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Call of Duty: United Offensive

Call of Duty: United Offensive

Written by John Yan on 11/28/2004 for PC  
More On: Call of Duty: United Offensive
Call of Duty is one of my favorite games of last year. It combined great single player missions with fun squad combat and some vehicle action. Because of the success of the game, an expansion pack was inevitable and that’s what we have in Call of Duty: United Offensive.

Call of Duty: United Offensive adds 13 new single player missions, new weapons, and 11 new multiplayer maps. The 13 missions are split into three campaigns, just like the original. You’ll go through the game as three different characters representing three different countries. Developed by Gray Matter this time around, the expansion pack delivers the same action that fans of the original will love.

Right off the bat you’re treated to a new weapon, the Browning .30 caliber M1919A6 light machine gun. It’s a gun that needs to be deployed before use so you can’t run around and unload this on the enemy. Once the tripod base is setup, you can rotate around and unload many bullet goodness into the Nazis. It’s a fun gun to use and the powerful and fast rate of fire is offset by the need to setup the gun before its use.

The British has a nice silenced Sten Mk II machine gun that takes out enemies without alerting them. While the Russians has access to the Degtyarev-Pekhotny 28 machine gun. Every game needs a flamethrower and United Offensive introduces the Flammenwerfer 35. Dispatching a Nazi equipped with one of these and unleashing the fire upon the enemy is a very satisfying experience. The fire effects are quite effective and there’s a certain satisfaction watching the Nazis roast. It’s really effective against groups and especially those in bunkers and trenches. The flamethrower is a great addition by Gray Matter to the arsenal in United Offensive.

Each campaign is pretty unique in that they offer a different playing experience. The American campaign has some great squad action and another fun car ride through Nazi-held roads. And you’ll the pesky Nazis will be along your tail every step of the way providing some intense action. The British campaign starts out in the air aboard a Flying Fortress. You’ll run back and forth manning various guns and putting out fires. It’s a very intensive mission and you won’t have much time to rest as German airplanes assault your fleet. Afterwards you’ll drop down and partake in some sabotaging missions. The Russian campaign puts you in war torn Russia against snipers and Nazi soldiers. This time around, the snipers aren’t superhuman so they will miss you. I was pretty frustrated in the original’s sniper mission but Gray Matter did it right with the snipers being a lot more human. You’ll also be able to drive a tank, just like in Call of Duty. I really enjoyed most of the 11 missions available and the variety as well. You’re not stuck in solo missions in this pack and you’re not stuck in foot missions as well. The missions are pretty linear and there’s really no branching or any other way to finish other than what’s set ahead of you though. And like the original, there are sequences where you’ll have to replay a few times to get through.

Graphically, the game doesn’t seem to have improved at all so those looking for some advancement in this department will be disappointed. The game doesn’t feature the hot technologies such as physics and ultra-realstic lighting. What it does though is provide solid models and good facial reactions from the soldiers. If you liked how Call of Duty looked, you will like the expansion pack.
Sounds of war are replicated well in the pack and you’ll really feel as if you’re in the heat of the action in the Russian and British campaign. Some of the campaigns will start out as you ride into battle with fellow soldiers and you’ll hear speeches or soldiers scared reactions. If you have a nice surround sound system, it really enhances the already great audio of the game. Dialogue between soldiers is voiced well and that’s one of the things I really liked about the original game and the expansion pack.

Multiplayer fans will be happy to see 11 new maps and three new game modes. Capture the Flag is included and it’s the classic gameplay that we all know and love. Domination is just like the Unreal Tournament 2003 one whereby you try and capture all the points to score. Finally, Base Assaults sets attackers and defenders against each other as they try to control three bases. The bases serve as spawn points and you lose them as the base us destroyed by the attackers.

United Offensive is a lot more intense in action than the original Call of Duty. That’s both a good thing and a bad thing. You’ll rarely get a chance to rest in this one and I, for one, did enjoy the constant action. If you liked the original game, you’ll probably enjoy the expansion pack as well. You will run into the occasional mission that will take a few tries to get through adding a little to the frustration factor. Other than that, this is a nice pack to pick up if you’re looking for some good single player World War II action and a continuation of the Call of Duty gameplay.
A nice expansion pack and fun to play for fans of Call of Duty. 13 new missions and 11 new multiplayer maps adds to the Call of Duty fun.

Rating: 8.6 Very Good

* The product in this article was sent to us by the developer/company.


About Author

I've been reviewing products since 1997 and started out at Gaming Nexus. As one of the original writers, I was tapped to do action games and hardware. Nowadays, I work with a great group of folks on here to bring to you news and reviews on all things PC and consoles.

As for what I enjoy, I love action and survival games. I'm more of a PC gamer now than I used to be, but still enjoy the occasional console fair. Lately, I've been really playing a ton of retro games after building an arcade cabinet for myself and the kids. There's some old games I love to revisit and the cabinet really does a great job at bringing back that nostalgic feeling of going to the arcade.

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