GAMING REVIEW

Call of Duty: Roads to Victory

RATINGS Quality Geekness

In Call of Duty: Roads to Victory, publisher Amaze Entertainment had a monumental task: squeeze all the firepower of the epic Call of Duty series into the PSP handheld. For the most part, Amaze succeeded. Call of Duty: Roads to Victory is an excellent handheld addition to the CoD legacy.

Call of Duty: Roads to Victory drops you into battle as an 82nd Airborne Division infantry soldier, a Canadian First Army rifleman, and an elite British Parachute Regiment commando. Through 14 missions, WWII shooter fans will battle through some previously unseen campaigns, carrying out a mix of familiar and unfamiliar missions.

The graphics stand out among PSP games, though they are a visible step down from the real-life visuals of CoD2 and CoD3 on the Xbox 360. Buildings and other environmental elements look splendidly realistic, just like their console counterparts. Explosion, fire, and smoke effects are about PS2 quality, and Activision pushed the PSP to its limits to achieve that. Blood effects and kill physics were somewhat lacking, but not distractingly so.

The battles are shrunken in other ways, too. Instead of facing hundreds of enemies at once, you typically fight against a handful of Nazis. At times the screen will be filled with enemies, but those encounters are few and far between. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though, because you'll really look forward to them. Those "wow" moments are still very much alive in the handheld version.

All of these pared down visuals allow the game to keep up quite a healthy framerate. You can soldier on smoothly without a noticeable graphical hiccup, which is something that can't be said about every PSP game. There are usually several load areas throughout each level, but they often occur around checkpoints, so they aren't noticeable.

Another area where the title excels is its checkpoint system, which is arguably better on the PSP than on its console cousins. Checkpoints are numerous, which is perfect for commuters and other gamers on the go. While some may feel a greater sense of accomplishment in covering 9 objectives in one checkpoint, I'd prefer not to retrace my steps a whole lot. Additionally, due to the quick checkpoints gamers can pop in and out and always feel like they've done something.

Gameplay-wise, Roads to Victory is everything you've come to expect from a Call of Duty title, which means it's ideal for those who love WWII shooters for the same reason it's not ideal for those who are tired of them. You are an Allied soldier battling the Nazis in burned out towns and bunkers using historically accurate weaponry. You are given important jobs, like covering fellow soldiers, placing satchel charges on big guns, and calling in artillery strikes. Explosions rip through walls feet from your face, your comrades are gunned down in front of you, and yet you somehow survive. All the while there's realistic battle chatter, including all the slurs you've come to expect from the genre. I am a big WWII shooter fan, and I wasn't let down by any of the gameplay elements.

I found the vehicle and rail shooter elements of the gameplay often outshined the standard run-and-gun elements, something that would have been unthinkable on the console. For example, I really enjoyed playing as the gunner--from different parts of the plane--during a bombing raid. In past Cod titles I have dreaded all the vehicle missions, and considered them secondary and distracting from using all the historical weapons. In the PSP version, however, these moments are thrilling, and there's a definite feeling of relief once you complete the mission.

If you expire, or in several cases fail to protect your buddies, you get a quote about war by Winston Churchill or General Patton. I've seen them all before, but I always seem to read them--I think it helps me get more into the battle. Instead of just shooting pixels that are wearing Nazi uniforms, I'm defending the free world from a brutal totalitarian regime. I like that.

Each of the three sections gives you a brief history lesson dubbed over 1940s film, and explains effectively why you are doing what you're doing. Again, you either hate it or love it; I can't get enough of it. Actually, I would have liked it if there were a few more films throughout as in Call of Duty 2, but I understand why there were fewer: because it's a portable title, the emphasis must be on action. Besides, these are not Normandy-level battles; it's not like gamers couldn't pick up a history book if they want to learn more; it's better not to break up the action too much.

With that in mind, the battleplans are much shorter, which effectively destroys any sense of story or cohesion. The cut-scenes are scarcely more than "You need to go over there and do x, and then y will happen." You won't feel as connected to these fellow soldiers as you may have in past Call of Duty games. That's sad, because I think the comradery among soldiers is one of the most compelling reasons to re-fight World War II battles.

After finishing a mission you are awarded medals based on level time, accuracy, shots fired, kills, headshots, etc. I found it relatively easy to get gold medals in kills and silver medals or higher in headshots, but found it almost impossible to have high accuracy or low level times. The slow times are excusable because I wasn't racing around, but rather trying to soak in the environment. Also, I'm a risk-averse gamer who doesn't like to re-tread the same path if he doesn't have to. Therefore, I spent a lot of time hiding and recovering from damage instead of mindlessly charging the enemy.

As for accuracy and shots fired, I consider its inclusion to be as close to teasing as Activision has ever come. This is a game that displays all the realism of World War II, and I'm going to be tasked with sparing shots? Somehow I don't think heroes are worrying about the money individual bullets costs when their buddies' lives are on the line. Additionally, accuracy is a joke because of the controls, which will take some getting used to.

The PSP has many capabilities, but its confusing lack of a second thumbstick has made it a real hit-or-miss proposition when it comes to first-person shooters. Previous titles have all tried different ways to adapt the genre to the peculiar controls, with mixed results. Call of Duty: Roads to Victory does the best job so far by giving gamers four different control schemes. I recommend sticking with the default scheme, however, even if you can't strafe properly. There are so many different styles that it's likely one of them will suit you as well as can be expected. No matter what, it's going to be somewhat awkward and will take some getting used to. The game itself is worth it, but don't expect to just jump right in and be a killing machine. Again, I credit Amaze and Activison for doing their best with an awkward control set.

No matter what the control scheme, you will be assisted by some extreme auto-aim, as your reticle will lock on to enemies if they are within range. This doesn't help much with some of the spray-and-pray submachine guns and is just about right for the rifles, but it makes it all too easy with a sniper rifle. This feature somewhat offsets the difficult control scheme, but also reinforces the widespread sentiment that the PSP doesn't do shooters well. I think most Cod fans will overlook it for the most part, as I did.

Most gamers will play through the game in short, chaotic bursts over the course of a couple weeks, but for the purposes of a timely review I played the entire game on easy in about four hours. I was somewhat disappointed that the title was so brief, and therefore I recommend setting it to at least normal or possibly hard in order to get your money's worth.

There's some more to do after beating the single-player mission, though. Beating levels and campaigns can unlock weapon descriptions and other goodies for history buffs. There are even unlockable wallpapers, one of which I promptly copied into my pictures folder and then set as wallpaper. Additionally, there is a multi-player mode, which--based on the success of past Cod titles--is sure to be brimming with action in the coming weeks and months.

Conclusion
I have to give credit to Activision and Amaze for going all out on this handheld title. They crammed nearly every bit of realism, action, and excitement of the amazing Call of Duty series into the PSP. The graphics are excellent and the sound is what we've come to expect from the company; really, everything is here. And, instead of a mere port, this game actually adds to the legacy of the series.

Unfortunately, that legacy is a mixed blessing for the PSP incarnation of Call of Duty. There are a lot of expectations, some of which are met and some of which are impossible to meet within the limitations of the device itself. This game is thoroughly worth playing, and will fill in the gaps for those who are forced to leave their home consoles. It will not, however, replace them.

Ratings Defense
For Quality, I give Call of Duty: Roads to Victory 3.5 Geekheads out of 5. After getting used to the control scheme I enjoyed every minute of gameplay. I would recommend the title for any Call of Duty fan without hesitation. However, I knocked the game down 1.5 Geekheads because I don't think it has the kind of lasting appeal that higher ranking games have. In addition to being great start-to-finish, a four- or a 5-Geekhead title should have multiple different ways of playing it and tens to hundreds of hours of gameplay. Call of Duty: Roads to Victory is a great handheld game, but it does not stack up to its console cousins, which would land more in the 4+ range.

For Geekness, I give Call of Duty: Roads to Victory the full 5 Geekheads. Being so obsessed with videogames that you play them everywhere you go sounds amazingly geeky, and this game gives you complexity and great graphics and sound wherever you are. Also, the history lesson interludes and unlockables will give Geeks encyclopedic knowledge of weapons they've never fired in real life. Beyond these elements, however, the innovative control scheme takes a platform unfriendly to shooters and makes it workable. That merits a top rating.

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