Call of Duty: Finest Hour

Call of Duty for the PC stands as one of the best shooters to come out last year, as well as one of the best WWII FPS games ever.  An expansion pack recently came out a few months ago, and added even more white-knuckle action to the already solid gameplay formula.  Now, the game is seeing its long awaited console iteration.  However, while the console version is a pretty solid shooter, it fails to capture the raw intensity of the PC game.  The game feels a bit tired and even stagnant when compared to the PC version, often falling into the same scripted rut that the Medal of Honor series has recently been experiencing.  Although Call of Duty: Finest Hour is a bit stronger than the Medal of Honor console games, it still doesn’t really compare to the PC title or even to other first person shooters on the Xbox.

Call of Duty: Finest Hour takes a nod from the PC version by putting you in control of soldiers from three different perspectives during World War II: American, British and Russian.  You begin your campaign as a Russian soldier trying to push back the invading German forces during the battle of Stalingrad.  The sky is painted black with smoke and explosions and gunfire pepper the landscape.  Planes soar overhead dropping bombs and legions of soldiers charge against the Nazis in an effort to kill as many as possible.  The Stalingrad mission stood out as one of the most powerful in the PC game, as is pretty well represented here.  However, whereas the missions in the PC game stayed pretty consistently intense, the console version falters a lot in some of the missions, which feel somewhat thrown together to fill in the space between the set piece missions, thus making the game feel pretty inconsistent.

Not to say that Call of Duty: Finest Hour is a disappointment, as the game does many things right.  The controls are great, featuring the sight aim system that was implemented very well in the PC game.  By pressing on the left trigger, your soldier will look down the barrel sight of their weapon, giving them a better view of what their aiming at and thus a more accurate shot.

The AI is also very good, about on par with the PC version.  The Call of Duty series is very much about the fact that there are other people fighting the war other than your character, and squadmates play an important part in accomplishing missions.  At any given time, you could have one to four people working with you to complete your goals.  These soldiers can either finish the mission with you or meet their ends along the way.  Your squadmates react realistically, taking cover when enemies strike and utilizing realistic tactics.  Enemies also act realistically, hiding behind objects and protecting themselves as they attack.

The graphics are good, but not as great as they could be.  The character models look pretty decent, very well detailed and realistically animated.  However, the environmental textures are very murky, lacking the detail that the Xbox is capable of.  Plus, the entire game is very dark, making it very difficult to see what is going on during action sequences.  I had to turn my TV’s brightness up a couple of notches just to be able to see where I needed to go to next.  The framerates are fairly steady on the Xbox, although there are quite a few nasty bouts of slowdown in certain parts.

Finest Hour has some very good sound.  The score is tight and well orchestrated and the voice effects are good, adding to the atmosphere and putting you right in the action.  The weapon sounds are also very good, albeit slightly less crisp than the PC game.

Call of Duty: Finest Hour is a pretty solid WWII shooter that ports some concepts from the stellar PC game very nicely.  Unfortunately, the game doesn’t quite capture the consistent intensity of the PC title and at times feels a little stagnant.  As the game is very short and can likely be completed in a weekend, fans of the PC game or World War II shooters should give Finest Hour a rental.

Gameplay: 7.5
Call of Duty: Finest Hour implements a lot of good ideas from the PC game very well, like the great squad AI and fluid aiming scheme.  However, the game lacks the overall intensity of the PC game and doesn’t feel consistent in terms of action. 

Graphics: 7.5 
Finest Hour looks decent, but is not at all an indication of what the Xbox is capable of.  The character models look pretty good, but the environments are glum and devoid of real details.  The game is also very dark, making it very difficult to play unless you turn up the brightness on the TV.  The framerates are fairly steady, but do get choppy at some points.

Sound: 8.5
The sound department is very good, with a great musical score and some nice voice acting.  The weapons do not sound quite as good as the PC game, but are fairly clear nonetheless.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 8.0 
Finest Hour offers some great missions, like the Stalingrad mission, that showcase some of the finer moments from the PC game and convey a lot of intensity.  However, some of the missions fill rushed and ultimately lack the action of the set piece missions.

Multiplayer: 8.0
Finest Hour offers some nice Xbox Live features, with four modes, eight different maps and support for up to sixteen players.  Unfortunately, there isn’t a two-player split screen mode, so those who aren’t online are up a creek in terms of multiplayer.

Overall: 7.5

Finest Hour is a decent WWII shooter, possibly the best one on the Xbox at the moment.  Unfortunately, the game doesn’t deliver the goods of superior Xbox FPS games like Halo 2, or even the Call of Duty PC game.  Those looking for the next console World War II shooter should give Finest Hour a rental.