Call of Duty 2 has been a highly anticipated title all year long. Now that it's finally hit the PC, gamers have gotten a taste of what it has to offer. But while PC gamers are blasting each other left and right, many console gamers are waiting patiently for the Xbox 360 version of the game, releasing in just a few short weeks. We took a near final build of the Xbox 360 version for a spin a little while ago and things are definitely looking good for the launch title.

Some Xbox 360 launch window titles are not pushing the hardware very much, but the team over at Infinity Ward is pushing the console as much as they can at this point. The game utilizes all three of the cores held within the Xbox 360, and it certainly shows. Running in a lush 720p and 60 fps, everything in Call of Duty 2 looked almost lifelike.

We started off with a single player mission that placed us right smack in the middle of a fire fight. The controls were quite intuitive with the A button used to jump, Y to switch weapons, tap B to crouch or hold it down to go prone, X to reload, the right trigger to fire, left trigger to aim down the site, and the shoulder buttons for frag and smoke grenades. Players will also have the ability to change the controls to the Call of Duty: Finest Hour settings.

As we moved around the larger area everything looked like a movie. The only thing that allowed us to determine this was a game was the HUD system and the character models. Don't get us wrong though, the character models looked good, just not quite photo realistic. The explosions looked real, the holes left by stray bullets in the walls looked good, and our character's movement was extremely fluid.

Since CoD2 is originally a PC game, we asked the Activision rep if the lack of a standard hard drive has affected the development at all. His response was simply that the only thing the hard drive is used for is faster loading times. This seems to be the case with most Xbox 360 titles, so those of you still worrying about not having a standard hard drive in every box can set your fears aside.

We didn't get a chance to test out the multiplayer, but Call of Duty 2 on the Xbox 360 will support four player via split screen, eight player via Xbox Live, and sixteen player via LAN. While the single player campaign should last players a good while, the real fun will be had in the multiplayer battles. That's what most PC players have been spending their time on, so it's a safe bet to assume this trend will carry over to the Xbox 360.

According to the Activision representative we spoke with Call of Duty 2 is slated to release with the Xbox 360 (and possibly even ship a bit earlier according to some retailers). We expect to have detailed hands-on as well as a full review in the next few weeks as we gear up for the highly anticipated launch of the Xbox 360 console.