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9.25.2003

Neil's 'Boner of the Day' supplied by: Call of Duty

I would have gone to bed earlier, had it not been for the huge hard on that I was left with after finally checking out the Call of Duty demo.

For those not familiar, it's by the same folks who did the Medal of Honor series, and it's yet another World War II title, but it's everything that made MoH so great... and then some. The demo's just one level, but man, I had to play it a few times. The biggest improvement I see over the MoH series is the AI. Teammates position themselves well (finally!) and the enemies are DAMN good.

After flanking an anti-aircraft turret with grenades, I went around a corner and about a hundred yards away, there was a makeshift bunker made up of a blown up building, and it was swarming with Germans. Looking down the scope of my M1A1 carbine, I started trying to pick them off, and I was surprised when those bad boys ducked for cover and repositioned.

My biggest problem with the Medal of Honor series was the AI. Luckily, that's where the biggest changes from MoH lie: The enemies don't all shoot at YOU, nor do they all shoot at the same person (ie the closest). They're equal opportunity killers. They also don't like being shot at. Shoot at one and they duck back down into the bunker, reposition themselves at a different spot, and then come back up to kill you (or someone else). And your squad is just as smart. I don't feel like the whole war is on MY shoulders like I did in the MoH games, and its a refreshing change.

And graphically... wow. This sucker runs on the Quake 3 engine, and it's surprising, to say the least. The textures are crisp, especially in the character models, and the lighting effects are amazing. The demo opens up in a dark building and you step outside to see blazing fires and anti-aircraft gunfire in the distance light up the night sky. Truly amazing stuff, and further proving that the Quake 3 engine might have more staying power than Half-Life's former dominance of the FPS market.

The game hits stores in November and the single player demo is definitely worth the download. Not too hefty, either, coming in at 172 megs. Definitely worth your time.

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2003 - 2005
Reverend Hughes