Activision today announced that Call of Duty 2 is setting up a beachhead on store shelves. The World War II first-person shooter is the sequel to Call of Duty, which was released in 2003 and spawned one expansion and a console spin-off. A second Call of Duty game for consoles is expected to ship early next month, and an Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty 2 is scheduled to launch with the system on November 22.
The sequel sees soldiers return to action once again in the European theater from 1941 to 1945. There are three Allied campaigns to undertake, and gamers will fill the boots of Russian, American, and British soldiers in historical battles in areas such as North Africa, Stalingrad, and Pointe du Hoc.
When gamers tire of the artificial intelligence of the single-player campaign, they can take their skills online against up to 31 other opponent. The team-based gameplay pits the Axis and Allies against each other in five modes of play: headquarters, capture the flag, deathmatch, team deathmatch, and search and destroy.
Call of Duty 2 isn't hitting retail by its lonesome. A collector's edition features a bonus DVD with interviews, a making-of featurette, and mission walk-throughs. For those looking to both upgrade their PCs and liberate Eastern Europe simultaneously, Call of Duty 2 is being bundled with Nvidia's new line of GeForce 7800 GT graphics chips.
Infinity Ward once again handled the development of the shooter. The company is battle-worn in the WWII shooter department, having been formed from 22 members of the Medal of Honor: Allied Assault team.
Call of Duty 2 is rated T for Teen and retails for $49.99 for the standard edition or $59.99 for the collector's edition.
