Call of Duty 2: Big Red One

Call of Duty 2: Big Red One is a first-person shooter video game developed by Treyarch and High Voltage Software and published by Activision for GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It is a side-story of the original game Call of Duty 2, which was released on PC and Xbox 360 in the same year.

Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
North American PlayStation 2 cover art
Developer(s)Treyarch
High Voltage Software
Publisher(s)Activision
Producer(s)Pat Dwyer
Sam Nouriani
Designer(s)Christian Busic
Richard Farrelly
Dan Koppel
Programmer(s)Mike Anthony
Artist(s)Alex Bortoluzzi
Writer(s)Aaron Ginsburg
Wade McIntyre
Composer(s)Graeme Revell
SeriesCall of Duty
EngineTreyarch NGL
Platform(s)GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Release
  • NA: November 1, 2005
  • EU: November 18, 2005
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Big Red One differs from other games in the Call of Duty franchise in that it focuses on a single Allied formation in World War II: the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division, which goes by the nickname Big Red One due to their unit patch which features a large, red number one. The game covers the division's part in the North Africa Campaign, the invasion of Sicily, the landing on Omaha Beach in Europe and moving east, and eventually crossing the Siegfried Line into Germany. Each chapter is book-ended with period footage from the Military Channel, with voiceovers courtesy of Mark Hamill (who appeared in the Sam Fuller film The Big Red One), imitating a World War II documentary.

The game also features a number of actors from the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, based on Stephen E. Ambrose's book of the same name about E (Easy) Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, as voice actors. They include Michael Cudlitz (Sgt. Denver "Bull" Randleman), James Madio (T-4 Frank Perconte), Frank John Hughes (Sgt. William "Wild Bill" Guarnere), Richard Speight Jr. (Sgt. Warren "Skip" Muck), Ross McCall (T-5 Joseph Liebgott), Rick Gomez (T-4 George Luz), and Rene L. Moreno (T-5 Joseph Ramirez). The box cover features actor Stephen Saux. The story and characters were written by Aaron Ginsburg and Wade McIntyre.

In North America, it was later released as part of a compilation pack entitled Call of Duty: Legacy for the PlayStation 2 only. The pack included Call of Duty: Finest Hour and Big Red One.[1] A Collector's Edition was also released for both the Xbox and PlayStation 2.[2]

Gameplay

Call of Duty 2: Big Red One is a first-person shooter that has a single-player story mode and a multiplayer mode. The player takes on the role of a soldier protagonist named Roland Roger in specific missions during World War II from the perspective of the American 1st Infantry Division. The player can crouch and lie prone, and is able to scale low walls and other obstacles. Two firearms can be carried, which can be swapped with those left on the battlefield, and both fragmentation and smoke grenades can also be carried. A gun's iron sights can be used to aim more accurately. A compass on the heads-up display (HUD) shows both allies: (United States Army/Big Red One, United States Army Air Forces and United States Navy) and enemies: (Wehrmacht, Waffen-SS, Afrika Korps, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Vichy French Army, Milice, Vichy French Air Force, Royal Italian Army, Blackshirts, Regia Marina, and Regia Aeronautica), and objective markers to indicate locations the player must reach, areas to defend, or enemy cannons or tanks that the player must plant explosives on to disable. Emplaced weapons such as machine guns and flak cannons are available in some locations to take out enemy forces. In addition, some missions place the player in control of a tank. In one mission, the player assumes the role of Roger's brother "Stretch", a crewman on a United States Army Air Forces B-24 Liberator, and acts as a bombardier and gunner.

Reception

According to review aggregator Metacritic, the game received "generally favorable" reviews from critics.[3][4][5]

The PlayStation 2 version of Big Red One received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[6] indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[7]

References
  1. "Call of Duty: Legacy (PlayStation 2)". Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  2. "Call of Duty 2: Big Red One Collector's Edition - PlayStation 2 : Video Games". Amazon. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  3. "Call of Duty 2: Big Red One". Metacritic. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  4. "Call of Duty 2: Big Red One". Metacritic. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  5. "Call of Duty 2: Big Red One". Metacritic. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  6. "ELSPA Sales Awards: Platinum". Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association. Archived from the original on May 15, 2009.
  7. Caoili, Eric (November 26, 2008). "ELSPA: Wii Fit, Mario Kart Reach Diamond Status In UK". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on September 18, 2017.
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