New Review Posted: Call of Duty: Finest Hour

[Daniel Weissenberger]

Mike Bracken reviews Call of Duty: Finest Hour, and it leads him to Star Wars-y musings:

"During the 20+ years I've been a gamer, I've fought many battles and countless wars. Until recently, the one I'd fought more than any other was the battle of Hoth, the famous opening act fight in The Empire Strikes Back. I don't know how many times I've flown a ship across that frozen landscape, but it's more than I can count. In fact, the mere mention of Hoth now makes me break out in hives—if I never see Hoth again, it'll be too soon. I'm beginning to feel the same way about World War II. Yes, the second world war was a crowning moment for an entire generation of Americans—the ultimate triumph of good over evil (and one of the few wherein the notion that the other side was undeniably the bad guys was not open to debate) and arguably a shining example of the best and worst humanity has to offer. All that aside, please, no more videogames dealing with this global conflict. If I play another fresh-faced soldier sticking it to Hitler and his Nazi goons in one of the seemingly endless theaters of conflict, I may have to give up gaming entirely."

The rest of his review is available here.

[Hypatia93]

Excellent, excellent, excellent. (I especially enjoy the beginnings and ends of your pieces.)

Say Mike, I've got a couple of questions. If one had never played a WWII shooter, how would this one fair? (And remember, that would have to be with regard to console games.) I've never played any (okay, begin the stoning now), and iirc, neither has my grrl's son. However, and for whatever reason, Tristan has been really interested in this one, so besides telling him it's mediocre at best, could I tell him it's okay since he's not played any others? Or rather should I recommend another WWII console shooter? (Personally, I'm hoping Brother in Arms will turn out well, but we'll see. )

Again, thanks for the review and info.

[Snack Eater]

It's a shame they butchered Call of Duty. I just got that for PC. It rocks ass. Stalingrad is the greatest thing to happen to WWII games, ever.

[Mike Bracken]

If you haven't played a bunch of other console WWII shooters, this one is pretty good. I'm not sure if I'd recommend this one or Medal of Honor: Frontline more, but I'm leaning ever so slightly toward Frontline only because it does such a great recreation of the beach storming at Normandy.

Mike B.

[EnduroGamer]

Hypatia, I am certainly no expert on this topic, but from what I've seen if you are going to play a console WWII game and haven't settled on one yet. Wait another couple of weeks and get "Brothers in Arms". I got to mess with it last summer and was incredibly impressed. Plus, it's based on a real story and the real survivors of this military event actually helped out with the game's design.

Brothers in Arms may be the only shooter I buy for the console this year. Oh, and it actually has some very cool third-person strategy elements for your crew, but very easy to control.

[Hypatia93]

Mike, thanks for the heads-up on which of those I should try. However, I think I'll do what Doug suggested, since I was already kinda waiting for Brothers In Arms. I do hope its gonna be cool.