Call of Duty: United Offensive First Look

Punctured helmets, bullets whizzing by, heads and limbs are blown off... A bold captain exposes himself to avert fire from a .30 caliber German machine-gun. The swift sniper dashes across the field, finding cover in a small impact crater and skillfully sweeping out all targets within the enemy's machine-gun nest.

In my opinion, discussing Call of Duty sometimes seems pointless without mentioning Spielberg's flick Saving Private Ryan (and you've probably heard us rant about it before). The brutal opening scene and truly memorable movie set-pieces depicting the massive Allied onslaught on Omaha Beach (1944) are nothing short of brilliant. Analogies to this spectacular silver screen moment were made in the gaming industry often enough to make you vomit. Anyhow, very few games managed to capture the intensity and drama of such historical moments though... Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and Call of Duty are definitely the only FPS's that pulled this off. While EA unleashed several MoH expansion packs, Activision remained silent on its plans for its CoD franchise. Here we are half a year later, as Activision announces Call of Duty: United Offensive, a hugely anticipated add-on to a much-honored first-person shooter currently in the works at Gray Matter Studios (creators of games like Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Kingpin [back when they were called Xatrix]).

You won’t find sanctuary here, comrades!

Where’s the safety catch on this thing? Never mind!

As you'd normally assume, United Offensive is going to involve a gritty and fast-paced single-player mode spanning through American, British, and Russian military campaigns during World War II (pretty much like the original). Content wise, the game is significantly different as it reveals many untold chapters from WW II. Though the emphasis is still on pure action, each campaign sports an intriguing story with unique characters. The game's engaging new missions are intermitted with several intriguing elements to immerse gamers deep into the story, as opposed to letting them participate in a potentially shallow action-packed FPS experience.

Call of Duty: United Offensive exhibits three major battles that took place during the Second World War: Battle of the Bulge, the Battle of Kursk, and a particular event that occurred during the British campaign (which remains under wraps for now). In the Battle of the Bulge you play as a recruit in the U.S. 101st Airborne Division which has an objective to hold off a huge German offensive and prevent their troops from taking the city of Bastogne. Because the Americans were surrounded, the only way they could get supplies was by air drops. Alas, due to heavy snow, for a long time planes could not fly. So you and your buddies have to survive the best you can until the weather finally clears up. As the campaign unfolds players are thrown into intense combat situations and are forced to survive through heavy artillery bombardments. This part of the game also entails rail missions and requires you to sweep nearby areas and houses of any German troops. For what it's worth, there are plenty of large-scale encounters to experience. The thing is, you'll actually feel like you're part of this epic conflict, rather than just sitting back and watching the game go on by itself. Your actions make all the difference and can shift the course of the battle.

Those of you keen on 20th century history should be aware of the facts surrounding the 12-day events of the Battle of Kursk. Both Germany and Russia made considerable preparations for this battle by building up troop concentration. History marks that before the battle began Russia amassed 1,300,000 men, 3,600 tanks, 20,000 artillery pieces and 2,400 aircraft, while Germany gathered 900,000 troops and packed 2,700 tanks, 2,000 aircraft... sending three premier Waffen SS divisions into the fray as well. All in all, it turned out to be one of the largest tank battles in WW II. Another interesting historical fact is that Hitler delayed the attack in order to send Germany's new Elephant tank into action - a powerful armored unit which plays a major role throughout the course of the campaign. Incorporating genuine vehicles is just a mere segment of the delicacies you're going to taste in this game. At this point, it all seems to ring true of Infinity Ward's excellent gameplay mechanics. This denotes that all the new missions should be as challenging and action-packed as before. Lately, however, some updates indicated that Gray Matter might be looking to make other enhancements to the overall gameplay. This should be uncovered within the next couple of months.

Activision remains awfully quiet in regards to the British campaign, so there's not much we can tell you about it at this time. We do know the campaign encompasses a massive aerial conflict involving an impressive amount of enemy aircraft, while your character is onboard a bomber and has to change gun turrets in order to fend off oncoming planes.

The add-on is also home to a few reminiscent elements from the first Call of Duty game. For instance, you'll be playing a number of tough defensive missions where a countdown indicator points out exactly how much time your squad has to hold its ground until reinforcements arrive.

The Battle of Kursk sees the player tucked into the back of a moving truck as German Stukas streak across the sky, bombing the crap out of Russian ground targets. Planes crash as they're hit by AA fire and your comrades are screaming for help. (Hey, we've seen that before!) It's all pretty hectic as you can tell. The adrenaline should probably start kicking in even before your squad moves out. Screenshots taken from this part of the game verify some visual perk ups. The development team is especially proud about the newly improved particle effects (just check out the shot where a Stuka releases a bomb - the smoke looks particularly impressive). Call of Duty also gets additional make over with new texture sets and models, on top of weather effects like snow and rain that set an appropriate mood in certain missions. The notably enhanced backdrops now boast extra detail, which are like before, powered by the excellently integrated Quake III engine.

The variety of content seems gratifying. As the player progresses through an assortment of missions, he'll be able to wield a solid range of firearms. The boys at Gray Matter felt obligated to pay tribute to the mighty flamethrower which made a formidable appearance in their shooter Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Apart from the standard arsenal and warfare you saw in the previous game, you'll be able to deploy light machine-guns. This aspect stretches the boundaries of gameplay a wee bit, as it gives you an opportunity to take control of key spots on the map. You simply grab a .30 cal and position it according to the enemy's whereabouts. If things get heavy, all you have to do is displace.