Call of Duty, developed by many of the former Medal of Honour: Allied Assault staff now at Infinity Ward, plays a lot like, you guessed it, Medal of Honour. Only better. After playing COD for the last two days, I can easily say this game rules!

COD puts you in the role of a faceless soldier in some of WWII's great battles, both large and small. The key thinking behind the development of this title was the notion that no one man won the war; it was the sacrifice of millions that led to the bloody victory in Europe. You must battle alongside your fellow soldiers in huge environments to achieve your objectives. Try to go it alone and you will be cut down in no time. Play consists of 24 missions in the American, British, and Russian campaigns at various places and times during the war in Europe. From D-Day to the assault on Stalingrad, the action is fast and furious.

Graphically, this game is astounding. Based off a modified Quake III engine, the game's action runs well on just about any system, with a great set of options to fine tune depending on how up to date your system may be. The models are all well done, and sometimes just watching the action is as much fun as getting into it. As gameplay footage is readily available, I suggest you check out the Russian battles. Literally hundreds of soldiers storm the battlegrounds with and without weapons, as was the case in real life. The backgrounds are so well done they look to be interactive: watch tracer fire from AA guns light up the night sky while cities in the distance burn.

Audio is also bang on (pardon the pun). The soundtrack is a mix of exciting and ominous orchestral pieces. But the big plus is the environmental audio. This game is never silent. When enemy soldiers aren't firing at you, you can hear the distant sounds of conflagration all around you, making you feel like you are really standing in the middle of a war much bigger than what you can see. Gun sounds and explosions are for the most part all authentic (you can only carry two main weapons in this game, anything else you pick up will cause you to drop what you have equipped), and you can hear the calls of your teammates behind and ahead of you. From machine noises to footsteps to explosions, it's all there like it would be real life. The only thing missing is the sound of your own heart pounding in your chest.

This is no run and gun frag fest. In keeping with the theme, the enemy is no slouch either. They move in teams, will use whatever cover they can find to defend their positions or make advances on your side, and will react to events like shots whizzing by their heads, or a grenade landing beside them. Throw a grenade into a room and the enemy will panic and scatter, right into your machine gun fire. One of the best aspects of the single player game is the mix of individual action and team play. You must rely on your teammates to provide covering fire or take an objective for you while you provide the suppressing fire, but there are times when it is up to you to save the day. While this may not be historically accurate, this is still a video game, and a little heroism always makes for a good time! Running and walking have been replaced with various stances: standing, crouching and prone (belly-down) positions, each with a trade off between speed and shot accuracy. Hint: don't get caught by enemy machine gun fire in the prone position without cover, or you are hotdog filler. One thing I did notice about the movement that is a bit bothersome is that it is easy to get 'snagged' on various objects in the environment, rather than slipping around or over it. Another minor issue is that teammates will not move unless you target them and press your primary fire. It's uncommon but not impossible to get stuck behind or in front of a teammate headed in the other direction and get cut down by and enemy, as happened to me in one of the British missions.

Multiplayer is laid out much like Medal of Honour, which is a good thing. Medal of Honour's multiplayer games are so much fun that people are still playing the original maps. The blend of elements in multi maps allows players of all specializations to get a chance to kill the enemy. Sniping positions, open areas, and close quarters are all included. Some maps may cater more to one than the other, but with all the choices of multi maps in COD, you won't mind. Modes include Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Behind Enemy Lines (a kind of keep-away), Retrieval (must get something from the other team) and Search and Destroy (destroy an objective). New touches include the 'Kill Cam,' which allows you to relive the last five seconds of your life through the eyes of your killer. This can be extremely helpful in learning the good spots to camp and where not to stop for a smoke break.

Call of Duty is definitely a Game-of-the-Year contender for the PC. Its cinematic qualities will have you sweating in your seat, and the multiplayer aspects will have you logging on long after you've completed the single player mode. Future add-ons will include new mods, maps, and weapons to keep the replayablily consistently high. I recommend this game to all FPS fans. Developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision (who recently purchased Infinity Ward), Call of Duty is out now.