Minimum System Requirements
1.4 GHz Processor (Celeron / Duron)
512 MB RAM
ATi Radeon 9200 / GeForce 4

Optimum System Requirements
2.5 GHz Processor (Athlon XP / Pentium 4)
1 GB RAM
ATi Radeon 9800XT / GeForce FX 5900

Test System
3.0 GHz Intel P4 with HT
1 GB of Dual Channel RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT 256

I have always have always enjoyed playing World War II games. Maybe it was my years spent play-fighting Nazis in the back yard. Lucky for me the fine folks at Infinity Ward have stepped up the action from their hit game Call of Duty to give me even more Nazis to kill.

Graphics

Cover me comrade!

The game looks like a great upgrade from the first CoD. Rain, smoke, snow and terrain look amazing. While the game will not break polygon-count records like Quake 4, Call of Duty 2 still looks and feels smooth. The overall map size seems to be bigger with a better draw distance. Rubble and broken buildings look much better this time around as well. Player models seem to be the game's weakest point but with the sheer number of player models on the screen at one time some limitations are to be expected. I have read many complaints about the lack of advanced physics in the game. Although I think Half-Life 2 used physics perfectly, most games still can not get past using them as a gimmick. For now I can accept fewer bells and whistles in exchange for more enjoyable gameplay.

Sound

The atmosphere in this game is so well done it is almost easy to overlook. With artillery fire in the distance to the rumble of a Panzer coming up on your flank just suck you into the game. A soundtrack by Graeme Revell (“Sin City,” “The Crow,” “Aeon Flux”) added that Band of Brothers feel that just seems to go hand in hand with WWII games and movies.

Gameplay

Sure beats bland hallways.

For the most part gameplay feels the same as the first CoD game. CoD2 has added a few new tricks however. A grenade indicator has been added that shows you if a grenade has landed near by. Anytime you take cover you can expect to see it light up. The shaky sniper scope is another new “feature.” Even while lying down, your battle-fatigued hands shake so badly your crosshair will swing all over the place if you look through it for more than a few seconds. If you hold down your use key you can hold your breath to steady your shot. In a game where I can bunny-hop past Germans to get to cover I fail to see the point of this other than trying to make the sniper rifles harder to use in multiplayer. It is not hard to get used to and with a good setup you can quick scope and hold your breath at the same time. One of the more interesting changes is a new health system with no health packs. If you take damage the game tells you to get cover or you will die. If you rest, you will heal up. This isn't exactly realistic but it adds to the fun factor a lot. There's no more wasting time running back to where you were to find med kits.