Call of Duty: Finest Hour - Review
Added December 7th, 2004 by Kisan Parikh
Introduction:Last year the original Call of Duty game was released, set apart by an incredible single player experience that came alongisde superb multiplayer experience that only sweetened the deal. Ever since the announcement that Call of Duty was coming to the Xbox, Xbox gamers have been waiting anxiously to get their hands on the latest installment of the series- Call of Duty: Finest Hour. But can Finest Hour live up to it’s genre defining predecessor?
Gameplay:
Call of Duty: Finest Hour includes an enjoyable and exciting story that provides the fun gameplay craved by FPS afficiandos. However, that’s not to say that it doesn’t have its flaws. Let’s take a look at what Call of Duty: Finest Hour does well, as well as what could have been improved on.
As with the original Call of Duty, Finest Hour allows you to play as various characters, each with their own individual viewpoint on the war. Though some may have doubts about the smoothness of this transition between the characters, but developers’ method is extremely effective and leads to a great plot that is only made better from the multiple perspectives. The first level is preceded by a short briefing concerning history surrounding the event you will participate in. After that you get to listen to your character, Alexander Sokolov, tell the story of how he came to be a part of the Russian army. After completing a mission as Alexander, your life is saved by a sniper, also Russian, named Tanya Pavelonolov. Later in the game you get to become Tanya and snipe the Nazis along side Alexander Sokolov. This is just one example of the well-done character changes in Call of Duty: Finest Hour. Both the interactive and standard cut-scenes add memorable moments to the game, as well as set the mood for battles. The first interactive cut-scene was extremely memorable, featuring some great voice work that amplified the experience immeasurably.
Aside from having a unique and interesting storytelling method, Call of Duty: Finest Hour also does a pretty nice job in creating firefights that are both fun and highly intense. Most of the battles you fight in give you a good feel of WWII. You are almost never alone, as the game lets you fight either among many in a massive assault or in a small group leading stealthy attacks to take care of objectives. The firefights themselves can usually be handled one of two ways. You can either run and gun through hoards of Germans, or you can use cover and peek around objects to minimize the chances of taking hits. Both ways are very entertaining, but the game doesn’t use any extremely revolutionary elements in the gameplay. One element I did like was the shock mode. You get thrown in to a shocked stage with everything slowing down considerably when an artillery shell lands too close to you. This mode makes it extremely fun to gun a Nazi down. Aside from this, the game is a bit of a standard FPS in terms of firefights, but it doesn’t get too repetitive or boring because as your characters change, the weapons and mission style changes as well.
The various mission styles are a great element that keeps the game from becoming repetitive. Some mission types include holding a base with a sniper rifle, destroying airfields with tanks, taking out machine gun nests, and turret based mass-destruction sequences. Each is pulled off fairly well, making it difficult to turn off. That is, if you manage to avoid some of Finest Hour’s frustrating bugs.
Glitches, freezes, and a bit of poor level design. Three short phrases, all of which strike fear into even the most experienced gamer. Unfortunately, Finest Hour has it’s share of each. As far as glitches, I experienced a few areas of the game that required a level restart because it was impossible to advance further into the level. This was usually thanks to doors that would inexplicably refuse to open and allow you to move on. This is only amplified by the seemingly random freezing that happens just enough to be annoying, and, coupled with poorly implemented checkpoints, it almost ruined the game experience at times. There are a number of levels that simply don’t have enough checkpoints. I found myself dying in the game so much that I would occasionally just turn the game off for a while. Playing 30 minutes into a level only to die (or have a game freeze) really ruins the great atmosphere that the developers have striven so hard to create.
Graphics:
Finest Hour features some extremely good looking graphics that definitely get the job. A few of the textures are bland and lacking in detail, but in the grand scheme of things, the game is visually superb. The weapons look highly realistic regularly, but, as most Call of Duty enthusiasts will tell you, everything is prettier through the iron-sight. The animations are well done and plentiful. This said, the death animations are a bit of a problem as they are far too similar to the animation caused by taking a bit of damage. Unfortunately, another graphical issue is the problem of viewing another part of the map. This only occurs when getting too close to certain objects, so while it doesn’t become too much of an issue, it does take you out of the game a bit when it does happen.
The various mission styles are a great element that keeps the game from becoming repetitive. Some mission types include holding a base with a sniper rifle, destroying airfields with tanks, taking out machine gun nests, and turret based mass-destruction sequences. Each is pulled off fairly well, making it difficult to turn off. That is, if you manage to avoid some of Finest Hour’s frustrating bugs.
Glitches, freezes, and a bit of poor level design. Three short phrases, all of which strike fear into even the most experienced gamer. Unfortunately, Finest Hour has it’s share of each. As far as glitches, I experienced a few areas of the game that required a level restart because it was impossible to advance further into the level. This was usually thanks to doors that would inexplicably refuse to open and allow you to move on. This is only amplified by the seemingly random freezing that happens just enough to be annoying, and, coupled with poorly implemented checkpoints, it almost ruined the game experience at times. There are a number of levels that simply don’t have enough checkpoints. I found myself dying in the game so much that I would occasionally just turn the game off for a while. Playing 30 minutes into a level only to die (or have a game freeze) really ruins the great atmosphere that the developers have striven so hard to create.
Graphics:
Finest Hour features some extremely good looking graphics that definitely get the job. A few of the textures are bland and lacking in detail, but in the grand scheme of things, the game is visually superb. The weapons look highly realistic regularly, but, as most Call of Duty enthusiasts will tell you, everything is prettier through the iron-sight. The animations are well done and plentiful. This said, the death animations are a bit of a problem as they are far too similar to the animation caused by taking a bit of damage. Unfortunately, another graphical issue is the problem of viewing another part of the map. This only occurs when getting too close to certain objects, so while it doesn’t become too much of an issue, it does take you out of the game a bit when it does happen.
Audio:
The sound in Call of Duty: Finest hour is fantastic. The battles come alive with the bullets whizzing by to the sound of the well done musical score that seems to amplify everything about the game. Adding mood and suspense, the music number helps set up each of the game’s battles.
Controls:
Finest Hour’s control scheme is extremely effective and very easy to use. The controls are well laid out, so your fingers will never get tired as you lead an attack on the Nazis. Here are the controls straight out of the manual:
Left Thumbstick: Move around Right Thumbstick: Look around Black Button: Pick up items and interact with environment White Button- Reload Y Button: Change stance up or jump B Button: Change stance down (crouch/prone) Right Trigger: Fire Weapon A Button: Melee attack Left Trigger: Aim down sight X Button: Thrown grenades or place mines Back Button: Multiplayer Scoreboard Left Trigger + Directional Pad: Lean left or right Directional Pad Up: Use first aid kit Directional Pad Left: Change Weapons Directional Pad Right: Change Item Start Button: Pause menu and mission objectives
Replay:
Call of Duty: Finest Hour lacks a split screen mode, but it valiantly tries to compensate for this with Xbox Live. Xbox Live offers 8 maps and 4 game modes. The game modes include Team Deathmatch, Regular Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Search and Destroy. Search and Destroy is timed and includes one team trying to bomb a target and the other trying to stop them, similar to Counter-Strike’s Bomb Defuse and Halo 2’s Assault. Unfortunately, I found some technical problems in the Xbox Live mode, most notably load time and lag. I found it pretty difficult to join a larger game without experiencing anywhere from a minimal bit to an abundance of lag.v To make sure it wasn’t just my connection, I tried playing from three different locations and connections and found the same result. This aside, the smaller games ran smoothly and were pretty enjoyable. The Single Player campaign is solid with its 3 different difficulty levels. Also, there were a few terrific single player missions that warrant a second play.
The sound in Call of Duty: Finest hour is fantastic. The battles come alive with the bullets whizzing by to the sound of the well done musical score that seems to amplify everything about the game. Adding mood and suspense, the music number helps set up each of the game’s battles.
Controls:
Finest Hour’s control scheme is extremely effective and very easy to use. The controls are well laid out, so your fingers will never get tired as you lead an attack on the Nazis. Here are the controls straight out of the manual:
Left Thumbstick: Move around Right Thumbstick: Look around Black Button: Pick up items and interact with environment White Button- Reload Y Button: Change stance up or jump B Button: Change stance down (crouch/prone) Right Trigger: Fire Weapon A Button: Melee attack Left Trigger: Aim down sight X Button: Thrown grenades or place mines Back Button: Multiplayer Scoreboard Left Trigger + Directional Pad: Lean left or right Directional Pad Up: Use first aid kit Directional Pad Left: Change Weapons Directional Pad Right: Change Item Start Button: Pause menu and mission objectives
Replay:
Call of Duty: Finest Hour lacks a split screen mode, but it valiantly tries to compensate for this with Xbox Live. Xbox Live offers 8 maps and 4 game modes. The game modes include Team Deathmatch, Regular Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Search and Destroy. Search and Destroy is timed and includes one team trying to bomb a target and the other trying to stop them, similar to Counter-Strike’s Bomb Defuse and Halo 2’s Assault. Unfortunately, I found some technical problems in the Xbox Live mode, most notably load time and lag. I found it pretty difficult to join a larger game without experiencing anywhere from a minimal bit to an abundance of lag.v To make sure it wasn’t just my connection, I tried playing from three different locations and connections and found the same result. This aside, the smaller games ran smoothly and were pretty enjoyable. The Single Player campaign is solid with its 3 different difficulty levels. Also, there were a few terrific single player missions that warrant a second play.
Overall:
Call of Duty: Finest Hour is a straightforward shooter that keeps gamers interested through its many weapons, mission styles, and characters in single player. After beating the superb multiplayer, the Xbox Live mode should also offer a great WWII FPS experience. However, all these great features are brought down by some annoying glitches and a checkpoint issue, but, in the end, Finest Hour is a fun game that, if you can work around some problems, is a must buy game for this holiday season.
Call of Duty: Finest Hour is a straightforward shooter that keeps gamers interested through its many weapons, mission styles, and characters in single player. After beating the superb multiplayer, the Xbox Live mode should also offer a great WWII FPS experience. However, all these great features are brought down by some annoying glitches and a checkpoint issue, but, in the end, Finest Hour is a fun game that, if you can work around some problems, is a must buy game for this holiday season.
