I’ll save you some reading time… Heck YEAH! I wasn’t that all excited about loading this game, but now that I’ve mastered it, I’m glad I did.
About a year and a half ago I was completely absorbed in Enemy Territory. If you haven’t heard of this game, it was the multiplayer version of Castle Wolfenstein. The publisher stopped work on the multiplayer version after sales of the game showed it was less than spectacular. The developers, knowing a good thing when they write it, finished the multiplayer version, Enemy Territory, on their own and released it as a FREE game. It was one of the best multiplayer WWII shooters around and is still going strong many years after it’s release.
Before I found this game, I was addicted to Call of Duty 2. Enemy Territory took the place of that habit and along with my Clan, wreaked online havoc for a couple of years.
But then came Vista, which isn’t a bad thing. I had to upgrade to keep pace with my customers to ensure my development systems matched their production systems. Enemy Territory did NOT run on Vista, even in compatibility mode. It was a bitter pill but I drudged forward. I looked high and low for a replacement but nothing came close, not even Enemy Territory Quake Wars (a futuristic version). I tried other genres with games like Sins of a Solar Empire, but nothing gave that feeling of being immersed and involved like I had with Enemy territory.
For Christmas my family got me CoDMW2. I waited a couple of weeks to install it thinking I would just be mildly entertained and then go back to writing my own games out of boredom. But NO, the game kicked ass. Despite a clumsy and cartoony snow mobile riding level, I whipped through the single player version in mere hours. Then I jumped on multiplayer and found exactly what I was looking for. I soon rose the ranks to Master Sergeant and was gaining familiarity with the levels. The perks that are unlocked as you progress make the game so interesting that you can’t stop until you’ve unlocked that damn red dot hack!
Just a note about the levels. It’s the only thing I’m disappointed in so far. The levels (most of them) are ports of old CoD levels with modern skins! Don’t tell me their not. I’ve played enough of the original game to know a retreaded level when I see one. I’m not really complaining because it cut down on my learning curve!
Anyway, this game is definitely a replacement for my old Enemy Territory habit. It worked great on Vista and works great on Windows 7. It’s a game that you can get on and play if you’ve only got a few minutes or an entire weekend. It will be a while before you find yourself looking for a replacement to this great game.