Call of Duty: Finest Hour Review

Call of Duty was definitely one of the best titles in the WWII FPS genre. Taking into account the number of FPS games that have chosen to take WWII for their subject, we could easily jump to two conclusions: 1. we've been invaded and 2. You should play CoD. It certainly isn't easy to leave an impression during the biggest infestation of WWII FPS titles ever. Unfortunately, the CoD port on three major consoles - Finest Hour - simply fails to impress. And here is why.

OK, which one do you want me to shoot down first?

Yo! Anyone in the mood for some rappin'?

Let us begin with a simple truth: CoD: Finest Hour is in its best a solid title, no more, no less. Considering many original game features have disappeared for some unknown reason, it is quite clear the perfectly good atmosphere has been ruined quite unnecessarily. Guess what, we're going to begin this review with crappy stuff.

If you are asking yourselves why it is so, let me ask you another question: ever watched that movie where Peter Sellers plays a soldier who refuses to die during the shooting of a film? Anyway, Peter continues to blow his horn until the director is completely unnerved. I guess this is one of the longest dying scenes in the history of film apart from The Titanic - death scenes were by far the best part of it. Well, something similar happens in Finest Hour: as you never know how much damage you've dealt, you also have no idea when, and if, your enemies are dead. It sometimes takes them a hell of a lot of time to die, which inevitably reminded me of Sellers blowing his horn, only to launch a fried chicken on a woman's head sometime later. This would be a very funny thing if there were more checkpoints in the game, so that you could save your progress and then laugh your head off in the privacy of your room. It is indeed very difficult to decide the actual moment of death of your enemies. Unfortunately, there are too few checkpoints on each level, so you will be forced to replay your missions quite often if you keep on visualizing Peter, the horn and the chicken. Some missions have only one checkpoint, while some are completely devoid of them. As the original CoD had several checkpoints on each level, the only possible explanation I found for this "cunning change of plan" was that the upkeep of checkpoints was too expensive, so their number had to be cut. To make things even better, you are equipped with one of the most amazing weapons ever - the wacky grenades that do not respond to any known law of physics, matter or anti-matter. The reason they are so amazing is no one ever discovered how they function. All you have to do is pull the trigger and they do the rest themselves - they choose their own direction and speed, so you never know where they're going to end. The way they bump into walls is also highly unpredictable, so imagine how funny (or frustrating) this can be when playing in an indoor setting, and the grenades start bouncing around.

Now, you do have a relatively large arsenal of weapons at your disposal, but the way you handle specific weapons differs a lot. Some weapons are easy to use and practically require no aiming skills, while some other weapons are very difficult to handle so you'll have to put a lot of effort in order to hit something. The least I can say about this is that it struck me as peculiar.

I couldn't forgive Finest Hour for being such a mediocre game, especially when you have in mind this game has the prefix 'Call of Duty' in its title. While some aspects of this game work properly, the game atmosphere is ruined significantly because of aforementioned bugs so it is almost impossible to get into the groove of things. Still, I wouldn't do this game justice if I told you the rest of it was just as bad.

Fortunately, Finest Hour has some good points, such as the nicely conceived and rounded campaigns: the Russian, British, and American campaigns. These campaigns differ not only in terms of unique characters, but feature different stories as well. The main principle of the PC version remains intact here: you get an assignment and you need to fulfill what's required of you with the help of your AI controlled teammates. I mentioned AI, so I'll just mention enemy AI is nothing Spark could be proud of.

There are many different mission types in the game and some of them are really involving. You get a chance to engage in some of the famous historical battles in almost completely linear game play, switching from one character to another. While this offers you a chance to experience the game from a different perspective, it doesn't really motivate you enough as you fail to truly identify with your current character. Finest Hour still has that CoD "cinematic" feel as many would put it, meaning the game has some memorable moments combined with a well-written story and some intense action scenes. However, the pleasure is significantly diminished thanks to the aforementioned bugs and inconsistencies, along with the fact that the main campaign is too short. Well, maybe this is not a bad thing if you didn't happen to like this game. I was rather sad because I simply couldn't love this game, no matter how hard I tried. I really hate to see so much potential thrown down the drain.

This is no time for playing paintball, soldiers! The city is on fire!

Open up, it's the cops! OK, where are all the hookers?

Finest Hour doesn't excel in the graphics department, either. The graphics do have a good overall quality, and weapon and vehicle models are rendered with a lot of detail, but the textures look plain and uninspiring. There are also some issues with frame rate drops during some more "demanding" scenes but fortunately, this does not happen too often, as the game seems to cope well with massive scenes of battle. So other than that, animation is rather neat and smooth. Voiceovers also have a good overall quality, and the same goes for the sound effects in general and the soundtrack. After a moment's consideration, I decided I was satisfied with this aspect of Finest Hour.

Multiplayer offers you a solid and occasionally, a very fun experience, featuring up to 16 players in online multiplayer with four game modes (Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Search & Destroy). Unfortunately, there is no possibility to engage in some split-screen action.

All in all, CoD: Finest Hour is neither good nor bad: it's mediocre. Maybe I wouldn't be so harsh if I didn't compare it to the original PC title, and do I have to tell you the comparison didn't do this game any good. While the campaign can be involving and the multiplayer portion of the game tends to be rather fun at times, the weapon control is buggy, your enemies are bizarre, rather dimwitted Peter Sellers impersonators and the lack of checkpoints will make you clench your fist more than once and proclaim death to all known life-forms. Although Finest Hour could be labeled as "good", meaning it has passed the test, I must admit I expected a lot more from this title. The material from the original CoD has simply been ported to the consoles, with the exclusion of some good features and the inclusion of some silly bugs.

This game has committed a cardinal sin, and that sin is mediocrity. Nothing is special about it, and while it does have a fun, cinematic feel and some nicely featured historical missions, it simply does not feel memorable. Maybe I shouldn't have compared it to the original, but I have. Sue me.