1/28th – Call of Duty Finest Hour
1/29th – Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2005)
1/28 Call of Duty: Finest Hour
Hello and welcome! My name is Katosepe and I’ll be your host for today’s video game of the day.
Today’s game is the first game in the Call of Duty franchise to appear on consoles, Call of Duty: Finest Hour. The first game made by Spark Unlimited, Call of Duty: Finest Hour was not intended to bring the original Call of Duty to consoles, but rather provide a side-story or expansion for players. Back in 2004, first person shooters were still seen as primarily being for PC players and Call of Duty was not the household name like it is today.
The single-player campaign is unique from the original Call of Duty and is broken up into three different fronts in World War 2. The Eastern Front has players take control of Russian forces. The African Front is with British forces and lastly, the Western Front puts players in the shoes of American forces.
Multiplayer had different capabilities for each console. The Gamecube version did not utilize the Gamecube modem and thus could only support 4 players at a time locally. The Playstation 2 version did support PS2 Online and could play with up to 16 players. The Xbox version used the new Xbox Live service and could support up to 32 players online. It also supported system linking which allowed multiple Xbox consoles to be linked together. This, in turn, allowed large numbers of players in local multiplayer. I was not able to confirm the exact number of players that could play via system link but reports say either 16 or as many as 32.
Check back here tomorrow for another Video Game of the Day. If you enjoy these updates, please consider leaving a review on Amazon and spreading the word about what we’re doing here. Full transcripts and other musings are available on videogameoftheday.com
1/29 – Star Wars: Battlefront 2
Hello and welcome. My name is Katosepe and I’ll be your host for today’s video game of the day.
Today’s game is the 2005 version of Star Wars: Battlefront 2, not to be confused with EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront 2 from 2017. Originally made by the late Pandemic Studios, Battlefront 2 is a third or first person shooter focused on large scale multiplayer battles. It was originally released on PC, Xbox and Playstation 2.
Much like the first Battlefront, Battlefront 2 puts players in the midst of a conflict based on various battles from the Star Wars movies. Players must choose which side of the battle to join, and then pick a class, which determines their equipment. The standard Conquest mode has players push through enemy lines to capture various command posts, king of the hill style. Each command post can then be used as a base to bring in more reinforcements or allow players to change classes. Occasionally, players can get the option to play as a hero for a limited time. Heroes are characters from Star Wars such as Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader who are much stronger than the average soldier but their health depletes over time. Battles continue until one side captures each command post or runs out of reinforcements.
While fundamentally similar to its predecessor, Battlefront 2 adds more of almost everything into the mix. The biggest additions are a new single-player story mode and new space-focused battles, where battles take place in space and players can pilot iconic Star Wars vehicles such as X-Wings or TIE Fighters to win. Battlefront 2 also adds more classes, heroes, maps, game modes and vehicles to the mix along with some new movement mechanics such as sprinting and dodge rolling.
Battlefront 2 was well received upon release primarily for its multiplayer offerings. While the single-player mode and AI were widely criticised for being lackluster, the local and online multiplayer offerings were well received by critics and players alike. While the original online services have each gone down since Battlefront 2’s release, PC players were treated to an update in 2017 by GOG which allows Steam and GOG players to play together online through GOG Galaxy’s servers.
Check back here tomorrow for another Video Game of the Day. If you enjoy these updates, please consider leaving a review on Amazon and spreading the word about what we’re doing here. Full transcripts and other musings are available on videogameoftheday.com
MUSIC IS PROVIDED BY:
In Love by FSM Team feat. < e s c p > | https://www.free-stock-music.com/artist.fsm-team.html
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Video Game of the Day 