Back in May, while at E3 2005, I sat in on a demo of Activision’s upcoming PC game Call of Duty 2. The assembled audience was told that the game would also be coming for the Xbox 360 at about the same time as the PC version, which put it well in the ballpark to be a launch title. I hoped then this was true so I could play this beautiful game as soon as possible. Call of Duty 2 did make the Xbox 360 launch and it completely lived up to the potential I saw at E3. As a matter of fact, from the games I’ve seen, this is the first must-have game for the new Xbox 360 owner.

Before we go any further, it should be noted that Call of Duty 2 for the Xbox 360 is not the same game as Call of Duty 2: The Big Red One (As a Sergeant Major I used to serve with would say when the 1st Infantry Division was mentioned, "If you’re going to be one, you might as well be a big, red one." Wonder what he meant by that?) that is available for other consoles. The Xbox 360 Call of Duty 2 is near identical to the PC version of Call of Duty 2. Anyway, easily confused names but not the same game.

Call of Duty 2 plays out as a series of missions at some of the most important battles of World War II. Over the course of the game the player will get to experience the war as a Russian, British and American soldier. The main Russian action is played out in the besieged city of Stalingrad as the Germans are handed their first big defeat of the war. The majority of the British campaign is fought in the North African desert around the pivotal battle of El Alamain. The American campaign picks up at D-Day in June 6, 1944 and ends at the surrender of Germany. The structure of the missions play out roughly as a timeline. Once the first Russian mission (which happens to also be the training mission) is complete, the British campaign opens since these two battles were roughly contemporaneous. The player can then either choose to continue the Russian campaign or immediately start the British campaign. The American missions open once the last British mission in North Africa is completed.

The missions are generally the same (attack or defend a location, destroy an objective), and all as a common ground-pounding infantry soldier. There are departures from this routine as in one mission you’ll become an artillery spotter for a while and in another you’ll drive a tank and get to use its main gun. All of the missions are played out in large, well-detailed environments that will offer many opportunities for cover and tactical thinking. As in real war, running straight into the teeth of a machine gun nest is usually a sure purchase of a body bag for your trip home. Using fire and maneuver will get you and more of your buddies home in one piece. Moving to the side and flanking will consistently yield more dead Nazis and bring you closer to your next objective.

Call of Duty 2 is all about driving for the objectives that are marked on your small map in the lower left-hand corner of the screen. Moving toward these stars will generally cut off additional enemy reinforcements, while timid warriors will find the smart enemy AI maneuvering for their flanks and chewing them up if they fail to move.

There are so many "Holy s*#t!" moments in this game that it is hard to pick just one to single out. The one I’ve replayed the most times is the attack of British Crusader cruiser tanks in the North African desert. First you’ll fight German PZKW II tanks and later flank 88mm flak guns to open up a path for a formation of slower moving Sherman tanks.

Through all the campaigns you’ll use very authentic infantry weapons of the period. At any one time you can carry two. The game allows the soldier to freely pick up any dropped weapons either friendly or enemy. If you’re trigger happy and use up all the ammo you started with, scrounging for enemy hardware and robbing your own dead for ammo becomes imperative. In addition to your fire arms, you’ll also carry smoke and fragmentation grenades into the fight. Fragmentation grenades are the killer grenades you can use to clear a room when the kids just refuse to come out of it to play. Smoke grenades can be thrown into the middle of a street to mask a crossing or other movement. The smoke grenade effect is particularly realistic. Meeting an enemy in the dense cloud will make you soil yourself as you madly try to beat him down with the butt of your weapon.

Health in the game is handled with a system of getting out of combat and letting yourself heal up. (Similar to the shield recharge in Halo 2.) Some may say this is a bit artificial, but who really thinks that finding a med kit will restore you to full health after you’ve been shot a couple times? Either system is artificial. It is after all just a game, and I happen to like Call of Duty 2’s system better.

Visually the game is awesome. The environments are incredibly well detailed. The soldiers and vehicles also display a great deal of detail and are well animated. The sound effects put you right in the middle of the battle with Dolby 5.1 sound. When the feces is copiously striking the air impeller, you’ll feel it with every fiber of your being. Of course you should have the vibration function enabled to get the full effect.

In addition to the single-player campaign, the game also allows for multiplayer split-screen play for up to four, Link play for up to 16 players, and Live online play for up to eight. I have to admit that I’m a little puzzled by the lesser number on Live. Usually this situation has been reversed with a greater, or at least equal, number of players supported on Xbox Live. Considering the size of most of the multiplayer maps, more is always better. It is a bit disappointing that there is no cooperative campaign mode of play to be found in the multiplayer options, but the game is so much fun by yourself that you’ll wonder if you ever need friends again.