Call Of Duty is one of the most respected World War II shooters on any platform. Sure, Battlefield 1942 might have better online play or faster action, but it sacrifices realism and gritty detail, not to mention a good single player campaign.

So, the stakes are pretty high for Call Of Duty 2 (CoD2) which aims to once again take over the World War II shooter throne. Well, lets just say right now that CoD2 has more than succeeded.

The plot is relatively similar in set-up to the first game. You take the place of three different soldiers during the course of the game, giving you a wide variety of missions and tactics to put to use. You go from Moscow and Stalingrad as a Russian private; to North Africa playing as a British soldier fending off Panzer tanks left and right; finally, you get dropped into the helmet of an American corporal in Europe.

The missions and game segments are strung together by documentary-style coverage of the war, which helps pull you into action and give you a sense of what the mission objectives will be. Throughout the game's missions you'll have a chance to try out stealth tactics, strategic planning and more aggressive game-play, although not quite the run and gun style of some WWII shooters. You're usually given some amount of choice within each level whether it is the route you take or in which order you go about taking out enemy strongholds.

Some of the missions aren't quite as exciting as others, for instance during your stint as a British soldier you'll be asked to call in artillery strikes on Panzer tanks from a rooftop during one mission for what seems like hours. However, in general the level quality is very, very high. The objectives are clear without being simplistic or easy to accomplish, and are fairly challenging without being mind-numbingly frustrating.

This brings us to the I.A., which thankfully is not as inept as in some games. You'll usually have a few soldiers along with you during missions, with more coming in for backup occasionally. They react smartly to each situation, throwing smoke grenades to cover themselves, or you, when running across open spaces.

They also provide cover fire or alternatively ask you to cover for them when they're reloading or changing positions. The enemy's react similarly, throwing grenades at you from behind boxes, hiding behind walls, and flanking you. The A.I. is a step up from Call Of Duty's last outing and makes for more enjoyable gaming sessions.