"The Big Red One" is the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division. During the Second World War, the Big Red One was famous for its almost continuous presence at the "point of the spear."

In Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, you are a lowly private in Fox Company, landing with the Big Red One on the Vichy-held shores of North Africa. The game progresses through 13 missions, taking you on a combat tour involving North Africa, Sicily, Normandy, Belgium and into Germany.

Big Red One is another WWII shooter in the Call of Duty series. Not having played any of the Medal of Honor games I am loathe to compare them. However, I can tell you that Big Red One offers some terrific graphics, a solid story line and voice acting, and plenty of tense, eye-popping destruction.

The games takes you through 13 levels covering a wide range of environments from the dusty ravines and ramshackle towns of North Africa, the hilly terrain of Sicily, the vicious concrete fortifications of the Seigfried Line, and the snowy fastness of rural Germany. Of particular note is the vicious fight through the trenches and bunkers at Crucifix Hill.

The game can be highly involving and immersive at times, though, as you progress further you become used to the rhythm of the action and can, at times, quite accurately predict what is happening next. The cut scenes do an excellent job of increasing the immersive experience.

The game intersperses the dogface view of the war with a handful of vehicle and gunner levels that see you driving several tanks, serving as a gunner on a B-29, an operating a anti-aircraft gun. While these levels provide a nice sense of variety, Big Red One is primarily a foot soldier's war, with the grunt's-eye view of the action. The vehicle/gunner levels take away somewhat from the main story.

The game levels are linear in nature, so as you move through a burned-out town, you are limited in the directions you can progress. Most of the time these limitations are not even particularly noticeable — it is a smooth progression — however at times it can be frustrating when you are pinned down and can't flank your opponents even when all you need to do is hop a small fence or rubble pile.

There are an amazing variety of weapons available as you progress through the game, although you can't hang on to favorites from one level to the next. I would have preferred to keep the sniper rifle for some of the additional levels but it does turn up at multiple points (coincidentally when it is most needed!). Ammunition is, at times, quite scarce, so the rule of thumb is conserve it when you can.