Move, Aim Shoot. Check Area; Move, Aim, Shoot. Ok so when you reduce Call of Duty to its basics it sounds a little dull. The thing is though this is one hell of a game; strange the way the world works isn't it.

During our chance to play we chose a North African level, with trenches and emplacements aplenty. By pure luck it turned out this was one of the best levels to see how smart both the enemy and allied AI is.

Your allied AI cautiously proceed around the level, not running round corners and getting mowed to death [unlike some – Ed], while enemy AI is quick to turn the situation to their advantage. If you don't clear the emplacement quick enough and retreat back around the corner expect a shower of grenades as the enemy AI prepares to round the corner in chase.

Speaking of finding your way round, the game uses a compass with a marker to show you where your next objective is, while reminding yourself of what your objective is also one click away.

As with any WWII game, the selection of weapons featured is accurate to what was available and widely used. As for realism, well since I've never fired a real WWII gun, we will just have to take other WWII games as reference; no noticeable differences.

The game is gritty and grimy; just as you'd imagine a battle in trenches, with it hard to distinguish between enemy and allied AI something that can all too often end in you gunning down incoming allied re-enforcements. Oh and its loud… very loud; it is wise to keep the volume up as allied AI chatter can sometimes give hints and tips, as well as add to the atmosphere. So what do you do if someone is moaning about the explosions? Ask them "Shall I go back in time and ask the Germans and Allies to invent quieter grenades so you can watch you can shut up moaning… grenades are loud, tough luck", or is that just me? Oh well, you can't really help but get sucked into the game.

Control wise, the game wisely adopts Halo's controller map, with the new shoulder buttons being assigned to aiming on the left and grenades on the right.

The only gripe with Call of Duty 2 is that more than any other of the games I suffered 'Phantom button syndrome', in other words trying to press the Start/Select/Black/White button in their old positions; something that you'll all have to put up with for the first few weeks.

While Call of Duty 2 isn't quite in the same league as PDZ and Halo, it is a worth sequel to a great game.

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