Call of Duty (2003)

Call of Duty is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It was released for Microsoft Windows on October 29, 2003, with an enhanced port titled Call of Duty: Classic later being released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on December 2, 2009. It is the first installment in the Call of Duty franchise. The game simulates infantry and combined arms warfare of World War II using a modified version of the id Tech 3 engine. An expansion pack, Call of Duty: United Offensive, was released on September 14, 2004.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Unlike other WWII shooters like Medal of Honor, the war is not just seen from the viewpoint of an American soldier, but also from the viewpoint of British and Soviet soldiers, and is not as reliant on stealth as Medal of Honor.
 * 2) It was one of the first video games to make use of iron sights, allowing for more precise shots.
 * 3) Other soldiers will help you out on the battlefield, unlike most first person shooters at the time.
 * 4) A fun multiplayer mode for it's time.
 * 5) Decent graphics for its time.
 * 6) Pretty good soundtrack from Michael Giacchino.
 * 7) Decent voice acting.
 * 8) An Expansion Pack, called Call of Duty: United Offensive added additional weapons and vehicles for all factions, new playable characters and NPCs as well as expanding the role of returning ones, and added new missions set in new locations. The multiplayer was also heavily expanded, which now featured drivable vehicles for both the Allies and Axis.
 * 9) * The new American campaign, set exclusively during the Battle of the Bulge, focuses on Cpl. Scott Riley, who takes orders from Cpt. Foley and Sgt. Moody as they drive the Germans out of Bastogne. The new British campaign tells the story of Sgt. James Doyle, an RAF recruit who gets shot down over the Netherlands, gets rescued by SAS Major Ingram, and later joins the SAS himself as the Allies advance into Sicily. And finally, the new Soviet campaign, with Pvt. Yuri Petrenko, focuses on the Battle of Kursk and Third Battle of Kharkov, as the Soviets repel and later crush the last major German offensive on the Eastern Front.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The game is only 5 hours long average, which future entries would follow suit.
 * 2) The HD rerelease on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles weren't really well suited to be on those consoles, and multiplayer only allows up to 8 players there.
 * 3) The ally soldier AI can be pretty dumb at times as enemies will walk past them and they won't shoot at them, get in your way when trying to go through a door, and not run when a grenade is thrown.
 * 4) There is no grenade indicator nor can you throw them back, something that would be fixed in future entries.
 * 5) The base game only has 14 weapons, which is much smaller compared to future entries. Fortunately, the United Offensive expansion makes up for it.
 * 6) There aren't any actual characters to take note of since most look the same and have virtually the same personality.
 * 7) There are some notable levels that are a nightmare as the difficulty suddenly ramps up.
 * 8) * Parlov's House is a nightmare even on normal difficulty, especially during the last segment of the mission where you have to defend the house from a German counterattack with respawning German soldiers trying to rush you constantly while having to destroy tanks with stationary anti-tank weaponry.
 * 9) * The second half of the Foy mission in United Offensive. You have to snipe tankbusters while EVERYONE IS SHOOTING AT YOU.
 * 10) * The very last sections of both the American and Russian campaigns of United Offensive force you to wait for German tanks to show up and be destroyed, while soldiers respawn infinitely. In the American mission, they are so frequent you may not even get enough time to reload your Panzerschreck; in the Russian one there are also soldiers firing at you from afar, and a Stuka doing frequent bomb runs - it may even destroy the artillery piece you can use and force further exposition to scrounge for Panzerfausts around.

Reception
Call of Duty received "critical acclaim", according to review aggregator Metacritic. It won several "Game of the Year" awards for 2003 from several reviewers. It was the recipient of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences 2004 "Game of the Year" award. The game also received "Computer Game of the Year" and "Computer First Person Action Game of the Year", and was nominated for "Outstanding Innovation in Computer Gaming", "Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition", and "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design" in the Interactive Achievement Awards.