Hopefully, buying this game isn’t your call of duty.
“American, British, and Russian soldiers in the war that changed the world.” That sentence is taken from the game’s intro sequence, and it sums up pretty well what Call of Duty: Finest Hour is all about. You basically take control of a bunch of characters of three different nationalities in three separate historical events from World War 2. Since there’s seemingly no connection between these events (the only thing they share is the killing of Nazi soldiers), the game feels a lot like participating in three distinct short stories, each showing a different perspective on the war.
Every story is convincingly told, thanks to some high-quality voice-acting as well as actual historical footage. It appears that the developer has gone to great lengths to ensure a high level of historical accuracy throughout the game. Whether you’re infiltrating a Tunisian village, fighting to take back Red Square, or attempting to capture the Ludendorff Bridge, you constantly get the impression that what you’re doing really reflects what happened some 60 years ago. Authentic weapons and vehicles further add to this illusion.
Sadly, the illusion begins to shatter once you actually gain control. A stuttering framerate, low-polygon character models, and clipping issues seriously detract from the realism. Your degree of freedom in most levels is also minimal, since your objectives simply revolve around going from point A to B via a specifically laid out route. Straying a little too far away either leads to instant death or bumping into one of many invisible walls. The fact that there are rarely numerous ways of completing an objective strangles the experience as well, so that it feels somewhat scripted and one-dimensional.
The controls represent another problem. Aiming – which has to be one of most important mechanics in any first person shooter – feels too tight at first. On the default setting the look sensitivity is not nearly sensitive enough, and if changed to “fast” it becomes far too sensitive. There is no middle ground. Also, after having changed your aim, it always takes a little time until your character manages to hold his weapon still. This means that you will often over-aim your target. While the control issues diminish over time as you get used to handling them, the controls never come off as being precise and intuitive.
When you do manage to hit an enemy, some other flaws present themselves. First of all, performing headshots doesn’t seem to do much additional damage to an enemy. Secondly, the enemy often shows no accompanying reaction to the fact that a bullet just went through him. He just keeps on running and gunning until he’s taken so many bullets that he collapses. It’s frustrating, not to mention unrealistic, not to know whether you’ve just hit your target or not.
Fortunately, you tend to almost forget about these flaws in the heat of battle. This is where Call of Duty shines the brightest, because it captures the sense of chaos so well. The battlefields, stretching far into the distance, are absolutely filled with fighting soldiers, collapsing buildings, piles of rubble, enormous dust clouds, as well as dozens of dead bodies. The amount of stuff on screen is so impressive that it almost justifies the aforementioned simple character models and unreliable framerate.
The action is magnificently complemented by the sounds too. The meaty gunfire, mixed with the desperate screams of your allies, and the extremely loud explosions make for an aural experience that is as chaotic as the action on screen. Everything sounds clear, and the audio separation in Surround Sound is surprisingly accurate. The music, too, provides atmosphere, so when one of the more pompous tracks kicks in, you really get the impression of participating in a battle of epic proportion.
As a whole, the game is far from epic, though. The game is of standard length, and takes approximately 10 to 15 hours to complete. The second chapter, which takes place in North Africa - mostly inside a tank equipped to take down enemy airplanes - is by far the most satisfying of them all, but, sadly, also the shortest. A complete lack of multiplayer is a shame too.
All in all, Call of Duty: Finest Hour is an average first person shooter. It does approach greatness on a few occasions, and the intensity of some of the battles will certainly give you an adrenaline boost that the majority of first-person shooters cannot. However, the great number of irritating flaws and the lack of a multiplayer mode will ultimately hurt your enjoyment of the game.