Reviewed by: Ebow
Developer: Gray Matter / Infinity Ward
Publisher: Activision

There are some genres that don't need tweaking, and some games within those genres that the developers can keep creating new levels for and the gaming public will keep buying. Call of Duty within the mass of WW2 shooters is one such game.

Call of Duty itself I reviewed here, loved it, still play the multiplayer, continuously impressed by the maps the community produce for the game and the fact that Jolt run a custom maps server. Gaming nirvana.

The cynic within me that reviewed Star Wars Battlefront was wary that the Call of Duty expansion pack, United Offensive, would just be more of the same and that I should be up in arms (no pun intended) about this marketing ploy. Yet I've played the UO singleplayer to the end, and driven tanks around the massive new multiplayer maps and there is no bitter taste in my mouth at all. In fact, I'm glad UO has been released and if they released more of the same, I think I'd buy them and enjoy them.

As with the original, United Offensive places you as a front line soldier in World War 2 campaigns. Bastogne, the Battle of the Bulge, Kursk and Kharhov are all included this time round, with a tense and sneaky behind enemy lines style bit in the middle. Oh yes, and the aircraft section.

Gameplay is as before (I should perhaps be copying and pasting stuff from the previous review), with the addition of some new weapons (the heavy machine gun especially grim in the way it spits death) and masses of background stuff that without doubt puts you in the thick of it. What appears to be hundreds of troops rushing forward (the Foy level, the initial Kursk level); lots of friendly planes bombing enemy positions (and enemies bombing your own later); and a rather attractive flashlight. Scripted events still play a part (blowing up the bridge, the bike and sidecar chase) and there's even a tanks only level for those of you that like things big and kaboom-y.

So, it's Call of Duty all over again. Which is just fine. It's what it was sold as, it's what we expected, it's what a lot of us wanted. The game delivers. The moment the Band of Brothers style music kicks in at the start it's like welcoming an old friend back to your PC.

The mid section of the game begins with you in a bomber, manning the guns as you and other bombers set about bombing a german position. This was the part of the game I was most worried about, thinking it would be so on rails it would be frustrating. But actually when it all kicks off, it's the part of the game that I think could stand on it's own and I'd pay full money for. The way the bullets flit away from the guns, the other gunners firing, the views out of the windows and bomb bay doors as the bombs fall, along with some extra little bits you have to do as the battle progresses - hats off to the developers for moving the gameplay off the ground so beautifully. I'm not an eye-candy whore by any means, but I have got 75 screenshots from this section ;)

I worked through the single player game in about ten hours over the weekend, pausing only to get annoyed at not being able to figure out how the binocular artillery aiming worked (can only call artillery on the expected targets, not the two enemies in that building that kept shooting me) and to swear a fair bit at not being able to get across one of the bridges (as with all the best games, just keep trying). I jumped into multiplayer for a quick blast after completing the Bastogne section, and immediately felt uncomfortable with the tanks in MP.

Tanks? In multiplayer? Not someone else leaping on the BF1942 bandwagon???

No, not at all. Initially it is very weird having tanks in a Call of Duty level, especially as both teams are using them which means if you're infantry you're going to be dead very quickly. But after people use the tanks for a couple of levels, the novelty wears off and the gameplay returns to what it was before and the tanks become just another tool to use to drive the other side out of that building. There are 88s scattered around the tank maps and these can be used to remove tanks from the battle, as can the liberal sprinkling of anti-tank weapons and satchel charges. The single most impressive addition to multiplayer is the smoke grenade. The smoke looks like smoke and one of these babies into a street and you can't see a thing - until the enemy walk through, silhouetted against the smoke, and it all kicks off. A great touch to an already enjoyable multiplayer.

The multiplayer maps are also outstanding. Not all of them have vehicles included, but the _rhinevalley map does and is probably the biggest CoD map I've played. Although this is frustrating to begin with (where the hell is everyone?), it quickly returns to form and the battles become fixed on key positions (either the castle at the top of the huge hill or the village).

If you enjoyed Call of Duty, you won't be disappointed with United Offensive (and you need the original to run UO). The game is solid enough to stand tall without any gimmicky extras, but Gray Matter have added extras without gimmicks to enhance what is already one of the best games available.

Buy this game

Minimum Spec	Reviewed on
Full version of Call of Duty P3/Athlon 800Mhz 128MB RAM 32MB gfx card	Athlon 3000 1GB RAM 128MB GeForce 4400 Ti