by
Ted Kritsonis
Faze
Video Game Editor
After
the great success Call of Duty earned on the PC, a shift to
the consoles was a given, and just one year later, Activision
teams up with Spark, a new developer made up of former EA
employees, to release Call of Duty: Finest Hour for all three
consoles.
While
World War II shooters seem to be a dime a dozen these days,
Call of Duty put itself ahead of the rest with last year’s
PC title. Finest Hour is the franchise’s first foray
onto the consoles and it does a decent job of continuing the
momentum gained on the PC.
Like in
the previous games, the single player campaign is split into
three perspectives: Russian, British and American. Instead
of starting with the Americans this time, you start with the
Russians on a boat to Stalingrad. The point of view will shift
from a female sniper to a 19-year-old tank crewmember, with
a similar approach being taken in the British and American
missions as well, While it is cool to see African-American
soldiers in the American campaign, the constant shift makes
the characters forgettable.
This is unfortunate because you do go through a lot as you
fight on in Finest Hour and it would’ve been a lot better
if each story stuck with one character. The true story of
the “Black Panther” battalion is an interesting
one about the African-American contribution to the drive toward
Germany in 1944-45, but it’s only touched on briefly
in the game. It definitely would’ve made for a more
unique story had it been the focal point of the U.S. campaign
all along.
The character
shift may be a downside but the variety of missions is one
of the many positives of Finest Hour. Tank missions are especially
fun to play, and more challenging than you might expect, while
the missions in North Africa are a real treat, even if the
campaign was way too short.
When it
comes to the visuals, Spark did a nice job of piecing together
war-torn urban areas for the Western and Eastern campaigns
and sandy deserts for the North African one. Slowdowns are
non-existent no matter how many enemies are onscreen, and
all the weapons and tanks look very authentically detailed.
The audio package, meanwhile, is as great as it was on the
PC games. Perfect music for the setting coupled with very
credible voiceovers and realistic sounds of war.
As
great as all these things are in Finest Hour, some of the
drawbacks are noticeable as well. For one, the AI seems to
be fine at some points, but totally dumb in others. The first
few missions in the Russian campaign suggest that the Germans
were lucky to even have made it as far as Stalingrad, whereas
in the American campaign, they fight a lot more ferociously,
causing you to die often.
Another
drawback in the multiplayer game is the lack of split-screen
play. Xbox Live and System Link are supported here, which
is obviously good, but split-screen would’ve been nice
to have in there too. As is, you’ll probably enjoy what
the multiplayer has to offer online. You have your standard
deathmatches and capture the flag, but the search and destroy
stands out more. The idea behind it is you and your team must
defuse or place bombs at two locations, which is great because
one team can’t camp out in one spot and both sides require
teamwork to win.
Finest
Hour won’t overshadow its PC brethren, but it is arguably
one of the best World War II shooters on the consoles right
now. It captures the essence of the war and though it fumbles
the perspectives a little bit, it tells a pretty good story
overall. Despite even the strange AI, Finest Hour is worth
a look for anyone who would love a WW II shooter for both
the GameCube and Xbox.
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