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Call of Duty: Roads to Victory

by Activision, 2007, $39.99.

Due to its gritty, fast-paced, realistic portrayal of World War II combat, Call of Duty has long been regarded among the best first-person shooter series. Most of this is attributable to the horsepower of such consoles as the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, on which you can hear bullets whiz by and explosions rend the surrounding landscape with such realistic sound you could swear you were actually there. Roads to Victory brings the series to the handheld market, available exclusively for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). But does the realism carry over to the less powerful device? The answer is an emphatic yes.

The game offers three campaigns — from the perspective of an American soldier, a Canadian soldier and a British soldier—each demonstrating how individual and collective efforts combine to achieve victory. The accuracy of weapons and vehicles is as high as players have come to expect of this series. In addition to the basic play mode of engaging enemies, you’ll spot enemy tank locations for Allied artillery, among other objectives. The only drawback has nothing to do with the game itself, but more to do with the PSP. The lack of a second analog stick makes aiming and strafing somewhat difficult, though the game compensates by including an “aim assist” feature to help wayward shots find their mark.

 

Originally published in the October 2007 issue of Military History. To subscribe, click here