Call of Duty 2 takes the phrase “don’t mess with success” to heart – seeing as the original game won awards all through out 2004. Even though it has a new game engine and is built from the ground up, the similarities to the original are clear in every respect. The movement code, the way weapons look, feel and fire, the reactions of characters to being hit – all the dozens of little touches that everyone loved have been kept.However with that said, Infinity Ward can not have had an easy task in making the sequel. Call of Duty 2 features many updates and improvements, ranging from the new incredibly cinematic graphics engine, to the realistic AI and gameplay changes. Playing certain missions in the game, like the gut-wrenching “Pointe Du Hoc” beach landing scene leave you holding your breath as bullets whiz past you, and your screaming comrades scatter. The solo campaigns include a huge variety of missions, revolving around the Russians, Americans, and the British. Including a frozen Stalingrad, a sun-scorched Toujane in North Africa and a soaking wet Normandy, respectively. All three settings provided abundant evidence of the expanded maps that were a design focus for Infinity Ward – the levels literally are epic and offer the player multiple options at assaulting a target at times. A huge emphasis on realism prevents you from just charging out and being Rambo – this game is a true experience of the horrors of life as a solider in World War II. Now with the next-gen XBox version ready for the launch date, lucky 360 owners can experience one of the best first-person-shooters of the PC.The improvements with the artificial intelligence of both friends and foes are remarkable. The developers have cut down on the instances of nonsensical behaviour from AI characters and improved their range of abilities. The AI is considerably more likely to seek out proper cover and to use grenades to flush the player out. In conjunction with the map layout, it is also more capable of pulling off attacks on the player’s position by flanking and “thinking” laterally. Overall Call of Duty 2 is more like a life-changing experience than a video-game and is brought to life with the power of the XBox 360 with effortless style.