The sequel to the 2003 Game of the Year! Call of Duty® 2 redefines the cinematic intensity and chaos of battle as seen through the eyes of ordinary soldiers fighting together in epic World War II conflicts. The winner of over 80 Game of the Year awards, Call of Duty 2 offers more immense, more intense, more realistic battles than ever before, thanks to the stunning visuals of the new COD^TM2 engine. All-new, unprecedented enhancements from stunningly realistic graphics to seamless gameplay, thanks to the revolutionary COD2 engine, groundbreaking A.I., and choice-based gameplay innovations. Beautifully rendered snow, rain, fog, and smoke, combined with dynamic lighting and shadows make this the most intense WWII shooter to date.

Call of Duty 2 lets players experience four individual soldier stories as they overcome insurmountable odds in multiple campaigns. Players have the freedom to follow each of the four storylines through for the ultimate character-driven experience, or they can engage in the historic battles chronologically for quick hitting action. Along with the new missions, the game features an enhanced engine, advanced AI, and even more authenticity than before.

Call of Duty 2 lets players experience four individual soldier stories as they overcome insurmountable odds in multiple campaigns. Players have the freedom to follow each of the four storylines through for the ultimate character-driven experience, or they can engage in the historic battles chronologically for quick hitting action. Along with the new missions, the game features an enhanced engine, advanced AI, and even more authenticity than before.

The amount of detail displayed in the environments was, in all truth, totally exciting. It brought out the graphic tart in me. You'd run into a blown up building and look around: The crumbling walls showed granular detail. Your feet kicked up dust. Scrapes, scratches, and holes weren't repeated from building to building. Every new area you entered looked different, showed new textures and atypical constructs. And the fidelity of each object, whether it was a broken desk, a destroyed tank, or a torn apart building, was crisp, clean, and sharp.

With Call of Duty 2, like its predecessor, you're wowed by the amount of chaos that's whirring wildly about you, but when the cloud of smoke settles and you have a look around, the impeccable work that has gone into these backgrounds, environments, structures, and textures is remarkable. Call of Duty 2 is easily one of the best looking Xbox 360 games we've seen, and it will stand out from the crowd come this November.

The fact is, there is very little time when Call if Duty 2 isn't moving at 100 MPH. We've played a bunch of missions before, and I'd personally only seen the Battle of Pointe Du Hoc section. It's one hell of a ride. Earlier this week, I got to play the Russian campaign mission, Repairing the Wire (there are four campaigns, one Russian, one American and two British). In it, you must follow a communication cable through a large portion of the blown up city to its end, while fighting off swarms of German soldiers, and later on a regiment of tanks that only intensify the level.

In this single-player campaign level, you're given a rifle and an automatic machine gun, but you can at any time, after killing an enemy, switch one of your two weapons out for another. You're able to carry two two-handed weapons and a pistol, plus two sets of grenades, frag and smoke. The keyboard and mouse work quickly, smoothly, and they're enough to make a grown console man weep. While the Xbox 360 controller is very nice, indeed, it's still not the equivalent of a mouse and keyboard.

The enemy is so aggressive and so constant that you're pushed into the fray. Unlike other FPS titles, you're compelled to move, find cover, shoot, and move again because the enemy either outnumbers you and your squad, has better positioning, or it's simply throwing grenades into your spot. For instance, I always play games on normal mode, checking out easy and hard to compare. Normal mode is the general default level of difficulty for 99% of the games on the market. The mission I picked to play was farther into the game, and it was the first time I played it, but on Normal, it was kicking my, and everyone else's, ass. An Infinity Ward producer switched the level to Easy for me and most other people, which normally would be pretty embarrassing. Not so here. In fact, an Infinity Ward producer even reached a part of a mission on Normal where he died a few times because it had changed and was so tough. It's challenging, and that's good. The situation was even a little funny. I handed the controller to a few guys, who refused to pick it up. So, I plugged on.

The whipping I got made me a better player pretty quickly. The enemy charges forth, tactically moves toward and around you, using cover, and employing teamwork to take you and your squad out quickly. If you stick to one spot, they'll throw grenades. Or crowd you. The enemy forces you leave your spot, shoot, move, and find cover again. You cannot take too much time to wait and carefully aim. There isn't enough time for that. You then have to shoot, drop more enemies, creating a hole in their defense, and charge forth. Using grenades is always a great idea because it's easy, but also because it usually wipes out a few guys at a time. The intuitive learning arc is quick with grenades. The animation is smooth and quick, and their death animations are realistic and fun to watch, but they're kept in check.