What I can tell you however, is there are times when Call of Duty 2 becomes so entertaining that your only response will be an overwhelming sense of guilt. Does a high level of visual polish mean such games are glamorizing the tragedies of history? And if so, does that make our enjoyment of them an insult to those who died? Now I'm hardly an academic, and my idea of philosophy stops with the glass being half full. Realism though, is something game developers continually strive for, and with this latest generation of hardware, we've reached a point where questions have to be asked. After all, outside of the theme itself, the poorly defined battlefields and pop out enemies are a pale imitation of the real thing, and simply represent a modern variation of children playing Cowboys and Indians. What we've experienced thus far has as much to do WW2 as Halo did with reality, and in that, we find a moral high-ground from which to defend a burgeoning genre. Arguments regarding the representation of mankind's darkest hour as a form of entertainment have covered everything from simple bad taste, to the trivialization of our greatest tragedy, yet the nay-sayers it seems, have been missing the point. Until now, games based on World War Two have dodged a moral bullet thanks to the various limitations of the hardware supporting them. "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour'." Winston Churchill - June 1940 From Hitler's first moves on Stalingrad in 1942, to an American push across the Rhine, Call of Duty 2's defining constant is a single, breathtaking rush from beginning to end, and a huge pang of guilt once your Grandfather finds out. You'll come for the lush visuals, and stay for the last days of the Third Reich in a single player campaign that spans the lives of three soldiers, and three vastly different theaters of war. Sold as a realistic portrayal of World War Two, yet played as an arcade inspired, first person shooter, its careful blend of History Channel authenticity and pure, Nazi killing thrills has killer-app written all over it. For every horror story your Grandfather has ever told you, Call of Duty 2 provides the perfect counter slice of escapist entertainment. War is hell, but Infinity Ward have made it beautiful. Arguments regarding the representation of mankind's darkest hour as a form of entertainment have covered everything from simple bad taste, to the trivialization of our greatest tragedy, yet the nay-sayers it seems, have been missing the point." "Until now, games based on World War Two have dodged a moral bullet thanks to the various limitations of the hardware supporting them.
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