Full Review

Keep in mind for the rest of this review that I have absolutely no prior experience in first-person shooters, save for some experience in Goldeneye for the N64. So I may not really know what I'm talking about. But here goes anyway.

The basic premise of the game is pretty familiar. It's 1942, and you play as Commander Holt, an American initially assigned to a British unit raiding a German port in occupied France. Complete the prologue mission, and you're on the way to more challenging things. After playing through some more missions in St. Nazaire, you move on to play campaigns in the Tunisian desert, the frozen outskirts of Stalingrad, and the Battle of the Bulge (Merry Christmas!).

Moving on to new campaigns requires the completion of numerous missions in each theater. Each mission has an initial primary objective, and secondary objectives are unlocked by exploring the map. Primary objectives are usually things like reaching a point or blowing something up, while secondary objectives could have you doing anything, from photographing top-secret plans to eliminating German panzers. In order to decorate your uniform with gold medals, all of the objectives must be completed in each mission. While completing all of these goals is fun, it's sometimes annoying running around the map searching for them.

The gameplay is pretty simple, especially thanks to the intelligent use of the GameCube controller. All of the buttons are easily in reach, making it easy to crouch, jump, switch weapons, peer around corners, and use your scope. You are also put in charge of ordering around three other squad members, which is done with the push of a button. This control is only rudimentary, however, and orders can't be too precise. Not too much of a detriment to gameplay, though, as your squadmates basically just follow you around, no matter what you do.

As for the graphics, the less said about them, the better. While effective, they are often pretty chunky, and the character faces look like bad experiments from a computer graphics class. Aside from the graphics, however, the world is pretty realistic in terms of your character's perception. When health is low, your heart audibly pumps and your vision throbs, and a nearby explosion seems to slow down time as your vision whites out and slowly returns.

The in-game sounds are for the most part realistic, save for the melee attack sounds that sound like slamming a piece of raw meat against a wall. Other than that, though, the sound provides a good addition to the atmosphere. Desert winds blow in Africa, friendly and enemy troops shout to each other, and sirens and gunfire are almost constant in the background.

The music of the game, too, is a beauty. At crucial moments in your missions, such as when an objective is met or a humongous legion of German troops surprises you, orchestration filters in and builds to a crescendo. As for the menu music, it is a fantastic composition that I often sit at the menu screen just to listen to.

If I have one major complaint about the game, it's the lack of replay. There are 11 missions in all, and when you beat them all, there's really nothing to do but go back through them on a harder difficulty level.

If you can get some friends to play with you, however, fun is sure to ensue. Basic multiplayer mode pits the four players against one another in a deathmatch using controls, tactics, and some levels from the single-player mode. Axis vs. Allies mode is a team-based game, and several scenarios, including Capture the Flag, make for seemingly endless games. One downside: the lack of network capability means you're all playing on the same screen, and the famous "peeking" technique makes being a sniper no fun at all.