by
Ted Kritsonis
Faze Video Game Editor

After the great success Call of Duty earned on the PC, a shift to the consoles was a given, and just one year later, Activision teams up with Spark, a new developer made up of former EA employees, to release Call of Duty: Finest Hour for all three consoles.

While World War II shooters seem to be a dime a dozen these days, Call of Duty put itself ahead of the rest with last year’s PC title. Finest Hour is the franchise’s first foray onto the consoles and it does a decent job of continuing the momentum gained on the PC.

Like in the previous games, the single player campaign is split into three perspectives: Russian, British and American. Instead of starting with the Americans this time, you start with the Russians on a boat to Stalingrad. The point of view will shift from a female sniper to a 19-year-old tank crewmember, with a similar approach being taken in the British and American missions as well, While it is cool to see African-American soldiers in the American campaign, the constant shift makes the characters forgettable.

This is unfortunate because you do go through a lot as you fight on in Finest Hour and it would’ve been a lot better if each story stuck with one character. The true story of the “Black Panther” battalion is an interesting one about the African-American contribution to the drive toward Germany in 1944-45, but it’s only touched on briefly in the game. It definitely would’ve made for a more unique story had it been the focal point of the U.S. campaign all along.

The character shift may be a downside but the variety of missions is one of the many positives of Finest Hour. Tank missions are especially fun to play, and more challenging than you might expect, while the missions in North Africa are a real treat, even if the campaign was way too short.

When it comes to the visuals, Spark did a nice job of piecing together war-torn urban areas for the Western and Eastern campaigns and sandy deserts for the North African one. Slowdowns are non-existent no matter how many enemies are onscreen, and all the weapons and tanks look very authentically detailed. The audio package, meanwhile, is as great as it was on the PC games. Perfect music for the setting coupled with very credible voiceovers and realistic sounds of war.

As great as all these things are in Finest Hour, some of the drawbacks are noticeable as well. For one, the AI seems to be fine at some points, but totally dumb in others. The first few missions in the Russian campaign suggest that the Germans were lucky to even have made it as far as Stalingrad, whereas in the American campaign, they fight a lot more ferociously, causing you to die often.

Another drawback in the multiplayer game is the lack of split-screen play. Xbox Live and System Link are supported here, which is obviously good, but split-screen would’ve been nice to have in there too. As is, you’ll probably enjoy what the multiplayer has to offer online. You have your standard deathmatches and capture the flag, but the search and destroy stands out more. The idea behind it is you and your team must defuse or place bombs at two locations, which is great because one team can’t camp out in one spot and both sides require teamwork to win.

Finest Hour won’t overshadow its PC brethren, but it is arguably one of the best World War II shooters on the consoles right now. It captures the essence of the war and though it fumbles the perspectives a little bit, it tells a pretty good story overall. Despite even the strange AI, Finest Hour is worth a look for anyone who would love a WW II shooter for both the GameCube and Xbox.

Publisher:
Activision
Developer:
Spark

Platform:
Gamecube/Xbox

Rating: 8/10