Call of Duty Demo - Burnville

Call of Duty is an FPS series that started out strong and continued to get better and better, or at least sell more and more copies with each new release. However, the first title was definitely a turning point in the video games history, since it managed to make shooters more cinematic and really bring a piece of Hollywood to the genre.

Call of Duty is a first-person shooter that takes place in the second World War and tells the tale of more than one protagonist, in order to present the war from every perspective. Thus, you can play through the American, Soviet and British campaigns, as well as meet a lot of young recruits that need to quickly learn how to handle themselves in a war zone and stay alive for as long as possible.

Right from the bat, it is quite clear that the game places a lot of emphasis on the cinematic aspect and on the story itself, which is clearly visible in the many cutscenes scattered throughout the campaigns. Moreover, the atmosphere is also sublime, mainly because there is a lot going on behind the scenes and into the distance, including AA guns, explosions and screams.

Just like on a real battlefield, you are rarely alone and you get a few other soldiers to help you complete the missions. Naturally, you cannot control them directly or issue orders, but they are scripted to act natural and follow the path through the levels, while also taking out any enemies that happen to be in the way. Since the AI is quite precise and devoid of any major bugs, the presence of other soldiers completes the atmosphere and it certainly comes in handy at times, especially in the more tricky scenarios.

Visually, the game manages to impress yet again, even of it uses a modified version of the Quake III Arena engine. The special effects are incredible, however, as are the high-resolution character models and the detailed weapons you get to wield. Most of the environments are nicely modeled as well, although the outdoors scenes are a bit devoid of detail. Things are just as good in the sound department too, with good voice acting, believable gun sounds and plenty of atmospheric noise to give you PTSD.

Although the Call of Duty series had its ups and downs over the course of the years, the first title truly did change the industry forever and the way shooters are made to this day. Hence, despite the heavily-scripted events and the linear levels, the atmosphere managed to rise above it all and just make the entire experience memorable.