-heavy gameplay of the console big brothers, but... well, smaller.
Roads to Victory is anything but a departure from the truisms of the franchise. You'll split your time between the American, British and Canadian forces (in that order) across more than a dozen different skirmishes and upwards of twice that many actual missions, and you'll do stuff like man turrets and blow up 88s or take out the odd half-track with a conveniently placed Panzershrek. In short, it really is the whole COD experience made portable.
Of course, before we were able to really dig into the meat of things, we had to come to grips with the controls. Amaze included a handful of pre-set options for the controls, but the default that most first- and third-person shooters seem to be going with --analog nub for movement/strafing and the face buttons for aiming -- seems to work best here. To help cut down on thrown PSPs and sailor-blushing cuss-fests, a simple auto-aim system was implemented. If an enemy is out from cover and firing on your, and you're looking relatively close to them, a red circle will appear over their upper torso/head.
Since the game happily supports the kneeling/prone stances (though no jumping) that have become a staple of the series, the reticule can actually shrink, providing better accuracy if you're sitting still or steadying yourself. It's still not a guaranteed headshot (for that you'll want to hold the L Button to zip into iron sights and take the shot yourself, but even then you'll have to learn how the various M1 Garands, Thompsons and MP40s actually shoot down the sights), but when you're on the move and getting pegged by incoming fire, it's nice to not have to fight with the aiming just to return fire.
Like the more modern versions of the franchise, should you soak up a couple of shots, you need only find cover until the read border that creeps into your field of view subsides, and here on the PSP where precision isn't exactly plentiful, it's never been more welcome. Some may knock the lack of realism, but then they probably like dying 86 times per level. Not us, so we'll stick with the auto-regen, thanks.
Firing falls under the usual default right finger (that'd be the R Button for those still scratching their heads), but the auto-aim actually rewards you for being close to the target with the odd headshot, though it's obviously not needed. Tapping or holding down on the d-pad will shift you between standing and crouched or prone, tapping or holding up lets you lob a grenade or potato masher at a crowd or cook it off a bit, and right and left on the d-pad switch between your two weapons or reloading, respectively.