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At the moment there are a slew of war-themed video games hitting the market, but one of the very best is Activision's "Call of Duty: Finest Hour." The game is actually the second in a series, the first being the original 'Call of Duty' game released in 2003 for the PC.
In "Finest Hour" you will be playing three different war campaigns. As the Russians, you'll start by crossing the Volga River where you will attempt to push the German troops out of the city of Stalingrad. As the British, you will be fighting in the desert areas of North Africa, while as the Americans you will begin making your way into Western Germany. While you are fighting the war you will also have computer-controlled comrades by your side to help with the fighting. Although sometimes the comrades can get in your way, they typically are a great deal of help in successfully completing missions, so be sure that you watch their back just as they are watching yours. If they die, which they very well will, you can expect them to be replaced with new guys throughout the missions.
The missions range from a shooting gallery with a sniper rifle to driving and destroying your enemies with a tank. You'll also get to take part in the urban house-to-house warfare, which is very exciting and keeps you on the edge of your seat through a large portion of the game. Unfortunately, between the fighting scenes you will experience a lot of wasted time with mission fillers that aren't needed, however in realistic terms this downtime would be very typical. So, this isn't neccessarily a bad point in the game, it just gives you some time to breathe and calm down from the heart-pounding action.
There are some downsides to the game that could have been improved though. Throughout the lengthy missions you will typically only have one checkpoint which is when your spot in the game will be saved. Therefore if you die at any point before that checkpoint you will have to play the entire mission over again. It is very frustrating when you have been playing for quite some time and then have to play a mission over and over again. There really should be at least two or three checkpoints so that you can easily come back to the same spot and not have to start all over again at the beginning of the mission. There are a few other slight problems, but not worth mentioning because they ultimately will not affect your gameplay that much.
Overall, "Call of Duty: Finest Hour" is the best war game that I have played in quite some time. I haven't had a chance to check out some of the more recent war games to come out, but it looks like 'Finest Hour' is one of the best. The graphics are one of the best elements to the game and really makes you feel as though you are there fighting in World War II. I highly recommend "Call of Duty: Finest Hour." It is a great war game and you won't find many, if any at all, that can top it at the moment.
- Chad Kennedy, Editor-in-Chief
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