Call of Duty
I can think of more than a few adjectives to describe Call of Duty: Linear, predictable, and short all come to mind. However, one description, more than any, characterizes the game perfectly: a total blast.
An army of more than one
The main idea behind Call of Duty is that World War II wasn’t fought by one man from one nation, it was fought by groups of men from many nations. In Call of Duty you fight against the Axis from the perspective of American, British and Russian soldiers in 24 missions covering several historical campaigns. You’ll parachute behind enemy lines during D-Day, participate in the Battle of Bulge, and fight the Germans on the Eastern Front during the siege of Stalingrad. Keeping with its “many men” focus, you’ll see right away that you’re not alone. And the game is designed such that “going it alone” will be nearly impossible in some, if not most, scenarios.
Some gamers are bound to criticize the linearity of its levels. But once the game gets going, you won’t really care about linearity because you’ll be too busy having fun. This is especially true of the game’s car ride levels, where you ride with some of your squadmates while shooting Germans and blowing stuff up. The first ride takes you through some quaint French countryside that’s been rendered “not-so-quaint” by the Germans that are shooting at you. My first thought during the ride was that this is just silly. My second thought was, this is fun in a Mister Toad’s Wild Ride meets Vice City sort of way.