There has been much fervor on display in the gaming community for the recently released Modern Warfare 2. And with good reason, the game is quite possibly the best interactive depiction of modern war that we have yet seen. It’s also a ton of fun to play. However, there was another recent release in the Call of Duty franchise that hasn’t gotten a lot of press. I’m talking about Call of Duty: Classic for the XBLA and PSN, a port of the original Call of Duty for the PC. I’ll be reviewing the XBLA version of the game.

Call of Duty: Classic is available for 1200 MS points or as a free download if you buy the Hardened or Prestige editions of Modern Warfare 2. So is the game worth the money? Well, yes and no. If you’ve played the PC version of Call of Duty, I’m going to go right ahead and tell you to pass on by. There is nothing new to this version of the game. It comes will all the same levels, weapons and characters that you’re already familiar with. The only difference from the PC version is the save system. On the PC you could save at any time during the levels. This port only saves after checkpoints.

This new save system fails for two reasons; first, it makes the game more frustrating than it has to be. Some of the latter levels have checkpoints that are simply too far apart, which forces you to replay large sections of the game should you fail. Secondly, the game doesn’t save in between levels, only at the start of each level and at the checkpoints during the level. So if you beat a level and turn the game off without letting the next level load, the next time you load up the game you will find yourself at the last checkpoint of the level you just beat. That’s just unacceptable.

Besides the save system and HD graphics, the game is identical to its PC counterpart, however it is vastly different from all the Call of Duty games that came after it. The difference that you will notice right away is the lack of regenerating health. In Classic, you are forced to replenish your health with med kits that are either dropped from enemies or found around the levels. The way they drop from enemies is a little weird though. In my experience, I saw more med kits dropping when I was only slightly damaged, and hardly any dropped when I was a couple shots away from dying. This was rather frustrating as you never seem to get a med kit when you really need one but they are all over the place when you don’t need them. Another big difference is the grenades in the game. Now they are a selectable item in your inventory, so you can’t throw them when your gun is out. Also, there is almost zero grenade spam from the enemies in Classic, which is a good thing because there is no grenade indicator either. In this game, you have to be ultra careful when you hear a grenade drop, because unless you saw where it landed, it can be hard to tell where it is in relation to your character. The last major difference is the fact that you can now hold four weapons: one pistol, your grenades and two rifle sized guns. This allows for some great weapon combinations that you just can’t have in the later games of the series. Other than those few things, Classic plays just like the Call of Duty that you know and love.



All in all, Call of Duty: Classic is a lot of fun, if you can get past the annoying health and checkpoint systems. It doesn’t have as many over the top set pieces as the later games in the series do, but the set pieces that are there are pretty awesome, considering the tech they had to work with at the time this game was made. The last three levels of the campaign are especially cool and provide great insight into what the creators had in mind for the series. A lot of the best set pieces in Call of Duty 2 and the two Modern Warfare games have their roots in set pieces from Classic. Plus, a few familiar names pop up in Classic, such as Captain Price, who you should have been expecting, as well as some you won’t expect, such as Sergeant Makarov, an NPC who you follow for a brief time in one of the Russian levels. Could this Makarov have any relation to the terrorist in Modern Warfare 2? Knowing Infinity Ward, I’m going to say yes.

So if you have never played the original Call of Duty, this port isn’t a bad way to do so, however, due to the wacky save system, I can’t recommend it over its PC counterpart. If you have a way to do so, play the PC version. If you simply must play the game for its achievements (all but one of which can be unlocked on the easiest difficulty) then at least wait for this to go on sale, 1200 MS points is quite a lot for such an old game. Altogether, I give this game a 6 out of 10 on the Destructoid review scale.