COD

noreply@blogspirit.com () — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 14:20:13 +0100

In 2003, Infinty Ward racked up numerous awards for its rookie effort, the WWII shooter Call of Duty, including GameSpy's own PC Game of the Year. Today, IW and Activision released a single-player demo for the upcoming Call of Duty 2, offering a single level set in El Daba, Egpyt, in November 1942.

While brief, the demo -- called "The End of the Beginning" -- offers a nice look at the balance between scripted events and more open-ended combat Infinity Ward has been working on for the sequel. You're still part of a squad, and as you and your fellow soldiers fight through the sandy village, there are a number of opportunities to venture off the main path and flank enemies from the side.

Some other bits of interest from the demo: it appears to support most video cards (although no support for Windows 95/98/ME), and has built-in widescreen support, which, as we tested, looks pretty gorgeous if you've got a nice big screen to play it out. It's also interesting to note that there's no health bar: there are visual cues that you've been injured, and retreating to cover will usually put things right.

The demo weighs in 671MB, and is available for download at Fileplanet. Activision also released the final box art for the game, which you can see to the right. Call of Duty 2 is currently scheduled for a fall 2005 release.

Call of Duty 2 - games

COD